Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright Found Guilty of Manslaughter
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A jury in Minnesota found Kim Potter, the former police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter on Thursday.
The jury’s verdict, read by Judge Regina Chu, came after 27 hours of deliberation. Potter had maintained that she confused her gun for her Taser when she shot Wright, a 20-year-old black man, during a traffic stop in April. First-degree manslaughter involves causing death while committing a misdemeanor, in this case the reckless use of a firearm; second-degree manslaughter involves causing death while creating “an unreasonable risk” of “causing death or great bodily harm to another.” The maximum penalties are 15 years and 10 years, respectively. Judge Chu denied a request for Potter’s release prior to her sentencing, saying, “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”
Coverage was immediately widespread, with some large outlets featuring “live coverage” of the trial in the hours leading up to the verdict’s announcement. Outlets across the spectrum featured coverage of the verdict prominently on homepages. While Potter’s sentencing will occur on Feb. 18, coverage varied in predicting how many years Potter would face in prison.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Kim Potter trial: Minneapolis jury finds ex-police officer guilty in death of Daunte WrightThe jury has found former Minneapolis-area police Officer Kim Potter guilty of first and second degree manslaughter charges in the April 2021 death of Daunte Wright.
Kim Potter, 49, could face a maximum sentence of 15 years for the first degree manslaught charge, while second degree charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Judge Regina Chu ordered Potter to be taken into custody and held without bail. She also praised the jurors as "heroes of the judicial system." The judge rejected a request from the defense team that Potter be allowed...
From the Center
Kim Potter Found Guilty Of Manslaughter In Daunte Wright ShootingKim Potter was found guilty on Thursday of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, whom the former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer shot during a traffic stop in April when she claimed she thought she was using her taser.
After deliberating for three days, jurors found Potter guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter.
Over the course of the week and a half trial, prosecutors did not dispute that the shooting was an accident, but argued Potter’s training and experience should have prevented the mix-up and subsequent shooting, contending...
From the Left
Kimberly Potter is convicted on two charges of manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.The former police officer who fatally shot a man in a Minneapolis suburb after seeming to mistake her gun for her Taser was convicted of two counts of manslaughter on Tuesday, a rare guilty verdict for a police officer that is likely to send her to prison for years.
The jury of 12 took more than 27 hours over four days to reach the unanimous guilty verdicts for Kimberly Potter, a 49-year-old white woman who testified that she had never fired her gun on the police force in Brooklyn Center,...
AllSides Picks
May 20th, 2024
May 20th, 2024