Posted on 12/20/2021 10:50:27 AM PST by L.A.Justice
Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter took the stand in her own defense on Friday, telling jurors her account of what happened on April 11.
Potter said, after Officer Anthony Luckey told Daunte Wright not to tense up, the stop "just went chaotic." Potter then said she saw fear in Sgt. Mychal Johnson's face like "nothing I've seen before" and then didn't realize she'd shot Wright until Wright yelled he'd been shot.
Potter cried as she discussed Wright's shooting and as the state later played segments of her body camera video. She also was asked if she would've pulled over Wright if she was alone and not with Luckey, and responded, "Most likely not there."
The state highlighted the extensive training she received over her career, the fact that she'd carried a Taser since 2005 and, except for a brief period when she first got the Taser, that she carried the Taser on her left side and gun on her right for over a decade. Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge also noted the de-escalation training Potter had, specifically since she worked as a crisis negotiator.
Potter cried frequently during cross-examination, at one point saying through tears, "I'm sorry it happened. I'm so sorry." As Eldridge said Potter knew deadly force was unreasonable and grilled her for not trying to provide aid or relay information to other officers, Potter replied, "I didn't want to hurt anybody."
The former officer also said she resigned from the department after shooting Wright because "There was so much bad things happening. I didn't want my coworkers and I didn't want anything bad to happen to the city."
Her testimony came after Laurence Miller — who has a doctoral degree in psychology and has specialties in forensic psychology, neuropsychology and police psychology — testified about action error and how someone can think they're doing one thing, like grabbing a Taser, when they actually do another, such as grab a gun, when under extreme stress. The state pushed back against his testimony by highlighting the extensive training officers receive to handle that stress and the measures taken — such as the differences between a Taser and gun and the sides they're carried on — to mitigate weapon confusion.
The defense rested its case just before 2 p.m. and, after Judge Regina Chu reminded jurors not to discuss or watch anything about the case, dismissed them for the weekend.
Court is scheduled to reconvene Monday at 9 a.m. when closing statements and final jury instructions will be presented before the jury begins deliberations.
Potter is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in Wright's death.
Click here to read more in-depth notes or watch Friday's proceedings.
“What the hell, why even have court hearings when we can let the internet be the judge and jury.”
WY do you propose anarchy?
Correction. Potter carried Taser straight-draw weak side.
She would be trained so draw with her left hand.
In one of the best-known cases, a transit officer responding to a fight at a train station in Oakland, California, killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant in 2009. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, testified at trial that, fearing Grant had a weapon, he reached for his stun gun but mistakenly pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead. Grant was shot as he lay face down.
Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison. His department paid $2.8 million to Grant’s daughter and her mother.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a white volunteer sheriff’s deputy, Robert Bates, said he accidentally fired his handgun when he meant to deploy his stun gun on an unarmed Black man, Eric Harris, who was being held down by other officers in 2015.
Bates apologized for killing Harris but described his deadly mistake as a common problem in law enforcement, saying “This has happened a number of times around the country... You must believe me, it can happen to anyone.”
Bates was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison. Tulsa County ultimately agreed to pay $6 million to Harris’ estate to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit.
In 2019, a suburban St. Louis police officer, Julia Crews, said she meant to use her stun gun but mistakenly grabbed her service revolver and shot a suspected shoplifter, Ashley Hall, who suffered serious injuries. Crews resigned and was charged with second-degree assault. That was eventually dropped at Hall’s request after the victim and the former officer agreed to participate in restorative justice mediation. Separately, the city of Ladue agreed to a $2 million settlement with Hall.
Did you watch the whole trial? You kow arguing on the internet is silly unless you really need to be right.
““Quota”?? She’s been a cop for 26 years.”
They had AA quotas even before that
Did you watch the whole trial? You kow arguing on the internet is silly unless you really need to be right.
I did watch the whole trial. Every minute. If you would like to it’s on youtube at Rekieta Law. Usually 4 or 5 lawyers were watching at the same time and explaining some of the finer points. Granted, all the commentators lean eight wing and lean toward the defense in this case.
I am disabled so I have the time.
She has never had need to use neither the taser nor her Glock in the line of duty. It was the first time in what I recall as a 24 year career. She also had zero complaints in her file. She was also not a desk jockey for most of her career.
“I always come back to the state having to prove it was not an accident.”
They don’t have to prove it wasn’t an accident. They only have to prove culpable negligence on her part.
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609.195 MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE.
(a) Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years.
(b) Whoever, without intent to cause death, proximately causes the death of a human being by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in Schedule I or II, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years or to payment of a fine of not more than $40,000, or both.
The Taser was carried weak side straight draw.
The Taser holster has a different type release.
The Taser is yellow.
The Taser requires moving the safety to the off position.
The Taser is lighter, less than half the weight of the gun
The Taser has a different trigger and grip.
The Taser has laser and LED lights marking the target.
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