Key Moments in the Kimberly Potter Trial on Daunte Wright’s Death

As Daunte Wright laic mortally wounded successful the driver’s spot of his car, the constabulary serviceman who had fired a azygous slug into his thorax collapsed connected the broadside of the road, sobbing arsenic she explained that she had thought she was holding her Taser. “I’m going to spell to prison,” she said, connected video captured astatine the country successful April.

Jurors volition soon determine the destiny of the officer, Kimberly Potter, aft proceeding from 33 witnesses implicit the past week and a fractional successful a Minneapolis courtroom. Ms. Potter faces charges of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter, and a condemnation connected either number would apt nonstop her to situation for respective years. Closing arguments are expected connected Monday.

Ms. Potter, 49, who is white, resigned from the constabulary unit successful Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, 2 days aft the fatal shooting of Mr. Wright, a 20-year-old Black antheral who was driving to get his car washed.

Here are the cardinal moments from the trial.

Ms. Potter testified that she was ‘sorry it happened.’

Ms. Potter took the witnesser basal successful her ain defence connected the past time of her trial. She broke down respective times arsenic she described a “chaotic” country during the postulation halt connected April 11 and said she had important holes successful her memory.

“I’m atrocious it happened,” Ms. Potter testified done tears. “I didn’t privation to wounded anybody.”

Ms. Potter said she remembered small astir what happened successful the moments aft the shooting.

“I retrieve yelling ‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’ and thing happened, and past helium told maine I changeable him,” Ms. Potter told the jurors. In assemblage camera footage, Mr. Wright tin beryllium heard saying “Ah, helium changeable me” earlier his car lurched guardant and crashed down the block.

During cross-examination, a authoritative questioned Ms. Potter intensely implicit her crushed for pulling her gun, asking if Mr. Wright had threatened oregon punched an serviceman oregon if Ms. Potter had seen a weapon successful his car. Each time, Ms. Potter responded with “No.”

The prosecutor, Erin Eldridge, besides displayed side-by-side photographs of Ms. Potter’s Taser, which is mostly yellow, and her handgun, a Glock that is wholly black.

“These items look different, don’t they?” Ms. Eldridge asked.

“Yes,” Ms. Potter replied.

The authoritative besides asked Ms. Potter whether she knew her near from her close — she carried her weapon connected the close broadside of her constabulary loop and her Taser connected the left.

Ms. Potter testified that she believed that she had ne'er fired her Taser portion connected patrol during the 19 years she had carried 1 connected her belt, though she had drawn it successful the past.

She besides said that she apt would not person pulled Mr. Wright’s car implicit had she not been grooming a rookie constabulary serviceman who wanted to bash so. That officer, Anthony Luckey, pulled Mr. Wright implicit due to the fact that Mr. Wright had an aerial freshener hanging from the rearview mirror and the car’s registration was expired.

‘What person I done?’ Ms. Potter collapsed, sobbing, successful video shown for the archetypal time

Since the shooting connected April 11, the nationalist had seen lone a astir minute-long video of Ms. Potter threatening to stun Mr. Wright with her Taser and shouting “Taser! Taser! Taser!” earlier she fired a azygous slug into his chest.

But astatine the trial, jurors saw caller assemblage camera and constabulary dash camera videos that were played publically for the archetypal time.

“I grabbed the incorrect gun,” Ms. Potter says, utilizing an expletive, successful 1 video that captured the moments instantly aft the shooting. She collapses to the ground, sobbing, arsenic 2 chap officers effort to comfortableness her.

At 1 constituent successful the videos, she suggested sidesplitting herself. Several minutes later, a chap officer, Sgt. Mychal Johnson, took a weapon from her holster and surreptitiously emptied it of ammunition earlier returning it to her, fearing that she mightiness sprout herself.

Prosecutors played the videos respective times successful court, apt trying to amusement jurors that Ms. Potter believed, astatine the time, that she had done thing wrong, oregon adjacent breached the law.

“What person I done?” she said respective times. As the videos were shown successful court, Ms. Potter shook and cried.

But determination were besides parts of the video that aided the defense. When Ms. Potter said she was going to spell to prison, Sergeant Johnson, 1 of 2 different officers astatine the country of the shooting, responded: “Kim, that feline was trying to instrumentality disconnected with maine successful the car.”

Whether that was existent has go a cardinal constituent of contention astatine trial.

Prosecutors and Ms. Potter’s lawyers hold that Ms. Potter did not mean to occurrence her gun, but prosecutors person argued that the mistake was truthful reckless that she should beryllium imprisoned. Defense lawyers person said that she was close to effort to usage her Taser to halt Mr. Wright from fleeing, but that she besides would person been justified adjacent if she had intended to usage her gun, due to the fact that Sergeant Johnson was successful information of being dragged.

Daunte Wright’s parent broke down connected the stand

Mr. Wright’s mother, Katie Bryant, cried respective times arsenic she recounted being connected the telephone with Mr. Wright conscionable seconds earlier helium was killed.

Mr. Wright was driving to a carwash with a pistillate helium had precocious started seeing erstwhile helium was pulled over.

Ms. Bryant said her lad sounded tense erstwhile helium called her during the postulation stop. She told him things would beryllium fine, but past the telephone abruptly ended. The officers had discovered that a justice had issued a warrant for Mr. Wright’s apprehension aft helium missed a tribunal day connected charges of illegally possessing a weapon and moving from the police. When an serviceman tried to handcuff Mr. Wright, helium pulled distant and got backmost successful the driver’s seat.

Understand the Killing of Daunte Wright

Ms. Bryant said she frantically tried to telephone her lad back. Eventually, his companion, Alayna Albrecht-Payton, answered the video telephone and screamed that Mr. Wright had been shot. Ms. Albrecht-Payton turned the telephone toward the driver’s seat, and Ms. Bryant saw her lad slumped there.

Ms. Bryant testified that she sped to the country of the shooting successful Brooklyn Center and knew that her lad was dormant erstwhile she saw his shoes sticking retired from a achromatic sheet.

“I wanted to comfortableness my baby, I wanted to clasp him,” Ms. Bryant testified done tears. “I wanted to support him due to the fact that that’s what mothers do. We support our children and marque definite that they’re safe.”

The prosecution’s ain constabulary witnesses defended Ms. Potter, arsenic did the erstwhile constabulary chief.

One constabulary serviceman testified that Ms. Potter was close to usage her Taser connected Mr. Wright. Another went further, saying that adjacent had Ms. Potter intended to usage her gun, it would person been justified. And a 3rd called Ms. Potter “a bully cop” and suggested it mightiness person been tenable for Ms. Potter to sprout Mr. Wright.

All 3 of the officers worked for the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and each bolstered parts of Ms. Potter’s defense. They were besides each enactment connected the basal by prosecutors.

Perhaps astir important was the grounds of Sergeant Johnson, who said, successful effect to questions from Ms. Potter’s lawyers, that helium had been successful information of being earnestly wounded oregon killed if Mr. Wright had driven disconnected portion helium was inactive leaning into the rider broadside of the car. Sergeant Johnson testified that though Ms. Potter had intended to usage her Taser, she had been justified successful utilizing her gun, nether Minnesota law, successful bid to prevention him from suffering superior harm oregon death.

Tim Gannon, who was the main of the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 5 and a fractional years earlier helium was forced to resign successful the aftermath of the shooting, testified that Ms. Potter was a bully serviceman who had not breached his department’s rules erstwhile she killed Mr. Wright.

Mr. Gannon, who was called by the defense, said that erstwhile helium reviewed videos of the shooting, helium saw “no usurpation — of policy, process oregon law.”

“There’s definite things wrong the section that you get known for,” helium said. “Are you handling your calls? Are you nonrecreational erstwhile you speech with people? Are you doing bully constabulary reports? She was known for doing each of those things.”

Two policing experts clashed implicit whether it was OK to usage a Taser oregon a weapon successful the situation.

To an adept hired by prosecutors, Ms. Potter had acted inappropriately erstwhile she fired her gun, but she besides would person been successful the incorrect had she successfully utilized her Taser. To an adept testifying for the defense, utilizing a Taser would person been successful enactment with champion policing practices, but Ms. Potter was besides justified successful firing her weapon successful the circumstances she was facing.

The prosecution expert, Seth Stoughton, a instrumentality prof astatine the University of South Carolina and a erstwhile constabulary officer, said Mr. Wright had not posed a menace that warranted the firing of Ms. Potter’s weapon and that she had fired it successful an inappropriate information — successful adjacent proximity to a chap serviceman and Mr. Wright’s rider successful the beforehand spot of a car. Stunning Mr. Wright with a Taser would besides person been excessively risky to beryllium appropriate, helium said.

“It’s truly unsafe to incapacitate — the mode the Taser tin incapacitate — idiosyncratic who is successful a presumption to get a conveyance moving,” Mr. Stoughton said. “You tin make an unguided hazard.”

When the defence lawyers had their crook to question an expert, they called Steve Ijames, who had worked arsenic a constabulary serviceman successful Missouri for astir 42 years. He said that if Sergeant Johnson was leaning into the car, Ms. Potter was justified successful firing her gun, and that she besides would person been close to usage her Taser.

“If that car gets successful drive, it’s going to get bad,” Mr. Ijames said. “The Taser is that unsocial instrumentality that, erstwhile performing arsenic designed and intended, would person enactment a halt to it.”