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 wanted to help domestic abuse victims, her defense says about her career
Defense attorney Paul Engh told the jury details about former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter, who has pursued a career in law enforcement since she was a teenager in high school.
Engh said that Potter got a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and sociology, and started her career in 1995 as a patrol officer for Brooklyn Center Police Department.
The 26-year veteran to the BCPD, Engh said, "always wanted to be on the streets."
"She'll tell you one of the proudest days of her life was to have her dad pin the badge on her so that she can be a police officer," Engh said.
In particular, Engh said Potter wanted to help domestic abuse victims.
"As she became a part of Brooklyn Center domestic abuse task force … she shepherded women through the court system, became mentors, and made sure they were treated fairly," Engh said.
Prosecution focuses on Daunte Wright, may introduce 'spark of life' witness
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge told the jury more about 20-year-old Daunte Wright.
"Daunte Wright himself was just 20 years old -- just out of his teens -- still had a close relationship with his mother, had a new baby boy, a loving family and his whole adult life ahead of him," said Eldridge.
She told the jury that he had a large family that he loved, dreams of being a professional basketball player and plans to enroll in a trade school.
The prosecution is expected to have a "spark of life" witness, a Minnesota legal allowance that lets prosecutors present evidence about a murder victim that paints them in a nuanced light, legal experts say.
-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
Prosecution hammers Potter's training
Erin Eldridge, a prosecutor with the Minnesota assistant attorney general's office, is presenting the state's case against former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter.
In an opening statement, Eldridge read for the jury the oath that Brooklyn Center officers take: "I will never betray my badge, my integrity. my character, or the public interest. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions."
Eldridge told jurors that police officers "have the responsibility to be mindful and attentive and acutely aware of the weapons that they carry and the risks associated with those weapons," targeting Potter's defense that claims Potter had meant to grab her stun gun instead of her firearm when she fatally shot Daunte Wright.
"When it comes to those weapons, they have the responsibility to carry those weapons, and use those weapons appropriately," Eldridge added.
Eldridge told the jury that they'll hear evidence regarding stun gun and firearm training that Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police department, would have had.
Potter carried her weapons on her belt in the same way every day on the job, Eldridge told the jury, and that she wore her firearm on her dominant, right-hand side and her stun gun on her non-dominant, left side.
"She was also trained about the risks of pulling the wrong weapon and that drawing and firing the wrong weapon could kill someone," Eldridge said. "She was trained to carry her weapons in this way. And she was trained on how to use them and how not to use them."
Daunte Wright's family enters courtroom
Daunte Wright's siblings -- Damik, Diamond and Dallas -- have arrived at the Hennepin County Government Center ahead of opening statements.
Daunte's family wants him to be remembered not through the tragedy of his death, but as a brother, son and father who was close with his family.
"On Thanksgiving, we sat there and we watched so many videos of my nephew," Wright's aunt Naisha Wright said tearfully in a past interview with ABC News. "It was just such a beautiful thing, because everybody had a memory of him either cracking jokes or trying to dance -- because he could not dance, but he tried."
She added: "He just had his whole life taken away from him. We had our hearts pulled out of our chests. He was my baby."