Outcome reached in Kim Potter trial over Daunte Wright's death
Kim Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter.
The trial of former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter charged in the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, continues with Potter taking the stand to testify in her own defense.
Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 incident. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter, it's 10 years and a $20,000 fine.
Wright's death reignited protests against racism and police brutality across the U.S., as the killing took place just outside of Minneapolis, where the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, was taking place.
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Potter says she likely never deployed her Taser
Kim Potter said she rarely took her Taser out and doesn't believe she ever deployed it.
She testified that she sometimes took her Taser out to de-escalate a situation "or to prepare for what might be behind the door. Sometimes an officer has a gun and sometimes an officer has a Taser out."
She said she received her new Taser almost a month before the fatal killing of Daunte Wright. She also said the training she had at the department was focused more on firearms than on Tasers.
Potter talks about her experience as a field training officer
Kim Potter was asked about her background with the Brooklyn Center Police Department. She was hired in 1995, making her a 26-year veteran of the department.
She was a field training officer for at least 10 years, she testified.
She said she was a field training officer because she "felt that I had knowledge and mentorship that I could help young officers develop into somebody I would want to work and my partners would want to work with."
She was serving as a field training officer when she fatally shot Wright.
She was also on the domestic abuse response team, serving as a crisis negotiator within the domestic abuse program.
"Officers would go out on domestic abuse situations or domestic calls and if there was a victim of a crime or an arrest made -- or not an arrest made -- we would follow up the next day with the victims to see that they were getting the things they needed like domestic advocates, walking them through getting order for protections that they had questions, and then helping them, and checking in with them through the court process," she testified.
As a crisis negotiator, Potter said she would respond to calls where people may be in danger to negotiate with the subject and get them to submit to being arrested.
She had also worked in crime prevention work and said she received a Taser and firearm training.
Kim Potter takes the stand
Kim Potter is testifying in her own defense about the April 11, 2021, events that led to the death of Daunte Wright, who she shot and killed during a traffic stop. She is charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter. The defense said Potter meant to use her Taser on Wright but instead grabbed her firearm when she shot him in the driver's seat of his car, a mistake her lawyers call an "action error."
The defense has maintained that Potter was within her rights to use deadly force on Wright since he could have hurt or killed another officer with his car.
Minnesota governor prepares National Guard 'out of an abundance of caution'
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced that he is preparing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public safety assistance if necessary during Kim Potter's trial, as requested by Hennepin County and the city of Brooklyn Center.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we are prepared to ask members of the Minnesota National Guard to be available to support local law enforcement with the mission of allowing for peaceful demonstrations, keeping the peace, and ensuring public safety," Walz said in a statement Wednesday evening.
A press release from Walz's press office stated that, "at this time, the Minnesota National Guard will not be proactively assuming posts throughout the Twin Cities." Guard members will only operate in support of local law enforcement "should they be needed," according to the press release.