Prosecutors say veteran cop Kim Potter should have known better than to mistake gun for Taser in fatal shooting of Daunte Wright
A Minnesota cop should’ve known better than to mistake her firearm for her Taser when she fatally shot a motorist during a traffic stop, prosecutors said Wednesday at the opening of the veteran officer’s manslaughter trial.
Defense attorneys for Officer Kim Potter countered that Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man behind the wheel, should have surrendered when Potter and a trainee officer pulled him over for expired tags in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
Prosecutors leaned on Potter’s decades of experience as a police officer, arguing she should’ve known better than to confuse her gun for her Taser. They pointed out she’d recently completed multiple Taser training courses.
Defense attorneys attempted to portray Wright as a violent criminal. They noted he had an arrest warrant on a weapons charge and tried to drive away from the traffic stop.
The defense said Wright’s move to drive away put the trainee officer, Anthony Luckey, in danger as he attempted to arrest Wright and claimed his behavior justified the shooting, arguing that it didn’t matter whether Potter meant to fire an electroshock charge or a bullet.
Wright’s mother, Katie Bryant, testified of the anguish of seeing her son lying in his car after he’d been shot. She said she tried to get him on a video call after losing an earlier phone connection, and that a woman who answered screamed “They shot him!” and pointed the phone toward the driver’s seat.
“And my son was laying there. He was unresponsive and he looked dead,” a crying Bryant said.
Potter, who is 49 years old and a 26-year law enforcement veteran, pulled over Wright for an expired license plate on April 11 in Brooklyn Center. Their interaction was captured on body-camera video, which prosecutors played Wednesday as part of their opening statement.
Potter and Luckey learned that Wright had an outstanding warrant on a misdemeanor weapons charge and attempted to arrest him. Instead of surrendering, Wright tried to get back into his car.
Potter threatened to use her Taser on Wright, at one point yelling, “I’ll tase you!” before she fired a single fatal shot from her gun.
Jury seated in Kim Potter's trial for shooting of Daunte Wright
“This is exactly what she had been trained for years to prevent,” prosecutor Erin Eldridge said. “But on April 11, she betrayed her badge and she failed Daunte Wright.”
The prosecution also focused on the layout of Potter’s duty belt, pointing out that the gun and Taser sit on opposite sides to avoid confusion. Prosecutors said the only weapon on her right side was her gun.
Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.
With News Wire Services
