Daunte Wright, at left, and former police officer Kim Potter.Photo: Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a Black man,Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop in April, has been found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter.
The verdict was read on Thursday afternoon, and a visibly nervous Potter sighed as the jury rendered their decision.
Charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter, Potter entered a plea of not guilty. Her trial began in late November.
As the unarmed Wright did so, “the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon said at anews conferenceafter the shooting.
Wright was struck in the chest. His vehicle then traveled several blocks before crashing into another car, and he died at the scene.
Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police force,resigned in the wake of Wright’s shooting. Police Chief Gannon resigned as well.
In filing theoriginal criminal charge of second-degree manslaughter, Imran Ali, assistant criminal division chief in the Washington County Attorney’s Office, said that Potter “abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her Taser.”
He added: “Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.”
Kim Potter, in her mugshot.Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
During the trial, Potter’s defense called the shooting a “horrific mistake,” but also asserted that Potter would have been within her rights to use deadly force on Wright because he could have dragged another officer with his car.
After three days of deliberation, the jurors sided with the prosecution and found Potter guilty of all charges. The first-degree manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years, while the second-degree charge carries a four-year charge.
After the verdict was revealed, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison — who led the prosecution — released a lengthy statement about the jury’s decision to convict, calling it a measure of accountability for Wright’s death.
“Accountability is not justice: justice would be restoring Daunte to life and making the Wright family whole,” Ellison wrote. “Justice is beyond our reach for Daunte. But accountability is an important step on the long road to justice for all.”
“My thoughts are also with Ms. Potter today. She has gone from being an esteemed member of the community, an honored member of a noble profession, to being convicted today of a serious crime. I don’t wish that on anyone, but it was our responsibility as the prosecution, as ministers of justice, to pursue justice wherever it led, and the jury found the facts,” he wrote.
Potter was taken into custody and held without bail. She will be sentenced in January.
source: people.com
