Outcome reached in Kim Potter trial over Daunte Wright's death

In closing arguments, the defense said that Kim Potter was within her rights to use deadly force against Daunte Wright because he could have hurt another police officer with his car. 

The defense claims Wright could have driven off, dragging Sgt. Mychal Johnson.

"What would have happened to Johnson? The worst would be death if he took off like he did -- like a jet," defense attorney Earl Gray said. 

"[Potter] said she saw Johnson, that she saw him and he had a look on his face she'd never seen," Gray added. "That was right before she said 'Taser, Taser.'"

The prosecution argues there is no evidence that shows Potter was using force for Johnson's protection or that Johnson was afraid for his life. 

"Johnson was clearly not afraid of being dragged," said prosecutor Matthew Frank. He never said he was scared. He didn't say it then. And he didn't testify to it in court."

Prosecutors said Johnson wasn't halfway into the car at the time of the shooting, and that he was "all the way over to the passenger side securing Mr. Wright's right arm." 

Prosecutors also pointed to Potter's reaction after the shooting, when she sobbed on the ground and said she would be going to jail in the body camera footage.

"When Sergeant Johnson said 'he was trying to drive away with me in the car,' which isn't even true, but he offered that to her and she didn't even bite on it," Frank told jurors. "She was so caught up in recognition of the wrongfulness of her own conduct."

Defense attorney Earl Gray told the jury to remember that "your constitutional duty is to presume Kim Potter innocent. And before you can find her guilty, you must find each and every element of the charges is proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

It is on the prosecution to prove Potter is guilty. It is not the responsibility of the defense to prove her not guilty, according to Gray and prosecutor Erin Eldridge. Gray argued throughout the trial that it was within Potter's right to use deadly force against a fleeing subject.

"The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's use of deadly force was not authorized by law," Gray said. "You must presume that she had a right authorized use of deadly force, that she had a right to do it."

"This is the most important affair in the client's life," Gray said.

Defense attorney Earl Gray said that Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, caused his own death. Officers tried to arrest Wright, but he attempted to get back in his car to flee, police said.

"Wright realizes there's a warrant for his arrest, and he knows what he knows," Gray argued. "So within seconds, he all of a sudden breaks away. That's the cause, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. That's what caused this whole incident."

Wright was being arrested for an outstanding warrant on a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, according to authorities.

"Daunte Wright caused his death," Gray said during closing arguments Monday. "Everything the officers did, they did to try and restrain him try and stop him from leaving."

Prosecutor Erin Eldridge took the jury through the elements that the state needed to prove in order for the jury to convict former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter on first- and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

The first-degree manslaughter charge alleges that Wright's death was caused by the defendant committing a crime of reckless handling or use of a firearm, Eldridge told the jury. 

The crime must also be committed "with such force or violence that the death of another person or great bodily harm to another person was reasonably foreseeable," according to Eldridge. 

"She commits a conscious or intentional act in connection with the handling or use of a firearm that creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk that she is aware of and disregards," said Eldridge. "Like putting your hand on a weapon … pulling a weapon, pointing that weapon, pulling the trigger of that weapon. Each and every one of those things in and by itself is an intentional act."

The second-degree manslaughter charge alleges that Potter acted with “culpable negligence” in Wright's death. 

Eldridge said Wright's death was caused by Potter's actions, which she says "created an unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm." 

Eldridge argued that Potter disregarded the differences between her weapons and held the gun at Wright for several seconds before shooting. 

The shooting, Eldridge also argued, put Wright, as well as the others in and around the vehicle in danger. 

Sgt. Mychal Johnson and Wright's girlfriend Alayna Albrecht-Payton were behind Wright when he was shot. Officer Anthony Luckey previously testified that he was hit with a casing from the bullet that Potter shot Wright with.

An intent to kill is not required in either charge, the prosecution said.

Eldridge continued, "The defendant's failure to recognize she was drawing and handling and firing her gun despite hours and hours of training; despite years and years of experience; despite the clear differences between the two, and despite the opportunity to change course and correct, and despite all the warnings and cautions against doing this very thing, is part of what establishes the defendant's recklessness and culpable negligence in killing Daunte Wright."