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.
The doodle shows up to post something to stir the pot. That is all you do here. Report back to your DNC masters now
Here’s what I think is a fair analogy. Let’s say a nurse is supposed to give a patient a dose of medicine X. But in her haste (it’s a hectic time on the floor) the nurse gives the patient a dose of medicine Y instead - even though it clearly says Y (not X) on the label.
Is that nurse guilty of anything criminal?
The woman prosecutor is a stone cold b*itch
But I’m in love with the judges soft soothing voice. I could listen to her all day
Felony murder requires intent.
So you're saying that shooting them is part of the procedure? Who knew?
To be fair, the patient would have to be sitting behind the wheel of a running car and trying to escape. The patient would also need to have an arrest warrant for a gun and the possibility she had one under the covers.
Most medical errors are corrected in civil cases. btw.
The split second action situations and multiple movements and actions of a very explosive nature are not taught to be automatic in training, only the basic movements that need each reaction to be done. all confrontations are unique to time and place.
All the conversation about what she thot she had, what trigger she pulled, etc etc is just mumbo jumbo. Don’t the geniuses always tell us we cant’ shoot someone running away, we can’t shoot someone already handcuffed, we can’t shoot someone who is unarmed? and so on. This chick should get the same thing the old reserve officer guy in Texas got for killing the cuffed guy, lying on the ground, face down? This bizness of cops shooting un-armed people has to taper off. Still remembering the Guyer doll in Dallas who shot Big John, in his own apt, watching TV.
Potter had no intent to use excessive force, and never had an arrogant attitude toward the public.
Also I see no political motivation on Potter's part, while considerable on the Prosecution's part.
Yeah, I'd take her job and career in Law Enforcement and leave her liable to Tort, but prison will make no one safer in society.
> Most medical errors are corrected in civil cases. btw <
Yes. And I gotta tell you, I’m really torn about this particular case. As you noted, the cop absolutely did not mean to kill that suspect. It was 100% an accident.
But does her negligence rise to the level of criminal behavior? The more I think of it, the more I think it does not (and trust me, I’m no cop-lover).
Not really. Requires the commission of a felony during which someone dies. Using a vehicle as a weapon in order to escape would be that.
I always come back to the state having to prove it was not an accident. A certain amount of negligence occurs in virtually all accidents.
I also think (solely my opinion) is that the accident occurred when she actually pulled the trigger. Both weapons had triggers. If I understand correctly you are trained to fire once with a taser and twice with a Glock. (I could be wrong on this as I am not a cop) She fired once.
If Wright had not resisted while trying to flee, this never would have happened.
Expecting black people to comply with lawful orders of law enforcement is racist.
“This is only from memory of the jury instruction, but I think 2nd degree in this case requires conscience disregard of risk.”
-———————————Statute-—————
(1) by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously
takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another; or
Use to be the billy club. A couple of hits in the solar plexus and down you went.
Thanks. I summed it up well.
Tasers should not be pistol format, they could easily make it a grip style like stapler or similar. Make the experience totally different
Yes really. Here's the Minnesota First Degree Murder statute. Intent is a requirement.
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