DAUNTE WRIGHT

Former Minn. officer Kimberly Potter released from prison after serving 16 months for killing Daunte Wright

Nina Moini / MPR News — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:12:05 GMT

Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kimberly Potter, who killed Daunte Wright in 2021, was released from prison in Shakopee early Monday.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a news release that Potter was released at 4 a.m. “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, DOC staff and the security of the correctional facility.”

Potter will serve the remaining months of her sentence on supervised release in Wisconsin. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said Potter is expected to complete her sentence on Dec. 21.

She has served 16 months of a 2-year manslaughter sentence, which is lower than recommended in state sentencing guidelines. The 50-year-old former officer shot and killed 20-year-old driver Daunte Wright during a traffic stop April 11, 2021 in a residential area of Brooklyn Center. His vehicle was stopped for having expired license tabs and an air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror.

Initially, Wright complied with officers’ orders, but then tried to drive away when he was told he would be arrested for a misdemeanor firearms warrant.

Potter, a 26-year law enforcement veteran, said she mistakenly used her gun instead of her Taser to try to stop Wright from leaving the scene. Wright, the father of a 2-year-old, was shot once in the chest. A passenger in Wright’s car was injured in the subsequent crash.

The killing took place while the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was underway under heavy security. Chauvin was later convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020. Wright’s death sparked protests and an effort for public safety reform in Brooklyn Center, which borders Minneapolis.

The City of Brooklyn Center approved a $3.25 million settlement for Wright's family in the shooting last summer.

After Wright’s killing Brooklyn Center officials moved to change some police procedures, such as requiring officers to issue citations for misdemeanors and note more details about arrests. But a commission appointed to recommend major changes in public safety has not yet made public recommendations for an overhaul.

In its Monday morning news release, the Minnesota Department of Corrections said its staff had “obtained information that elevated concerns” about Potter’s safety and the potential for “violent protests” outside the Shakopee facility, but did not elaborate further.

The department said Minnesota is part of an interstate compact that “provides states the authority, accountability and resources to provide correctional supervision for those who move across state lines.”

Authorities in Wisconsin, where Potter will serve the reminder of her sentence on supervised release, will be responsible for ensuring she complies with conditions. Those conditions include a requirement that Potter “must refrain from purchasing, possessing, accessing or controlling any type of firearm, ammunition, or dangerous weapon.”

She can’t leave the state of Wisconsin without written approval from authorities there.

A call to Potter’s attorneys was not returned.

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Attorneys: Daunte Wright family has a $3.25M settlement agreement with city of Brooklyn Center

MPR News — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 19:45:01 GMT

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minnesota — Attorneys representing the family of Daunte Wright say they have a tentative settlement agreement that calls for the city of Brooklyn Center to pay $3.25 million.

According to a statement Tuesday the proposal also includes changes in policing to prevent stops like the one that preceded Wright's killing in April 2021.

He was shot once in the chest by a Brooklyn Center police officer after his car was stopped for expired tabs and an air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.

Former officer Kimberly Potter is serving a two-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter late last year.

“The comprehensive settlement in this tragic case will provide a meaningful measure of accountability to the family for their deep loss of a son, sibling and father, and they hope and believe the measures of change to policing, policies and training will create important improvements to the community in Daunte’s name” said co-counsel Antonio M. Romanucci in the statement.

The attorneys say the settlement hinges on the suburban city agreeing to training of police officers in weapons confusion, implicit bias, de-escalation and response to mental health crises. Some of the training could come from the University of St. Thomas, on a pro-bono basis.

Potter is heard on video yelling “Taser” several times just before she fires her pistol.

“A guiding principle of our efforts was to strike a balance between holding Brooklyn Center accountable, while not undermining the financial stability of the city or limiting the services it provides to its residents, many of whom are people of color,” said co-counsel Jeff Storms.

The attorneys also seek a permanent memorial where a temporary one sits.

Brooklyn Center mayor Mike Elliott did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the settlement, or how it would be paid, although many Minnesota cities rely on an insurance trust fund established by the League of Minnesota Cities to pay significant settlements.

The payout is one of the largest for police incidents in the state. The city of Minneapolis paid $27 million to the family of George Floyd after he was murdered by Derek Chauvin in 2020.

The city of Minneapolis previously paid out $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk, after she called 911 to report a suspected assault behind her south Minneapolis home in July of 2017 and was shot to death by Mohamed Noor, one of the officers who responded to her call.

Minneapolis is much larger than Brooklyn Center and is not limited by the resources of an insurance trust; the Ruszcyzk family settlement was about $50 per resident of Minneapolis, and the Floyd family settlement was a little over $60 per resident. The Wright settlement is more than $100 per resident of Brooklyn Center.

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One year later: Reform far from finished following Daunte Wright's killing

Nina Moini / MPR News — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 15:29:45 GMT

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. -- Monday marks one year since Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a Brooklyn Center police officer.

The former officer, Kimberly Potter, has since been convicted and sentenced for manslaughter. Potter said she confused her gun for her taser, shooting Wright as he tried to flee arrest during a traffic stop.

The case has wrapped up as Brooklyn Center’s work around public safety has just begun.

Katie Wright, Daunte’s mother, is still determined to honor the life of her son through police reform.

“Fight now, grieve later is the mode we are put in when our loved ones are killed by police,” Wright said during a recent visit to the memorial along a residential Brooklyn Center street where her son died.

The fight for police reform in Brooklyn Center started almost immediately after Daunte was shot and killed on April 11th, 2021. The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd, was underway when neighboring Brooklyn Center suddenly became the focus of national attention.

Mayor Mike Elliott, the first Black and first Liberian American mayor of Brooklyn Center, said the last year has been challenging. Elliott promised an overhaul of public safety in the city, which has a population of around 30,000 people.

“You have to have confidence in your public safety system in order for people to not only feel safe but to cooperate and help you solve crime,” Elliott said.

The resolution to make sweeping changes passed in May, just weeks after Wright’s killing. The new department of community safety and violence prevention will include a unit that will respond to mental health calls, an unarmed traffic enforcement unit and community programming aimed at reducing crime. Elliott said it is the most efficient approach because most of the calls that come in to Brooklyn Center police do not require an armed police response.

“So when people call us and ask for help we can send the proper response,” Elliott said. “We think that is smart and makes a lot of sense and helps keep our community safe.”

While Elliott had hoped to implement the new department by the one-year mark since Wright’s death, the committee of citizens tasked with helping implement the sweeping changes was just recently formed and just began meeting.

Katie Wright is part of the group.

“At first it was a rough start,” she said. “I was a little impatient on how slow it was going.”

Wright said she remains hopeful the implementation committee will soon delve into forming new policies related to banning no-knock warrants and pretext traffic stops.

Elliott said the process could take more than another year before the new public safety department structure will be fully operational.

The City Council approved $1 million dollars for the mayor’s initiatives in December. He says part of the reason the efforts are stalling is because he wants to gather information and data to support any future funding decisions.

“It is still early in the process,” Elliott said.

New policies

In September, Brooklyn Center announced a new citations and summons policy which requires Brooklyn Center police officers to issue citations for misdemeanor offenses unless the officer believes the person’s behavior is a danger to themselves or the public. The goal of the policy is to help de-escalate situations. Elliott said the policy now requires officers to note why they made an arrest, but the city has not yet begun examining that data.

Elliott said Brooklyn Center has 35 current sworn officers, down from 42 before Wright’s death. Elliott wants to commission a study to determine whether more officers are needed, but said he did know when that study will happen. The implementation committee that includes Katie Wright also includes social workers, youth outreach workers and one former member of law enforcement, according to Elliott.

“It's certainly the committee’s full intent to make sure law enforcement are part of the process,” Elliott said.

The department is also in need of a new police chief, since the last chief left following his refusal to immediately fire Potter after she shot and killed Wright.

Elliott said he is interviewing multiple candidates for police chief but would not share any names.

The labor union representing Brooklyn Center officers opposes the reforms passed by the city. Law Enforcement Labor Services questions the feasibility and legality of the city’s proposed changes, especially the part of the city’s resolution that discussed unarmed civilians responding to minor traffic violations.

LELS and two other unions sent a letter to city leaders in May asking them not to pass the resolution. The letter said the proposal could give responsibilities to people without experience in police processes and endanger the public.

“The proposed resolution prohibiting custodial arrests or consent searches for non-felony offenses would prevent arrests for driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and careless, reckless or other dangerous driving conduct. This is contrary to reason, state law and public safety,” the letter read.

“Likewise, officers called to a domestic assault are required by Minnesota law to arrest and detain the assailant. However, the resolution, as drafted, would conflict with state law and, importantly, increase the danger to the victim of that assault. Further, delegating responsibilities to committees composed of individuals without experience concerning police process, procedure, response or collective bargaining issues and terms is problematic.”

Katie Wright said she is frustrated by the pace of change but hopeful that by the next anniversary of her son Daunte’s death, she can say confidently the city of Brooklyn Center and the entire state of Minnesota are safer places for citizens and police officers.

“It’s bigger than Daunte, it’s bigger than the names we yell in the street.”

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Ex-cop Kimberly Potter sentenced to 2 years in prison in Daunte Wright killing

Nina Moini / MPR News — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:25:38 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter was sentenced Friday to two years in prison in the killing of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last year.

The sentence falls at the lower end of the sentencing guidelines. In December, a jury convicted Potter of first- and second-degree manslaughter. She’s expected to spend about two-thirds of that behind bars. With time already served, that leaves about 14 months remaining.

“This is a cop who made a tragic mistake,” Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu said as she sentenced Potter. “She drew her firearm thinking it was a Taser and ended up killing a young man.”

Chu said the trial evidence left it undisputed that Potter never intended to use her firearm and that the scene was “chaotic, tense and rapidly evolving … officer Potter was required to make a split-second judgment,” a mitigating factor in her sentence.

The judge made it clear that this case was different than the 2020 killing of George Floyd while in police custody and the 2017 killing of 911 caller Justine Ruszczyk by Minneapolis police officers, cases that led to much stiffer sentences for the officers convicted.

Chu called the Wright killing “one of the saddest cases I’ve had in my 20 years on the bench.”

Just prior to the sentencing, a remorseful Potter tearfully told Wright’s mother Katie, “I understand a mother’s love and I’m sorry I broke your heart. My heart is broken for all of you,” adding, “I do pray that one day you can find forgiveness, only because hatred is destructive to all of us. I am so sorry.”

Speaking before the sentencing, Wright’s parents delivered heart-wrenching words as they spoke warmly of their son and the void left by his killing.

Katie Wright told the court she would never be able to forgive Potter for only referring to Daunte in court as the driver and not saying his name. “You took his future,” she said. “She failed Daunte, our family and our community.”

Wearing a pin with his son's picture, Arbuey Wright noted Daunte’s son, now 2, had only a short time together.

“It hurts my heart that Daunte will not have these memories with Daunte Jr., he said. "Everything we do as a family ends in tears, because all we have is memories left of our son."

Wright’s mother said she was especially angered by Potter’s prison mug shot that shows her smiling. Potter attorney Paul Engh said later that Potter was asked to smile when the photo was taken at the women’s prison in Shakopee and it was not meant to be disrespectful.

Prosecutors initially said they’d seek a sentence longer than state guidelines call for, but now say Potter should get seven years — the presumptive term for someone with no criminal record. Defense attorneys are asking for probation.

Arguing for a sentence with no prison time, Engh said Potter has a large support system and lived a virtuous life in line with her Catholic values. He said she’s received three boxes of cards from supporters, and he read a few in court.

A common refrain among the letters, he noted: If we send officers to prison for mistakes, no one will want to be one.

‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’

Wright’s fatal police encounter with Potter began as a routine Sunday afternoon traffic stop in Brooklyn Center.

Potter and the officer she was training pulled Wright’s car over for an air freshener hanging from his car's rear view mirror and for expired license plate tabs. A third officer also arrived on the scene.

Running a background check, they found Wright had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a gross misdemeanor weapons violation.

As he stood outside the car, the officers told Wright he was under arrest. As they began to handcuff him, Wright slipped away and jumped back into the driver’s seat.

On police camera video, Potter can be heard telling Wright “I’ll tase ya” while holding her 9 mm handgun in her right hand and pointing it at Wright as officers try to keep Wright from driving away.

She yells “Taser! Taser! Taser!” just before firing a single bullet into Wright’s chest; he drove off but crashed shortly after. Potter, 49, is heard saying on the video. “I grabbed the wrong (expletive) gun … I’m going to go to prison.”

Potter later told investigators she had intended to draw her Taser to subdue Wright but unintentionally drew her service weapon.

The shooting in April 2021 led to a week of sometimes violent protests as former officer Derek Chauvin’s trial in the killing of George Floyd was still underway. Prosecutors did not characterize Potter’s shooting of Wright as racially motivated.

Defense attorneys said Potter made a mistake, and was reacting to Wright’s sudden move to get in his car while other officers struggled with him.

Potter’s prosecutors never characterized Wright's killing as racially motivated, but civil rights advocates around the case pointed to a long history of officers not being held accountable when they kill unarmed Black people.

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Ex-Minnesota police officer Kimberly Potter to be sentenced in shooting of Daunte Wright

Nathan Layne / Reuters — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 12:37:02 GMT

A Minnesota judge will sentence former police officer Kimberly Potter on Friday for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, with prosecutors seeking seven years in prison and her lawyers asking for leniency.

Potter, 49 — who mistook her handgun for her Taser in firing on Wright, 20, as he resisted officers who pulled him over last April — was found guilty by a jury in December of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter.

The sentencing hearing in Minneapolis before Judge Regina Chu is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m..

The shooting in Brooklyn Center triggered multiple nights of protests in the Minneapolis suburb, capturing national attention at a time many Americans were reckoning with racism and police violence.

It happened just a few miles north of where Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was standing trial for killing George Floyd, a Black man whose 2020 death during an arrest helped set off demonstrations around the nation and the world.

Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted of murder. Both he and Potter are white.

The Minnesota attorney general's office is arguing that Potter should be incarcerated for 86 months, or seven years and two months, in line with state guidelines for first-degree manslaughter.

Under state law, defendants facing multiple charges for the same act are sentenced only for the most serious count.

"Life is something this society holds in the highest regard," Attorney General Keith Ellison wrote in a memo to Judge Chu's court on Tuesday. "The degree of Defendant Potter's recklessness in handling her firearm and causing Daunte Wright's death cannot be excused or even minimized."

In arguing for leniency, Potter's lawyers cited her lack of a prior criminal record, her complaint-free 26 years on the police force, and the remorse she showed during emotional testimony at trial.

Potter's attorneys also pointed to research highlighting the power of public stigma to induce good behavior, arguing that it was a more effective deterrent to recidivism than prison.

"This Court's decision to have a televised trial resulted in her facial image viewed by the millions," attorneys Paul Engh and Earl Gray wrote in a sentencing memo, referring to the livestreamed trial. "Officer Potter is branded for the rest of her life."

They centered their argument on a 1982 state Supreme Court case affirming a lower-court sentencing of Richard Trog, who had pleaded guilty to burglary with assault, to five years probation rather than prison as dictated by the guidelines. They said that Judge Chu should look at Potter in a similar light to Trog, who did not have a prior criminal record and was contrite.

"Mr. Trog got a break," they wrote. "She should, too."

Potter and a second officer pulled Wright over because there was an air freshener illegally hanging from his mirror and his vehicle registration tab had expired. They then learned of a warrant for his arrest on a misdemeanor weapons charge and sought to detain him. Wright resisted, breaking free from the second officer.

Potter then shouted, "Taser, Taser, Taser" and fired at Wright with her handgun, video from her body-worn camera showed. Potter testified that she feared for the life of a third officer who had entered the car through the passenger side.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; editing by Jonathan Oatis.)

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Jury begins deliberations in trial of Minnesota police officer who killed Daunte Wright

Nathan Layne / Reuters — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 20:44:29 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jurors retired for the evening on Monday after starting deliberations in the manslaughter trial of Kimberly Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who mistook her handgun for her Taser and shot Black motorist Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.

In final remarks to the jury, prosecutors said Potter acted recklessly and with "culpable negligence" in drawing the wrong weapon, while the defense argued the young Black man caused his own death by resisting arrest and attempting to flee.

Erin Eldridge, assistant Minnesota Attorney General, walked the jury through Potter's extensive training during her 26-year career as a police officer in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, arguing it made her actions indefensible.

"She was no rookie. It wasn't her first day on the job," Eldridge said in her one-hour closing argument. "We are here because this was entirely preventable. It was a tragedy of her own making. And it’s not just a tragedy. It’s manslaughter."

Potter, 49, has pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree manslaughter charges, which carry maximum sentences of 15 and 10 years respectively, saying she thought she was drawing her Taser when she shot Wright in the chest with her 9 mm handgun on April 11.

Potter is white and the shooting of Wright triggered several nights of intense protests outside the police station in Brooklyn Center, with critics calling it another example of police brutality against Black Americans.

The incident occurred just a few miles north of where Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, was at the same time standing trial in the case of George Floyd, a Black man whose 2020 death during an arrest set off racial justice protests in many U.S. cities. Chauvin was convicted of murder.

Earl Gray, one of Potter's attorneys, sought to cast blame for the shooting on Wright, arguing that Wright's decision to resist arrest and his attempt to drive away had put another officer on the scene at risk and required Potter to use force.

"The causation was Daunte Wright," Gray told the jury in his closing argument, which lasted about 50 minutes. "Those are the cold, hard facts."

Gray highlighted the testimony of Dr. Laurence Miller, a psychologist who told the jury last week about "action error," or when a person takes one action while intending to do another. Miller testified about how such mistakes are common in daily life, such as inputting the wrong computer password or writing down the wrong date, and can be triggered by stress.

Prosecutors have conceded that Potter made a mistake and did not intend to kill Wright. To secure a conviction on the first degree charge, they must prove she caused his death while committing the misdemeanor offense of recklessly using her firearm. For the second-degree charge, the jury must find Potter guilty of "culpable negligence" by creating an "unreasonable risk and consciously" taking a chance of causing him great harm.

"It’s a case about the defendant's reckless handling of her firearm and her culpable negligence," Eldridge said. "This was a colossal screw-up. A blunder of epic proportions."

Gray argued that Potter should not be found guilty because she did not know she was firing a gun when she shot Wright.

"She could not consciously take a chance of causing death or great bodily harm if she didn’t know she had a gun," Gray said. "She made a mistake."

In emotional testimony on Friday, Potter said that she was deeply sorry for killing Wright and that she had largely blacked out in the aftermath of the shooting.

Potter and another police officer pulled Wright over because there was an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror and his vehicle's license tabs were expired. They then learned of a warrant for his arrest on a misdemeanor weapons charge and sought to detain him, which Wright resisted.

Potter can be heard shouting, "Taser, Taser, Taser," on her body-worn camera before firing into Wright's car after he broke free from a second officer. Potter testified that she feared for the life of a third officer who had entered through the passenger side and was trying to keep the car in park.

"Within seconds he all of a sudden breaks away. That’s what caused this whole incident," Gray said. "They had to stop him."

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Potter's former supervisor: She had right to use deadly force

Paul Walsh, Chao Xiong and Rochelle Olson / Star Tribune — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 21:36:23 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — A onetime Brooklyn Center police sergeant on the scene when officer Kimberly Potter fatally shot Daunte Wright last spring testified Friday, Dec. 10, that the law would have allowed her to use deadly force given the circumstances before them.

Mychal Johnson was Friday's first witness in former officer Potter's manslaughter trial. He was Potter's supervisor during the April 11 traffic stop. He left the department in October and is now a patrol major for the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office just south of the Twin Cities.

"You said, 'Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car,'" defense attorney Earl Gray offered to Johnson during his more than 2 hours of testimony.

"Yes," Johnson concurred.

"And if he had taken off with you in that car halfway," Gray continued, "what would have happened to you? What do you think would be the worst that would happen?"

"Probably dragged," Johnson answered before acknowledging under Gray's questioning in Hennepin County District Court that he also risked being seriously injured or killed.

The defense claimed that Potter's fellow officer was in danger, and that she made a mistake when she fatally shot Wright while believing she was holding her Taser.

"And if that were the case," Gray continued, "would an officer in your position, with Officer Potter trying to stop (Wright) from resisting with you and resisting (fellow Officer Anthony) Luckey, would it be fair for that officer to use a firearm to stop him?"

Johnson replied, "By state statute, yes."

Gray summed up this line of questioning by asking, "So basically, based on these videos, and the conduct of Daunte Wright, as far as you're concerned — and you were there — Kimberly Potter would have had a right to use a firearm, right?"

Johnson answered, "Yes."

Prosecutor Matthew Frank countered by raising the need for officers to be aware of their surroundings before firing a weapon, pointing out how close Johnson, Potter and the vehicles' occupants were to one another.

Johnson said he was no more than 6 inches to a foot from Wright and had his body leaning on the passenger, Alayna Albrecht-Payton.

"Could (Potter) have shot you?" Frank asked, and Johnson agreed.

Johnson also agreed with Frank that the car drove off only because Potter fired her gun and after he had already gotten out of the vehicle.

Judge Regina Chu ended proceedings about two hours early due to the snowy weather's potential for slowing travel for the jurors and others attending the trial.

Earlier Friday, Johnson testified as to the immediate aftermath of the shooting, including exchanging guns with an extremely distraught Potter to preserve evidence, while later unloading the one he gave her.

Under 80 minutes of testimony in Hennepin County District Court, Johnson recounted his role at the scene of the shooting including when he tried to keep the car from leaving and assist with Wright's arrest on a weapons warrant.

Potter shook and cried as portions of Johnson's body camera were first shown that included the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to a pool report. At the defense table, she put her head in her hands, shook slightly and cried. As that scene was played again minutes later, she again cried and put her head to her hand. She also quickly shook her head several times, as if trying to shake an image from her head. Several minutes later, she wiped her eyes with one of her hands. Wright's mother, Katie Bryant, also cried quietly as the video was played, and held a friend's hand.

Johnson testified that his role changed dramatically immediately after the shooting.

"I heard a loud pop," Johnson testifed, adding, "I thought at the time it was a Taser."

Johnson said he heard the crash down the street within a handful of seconds. "I knew a shot had been fired, but I didn't know if he was hit."

As other officers converged on the crash scene, Johnson stayed with Potter to console her.

The prosecution in the Potter manslaughter trial alleged in its opening statement Wednesday that the former Brooklyn Center police officer had her gun drawn on Wright for more than five seconds before she "fires into his chest."

"Due to her mental state of not knowing what she might do, I knew that her firearm was a piece of evidence at that time," Johnson said, based on a concern expressed to him by another officer. "So I removed her firearm and put it in my holster and put my gun in her holster, just so that that evidence was preserved," Johnson said.

He is heard in court on his body camera video saying, "Kim, I'm gonna take this but give you mine, OK? ... I'll give you my gun, I just want to hang on to yours."

An inconsolable Potter repeated "Oh, my God" over and over, as well as saying "I don't know what happened" and "I'm going to prison."

Johnson tried to reassure her, saying, "We'll get it all figured out, OK?"

Johnson testified that another officer, Colleen Fricke, expressed concern that Potter would harm herself, so he discreetly took his gun back from Potter, unloaded it without her noticing, and returned it to her.

Johnson testified that he never went to the crash scene down the road where Wright was eventually pronounced dead.

"I knew that we had two scenes, we did have shots fired and were going to need additional help no matter what it was that had happened," he said. "It meant that I needed somebody to take over as the scene supervisor once that was possible because I wouldn't' be able to do all the things that needed to be done as being an involved officer."

Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot by former police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Photo provided by family / Star Tribune / TNS

Other testimony

Friday's final witnesses were Acting Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tony Gruenig and Charles Michael Phill of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which led the investigation into Wright's death.

Gruenig, who took over the top post when Tim Gannon was fired days after the shooting, answered questions about his arrival at the scene and what he learned from officers while there for several hours. Phill said he was summoned by Gruenig and received a brief overview from him before directing his agency's personnel to collect evidence and interview anyone who might have useful information about the case.

The prosecution also called witnesses who revealed that police waited several minutes to extract Wright from his car and begin life-saving measures. Prosecutors attempted to show that officers who arrived as backup encountered uncertainty not knowing at first that Wright had been shot by an officer.

One of Potter's attorneys, Paul Engh, on Thursday unsuccessfully asked Judge Chu to declare a mistrial at the end of the day after jurors had been dismissed.

"The issue in our case here is the thought process of Kimberly Potter at the moment that she yelled, 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' and pulled the trigger of her gun," Engh said. "We have spent the day, rather, on a [traffic] accident that was caused by Daunte Wright's excessive speeding … I didn't see any evidence directed toward the proof of guilt here today, but rather, evidence of sordid pictures and prejudicial impacts that had little relevance."

Wright, 20, had been pulled over for expired vehicle registration tabs and an air freshener on his rear-view mirror when police discovered he had an arrest warrant in a gross misdemeanor weapons case.

Potter shot Wright once he broke free of an officer attempting to arrest him and got back in his car. Wright's car sped down the street after the shooting, crashing head-on into a moving vehicle with a couple in their 80s.

Potter's defense says she meant to fire her Taser. Prosecutors say her reckless actions touched other lives beyond Wright's. "Her conduct presented danger to more than just the individuals in the immediate area," prosecutor Frank said.

©2021 StarTribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Wright’s girlfriend on shooting: ‘I replay that image in my head’

Paul Walsh, Chao Xiong and Rochelle Olson / Star Tribune — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:16:37 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — The young woman who was a passenger in Daunte Wright's car when he was fatally shot by ex-Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter testified Thursday, Dec. 9, of his final harrowing moments.

Alayna Albrecht-Payton, 20, opened the second day of testimony in Potter's manslaughter trial in Hennepin County District Court. She told the jury that she and Wright had dated for about three weeks, and he was "just so nervous and flustered" during the April 11 traffic stop that led to his shooting when Potter fired her handgun after shouting, "Taser, Taser Taser."

Things unfolded quickly, Albrecht-Payton said under questioning by prosecutor Erin Eldridge, when Wright attempted to get back into the car after police tried to arrest him and she heard a bang.

"His hands weren't on the wheel, and that's why I was confused, and I looked up and saw a car," she said of Wright accelerating immediately after he was shot and striking another car head-on. "I put my hands on his chest ... I kept saying, 'Daunte, Daunte, please say something, just talk to me,' and he just couldn't. I know he tried."

"I replay that image in my head daily," she sobbed.

Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot by former police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Photo provided by family / Star Tribune / TNS

Prosecutors played police body camera footage of Albrecht-Payton walking from the vehicle in a daze with blood dripping from her face as police handcuffed her. She testified that she suffered a lacerated lip and ear and broken jaw in the crash.

Under cross-examination, Albrecht-Payton told defense attorney Earl Gray that Wright had stayed with her the night before and they had smoked marijuana that morning, but not in the vehicle.

Brooklyn Center police officer Alan Salvosa, who was on his way to the traffic stop and saw the head-on crash occur directly in front of him, took the stand and walked jurors through a 16-minute body camera video of the immediate aftermath. He repeatedly ordered the occupants of Wright's car out at gunpoint, after which Albrecht-Payton said, "He's not breathing," before eventually getting out.

After several minutes police then pulled Wright out of the car and began rendering medical assistance, but he was soon pronounced dead and could be seen on Salvosa's body camera video covered by a sheet. The video showed confusion among the officers as to who shot Wright and when.

"He's got a gunshot wound. I didn't fire it, I don't know," Salvosa is heard saying on the video.

Another officer who responded to the scene, Dan Irish of the Champlin Police Department, explained how he assisted with pulling Wright's limp body from the driver's seat of the car and helped get him to the ground before joining others in life-saving efforts.

Moments later, a paramedic told him and the others to stop, Irish recalled. He said in court that led him to conclude "that the party was deceased. ... I assisted to get a sheet from the paramedics so we could cover up his body."

Jurors also watched Irish's graphic body camera video of Wright being pulled from the car.

A third officer to testify, Jeff Sommers of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, followed and offered a similar account as the two before him. As the prosecution was showing to the jury the video from Sommers' body worn camera, objections of redundancy were raised by the defense to the point that Judge Regina Chu ordered a halt to graphic video from the crash scene.

Chu then expanded her restriction on graphic images to photographs. This came as Michael Morelock, an ambulance operations supervisor with North Memorial Health, began testifying about his actions leading up to declaring Wright dead.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors heard from the woman who was driving in the area of the shooting and collided head-on with Wright's vehicle. Patricia Lundgren, of Brooklyn Park, said the crash totaled her car and has had a debilitating affect on her husband, who was in the front passenger seat of the couple's Subaru Outback.

Lundgren, 84, said the impact left her car "spinning around. … The [protective air] bags were all inflated. My husband was moaning."

Moments later, "I heard the police demanding that the [other] car, 'Get out! Get Out!'" Lundgren said.

Lundgren's 86-year-old husband, Kenneth, has been "a lot worse since the crash" cognitively and has been receiving hospice care. "He has lots of problems now."

Lundgren's daughter, Denise Lundgren Wells, followed and substantiated her mother's description of her father's decline. He grew increasingly difficult to understand, talked about death, and "he became real belligerent [with medical personnel]," she said.

Also testifying was Officer Anthony Luckey, who was being trained by Potter and decided to follow Wright after seeing him use a right-turn signal while in the left-turn lane.

Luckey testified about his decision to stop and arrest Wright, noting that a records search found a warrant for Wright on a gross misdemeanor gun charge and protection order filed in court against him by a woman.

Luckey told how Wright resisted as he tried to handcuff him and as Potter grabbed his right arm, Wright got back in the vehicle and gripped the steering wheel.

Luckey said Wright was obviously trying to drive away as Potter said, "I'm gonna tase you" and "Taser. Taser. Taser."

Under cross-examination from Paul Engh, Luckey said Wright should not have been driving. Along with marijuana residue on the console and the drug's odor evident, Engh said, "You had a number of concerns about him?" Luckey replied, "Yes."

Upon learning of the warrant, Engh said, "You couldn't let him go?" Luckey replied, "No."

Minnesota jurors must speak English — some worry that's a proxy for race in jury selection

Tom Crann and Megan Burks / MPR News — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 21:00:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — The trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter, who fatally shot Daunte Wright in April when she mistook her gun for a Taser, got underway Wednesday, Dec. 8. And one person who was not in court to hear the opening statements is a woman who was struck from the jury after she said she did not understand English well enough to follow the case.

The same thing happened during jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd. Federal courts and the vast majority of state courts require that jurors speak and understand English.

But both times, some observers wondered why the court didn’t offer interpreters for jurors. Worse, some wondered if language was being used as a proxy for race.

Jasmine Gonzales Rose studies language and race in civil procedure. She's a professor of law and deputy director of research and policy at the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. On Wednesday, she discussed language requirements for jurors in an interview with MPR News.

Q: Federal courts and the vast majority of state courts require the jurors be able to speak and understand English. Has that always been the case?

A: No, it hasn't. There's actually a very rich history in the United States of allowing jurors to serve through the assistance of interpreters. There's centuries in the common law, in the Anglo-American tradition. We see that in the southwest, early on in this nation's history. And we also see it currently as a practice in New Mexico. Not to mention, interpreters are provided to jurors who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Q: And that's due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, I understand. Some might say, well, hearing impairment is a disability and language fluency is something that people may have a choice in. Is there a difference there, legally?

A: Well, there's a difference of opinion on that. In one case, we can really see a distinction. But there's also those in the disability rights community who talk about sign language interpretation more as a linguistic difference than as disability accommodation. And so I do think there's an important distinction that can be made. And we can see success with interpretation in that situation, so I think we can anticipate success with spoken language as well.

Q: What do we know about the effect that language requirements have on the makeup of juries?

A: There are estimates that about 13 million U.S. citizens are excluded from jury service on the basis of English language juror requirements. And about 11 million of those are U.S. citizens who are Black, Indigenous or other people of color.

But that doesn't take into account people who may be excluded on the basis of having what's perceived as a heavy accent that might somehow impede their jury service. And that's something that I think we should be particularly concerned about.

Q: Can you give us an example of when someone may have been struck from a jury because of their accent?

A: Yes. In the case of State v. Gould in Connecticut, in the state courts, a prospective juror was called, and he identified as Puerto Rican. He was asked over 100 questions over a period of more than 20 minutes, and he was able to answer all of them. But ultimately, although the judge and counsel understood that prospective juror fine, he was struck for cause on the basis that the other jurors would have a difficult time understanding him.

This case actually was appealed all the way up to the state Supreme Court. It found it was in error, but essentially treated it as a harmless error, and the defendant was not allowed to have a new trial.

So here, we have a situation where a prospective juror was struck on the basis of sounding like a racial minority, and that didn't give rise to a new trial. But if he had been struck because he looked like a racial minority, it would have.

Q: A U.S. Supreme Court case looked at a juror who was struck because he was bilingual and did not need an interpreter to hear testimony in another language. Tell us about that, and how the justices ruled.

A: So this is that case of Hernandez v. New York, where the Supreme Court upheld a prosecutor striking multiple Latino jurors on the basis of their bilingual abilities. And this was in a heavily Spanish-speaking area, and where there was a Latino defendant. And in response to a challenge by defense counsel, the prosecutor claimed that he was concerned about these jurors, not due to their race, but because they were English-Spanish bilingual, and he was not certain that these prospective jurors would follow the English-language translation of Spanish-language evidence in that trial.

This was a plurality decision, so we didn't have a majority decision. But we had Justice Stevens who was joined by Justice Marshall, dissenting. They recognized this relationship between language and race. On the other hand, Justice O'Connor, who was joined by Justice Scalia took a perspective that no matter how closely tied race is to language, it's not going to be considered a race-based exclusion. And so they really divided language from race.

Q: Anyone who's been through jury duty has heard about their service being a right. So I'm wondering about the rights of people who don't speak English fluently. What does the Constitution say about this?

A: The Constitution says that people need to be treated equally. So we're thinking here about the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause, we're thinking about the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. So there are definitely concerns for the constitutional rights for U.S. citizens who are not able to stand in judgment of their peers.

There's also constitutional rights for the parties, particularly the criminal defendants, to have a jury that's selected from a fair cross section of the community. So here, I'm talking about the Sixth Amendment, and then again, thinking about equal treatment with the 14th amendment.

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Prosecution: Kimberly Potter had gun drawn for more than 5 seconds before killing Daunte Wright

Paul Walsh, Chao Xiong and Rochelle Olson / Star Tribune — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 22:58:59 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — The prosecution in the Kimberly Potter manslaughter trial alleged in its opening statement Wednesday, Dec. 8, that the former Brooklyn Center police officer had her gun drawn on Daunte Wright for more than five seconds before she fatally shot him, while the defense countered that she feared her partner would be killed when she mistook the weapon for a Taser.

Potter, 49, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with first- and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Wright on April 11.

"This case is about the defendant, Kimberly Potter, betraying her badge, betraying her oath and betraying the position of public trust," prosecutor Erin Eldridge said in her opening statement. "And on April 11th of this year she betrayed a 20-year-old kid, she pulled out her firearm, she pointed it at his chest and she shot and killed Daunte Wright."

Referring to Potter's contention that she meant to shoot Wright with a Taser on her left hip but drew her handgun with her right hand, Eldridge told the jurors, "We expect not to be shot dead on the street for no reason. … We trust wrong from right and left from right."

Eldridge said that Potter "failed to get it right."

Paul Engh, making the defense opening statement, countered: "She made a mistake. This was an accident. She's a human being. ... She believed that she possessed a Taser. That's why she said 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' She didn't say 'Gun! Gun! Gun!'"

Engh noted that a fellow officer was inside the vehicle and struggling with Wright as he tried to drive away upon learning he was being arrested for an outstanding warrant in connection with a firearms offense. In addition to the warrant, Engh said the officers smelled marijuana and Wright had no license, along with an active restraining order taken out against him.

"Mr. Wright can't escape, and she knows that if he's not stopped, he's about to drive away with a police officer dangling from his car," the defense attorney said. "And she knows if she does nothing, Mr. Wright drives away and either potentially harms Sgt. Johnson or likely kills him.

"So when she says 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' there's one last pause, Mr. Wright can stop, all he has to do is stop. But he goes. She can't let him leave, because he's gonna kill her partner. so she yells 'Taser Taser Taser,' and she pulls the trigger believing that it was a Taser."

The prosecution, while outlining its version of what happened during the traffic stop, rolled a brief video from one of the squad cars that showed how the officers went about trying to arrest Wright.

Potter drew her gun "with her finger on the trigger," Eldridge said.

"I'll tase you!" Potter was heard on the video rolling in the courtroom. "Taser! Taser! Taser!"

For 5 1/2 seconds, the gun was aimed at Wright, Eldridge said, before Potter "aims, pulls the trigger and fires into his chest."

Eldridge said the fact that Potter didn't mean to kill Wright was irrelevant.

"It's not about intent to kill; that's not why you're here today," Eldridge said. " ... No one will say that [Potter] wanted this to happen, and no one is even saying that she meant to shoot him with her gun. But the evidence will show that's what she did: She fired her gun at point-blank range into Daunte Wright's chest."

Eldridge spelled out the years of training Potter received and manufacturer warnings about Taser use and the deadly potential of drawing a firearm instead.

"The defendant flouted that training," the prosecutor said, pointing out that Potter went through her most recent review about six weeks before Wright was shot.

Eldridge closed with a photo of Wright's bloodied jean jacket on display. On the front was the word "Heartbreaker" in large, red letters.

"The defendant shot and killed Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old who had an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror," she said, "a kid in a heartbreaker jean jacket. But ... Daunte Wright was not the heartbreaker, it was Daunte Wright who had his heart broken, and it was the defendant who broke Daunte Wright's heart when she fired a hollow-point bullet straight into his chest."

Flowers and art cover the memorial Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, at the site where Daunte Wright was killed in April. The manslaughter trial of Kimberly Potter, a white former Minnesota police officer charged in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a Black man whose April death sparked protests, began Wednesday in Minneapolis. Nicole Neri / Reuters free

In his opening statement, Engh spelled out that police on the scene learned increasingly concerning details about Wright, and this was not a traffic stop about an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.

They also determined that his vehicle registration tabs were expired, his driver's license was suspended, the warrant for his arrest and a court order for protection taken out by a woman against him.

"A court order directed [Officer Anthony Luckey] to arrest him," Engh said, his voice rising as he pounded the podium. "This is standard police work here."

"Ms. Potter's good name has been besmirched by this allegation which is not true, and by press coverage which has been slanted, and we seek to reclaim it," Engh said. "And reclaim it we will."

Among the key moments in the trial, which is expected to last into late December and is being broadcast on a livestream, are the showing of police bodycam video of the encounter and Potter's testimony when the defense presents its case.

Wright was stopped for expired vehicle registration tabs, and police discovered that he had a warrant for his arrest for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge. Bodycam video showed him pulling away from an officer trying to handcuff him and jumping into his car.

Potter's defense has argued that one of Potter's colleagues standing on the other side of Wright's car could have been fatally dragged as he attempted to flee.

"He didn't follow police orders," Engh said in court Monday as attorneys debated the details of the jury instructions that Judge Regina Chu will give jurors on how to apply the law. "He had marijuana and the odor of marijuana in his car. ... His own negligence contributed to the tragedy here."