Closing arguments are expected to begin today in the manslaughter trial of Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright.
Those paying close attention to the trial were left angered and frustrated last week, as Potter insisted that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody,” as she delivered her tearful testimony to the judge and jury.
Police pulled Wright over for expired tags but discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest for having a firearm without a permit. He was not armed at the time. In the body camera footage, Potter can be heard yelling, “I’ll Tase you. Taser! Taser! Taser!” while holding a pistol. Wright returns to his vehicle and attempts to drive away when the officer shot him. He crashed into another vehicle after driving several blocks.
Potter, 49, testified that she was “sorry it happened” and that she did not recall the moments immediately following the shooting.
“Officer [Anthony] Luckey started to say something about ‘don’t do that, don’t tense up, stop doing that,'” she recalled. “And then, it just went completely chaotic. I remember struggle with officer Luckey at the door. The driver was trying to get back into the car.”
Twitter says she weaponized her tears to sway the jury.
Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. State sentencing guidelines call for just over seven years in prison upon conviction of first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree. Prosecutors have said they plan to push for longer sentences.
Speaking to Click2Houstin, Calvin Walls, Wright’s great-uncle, was left unmoved by Potter’s tears.
”Even if she didn’t mean to pull the trigger, she knew she pulled that gun,” Walls said. ”She just kept crying about her career. Most of the time, if you didn’t mean to hurt somebody, you ask are they ok,” Walls continued, adding that she hopes Potter is given the maximum sentence.
