MINNEAPOLIS – Juries at the Kim Potter manslaughter trial received two versions of the white former Minneapolis suburban cop who says she made a tragic mistake by firing a shotgun instead of a Taser and killed the black driver Daunte Wright.
Prosecutors have portrayed the longtime Brooklyn Center officer as a seasoned officer who should have known better and who made the situation worse by not trying to help Wright. or even quickly broadcast about what happened so others can help him.
The defense wants jurors to see someone who cared about police while she was in school and who raised two sons while balancing a career where she has a special interest in helping victims. domestic abuse victim and had never fired a gun or a Taser before she shot Wright on April 11.
Before long, it will be Potter himself who will take a stand in the second image-strengthening effort – a gamble that could be crucial if she convinces a jury to acquit her of the two manslaughter charges she faces.
Susan Gaertner, a former chief prosecutor in neighboring Ramsey County who is now a defense attorney, said it’s important for any defendant to be genuine.
“If they can tell their story in their own voice and believably their behavior and approach, that can be extremely helpful,” said Gaertner, who was not involved in the case. useful”. “I think the juries, maybe subconsciously, but they want to hear directly from the defendant. They want the defendant to sit in the witness stand to take the oath and look them in the eye and say, ‘This is what it is. happened.”
The jury had a preview of what Potter’s testimony was likely to cover. In her opening statement, defense attorney Paul Engh described her as a 49-year-old mother of two sons – a Marine and a college hockey player.
Engh says the bike-safety talk she heard in high school sparked an interest in policing that blossomed in high school, when she joined an expedition program. police, Engh said. After becoming an officer, she served on the honor guard for police killed in the line of duty and was the president of the police union.
Potter is good at de-escalating conflicts, and that’s what she’s trying to do by repeatedly warning Wright that she’s about to use her Taser on him, Engh said. She hopes that he will stop trying to stay away from the officers, he said.
“She’s very good at de-escalating things,” Engh said. “And this is what she’s trying to do.” I’ll tease you, “is another way of saying, ‘Please stop so I don’t have to hurt you. Please stop. “So that’s who she is.”
The jury repeatedly viewed videos, including from Potter’s own camera, that showed her incompetence after realizing she had shot Wright. She couldn’t stop moaning, “Oh my God. God!” before plunging to the curb.
Pool’s report from inside the courtroom said that Potter cried often when footage of the shooting and the aftermath was played.
Some clues about Potter’s testimony can be gleaned from an interview she paid to the Minneapolis Star Tribune shortly before the trial. In it, she cried while describing how she struggled with the events of that day.
“I’m a good person and I have him in my life,” Potter said of Wright. “The aftermath of that day ruined me. I pray for him every day. I pray for the Wright family every day.”
She also told the newspaper that she didn’t like stopping her car, which sometimes led to criticism from her superiors.
“There is a lot of poverty left,” she said. “Giving someone a ticket and towing their car doesn’t get them out of a situation they’re in. I love educating people and talking to them.”
Potter’s testimony will expose her to cross-examination from prosecutors that could leave her injured. They showed a willingness to embarrass her, even when prosecutor Erin Eldridge used her preamble to say that Potter “betrayed her badge and she failed Daunte Wright.” .”
Eldridge insisted on the idea that Potter should have known better, saying that she had been on the police force longer than Wright was alive, and that she had spent years training and was actually training another officer. when she shot Wright.
“What did she show him? She showed him how to kill someone,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge’s colleague, Matthew Frank, reacted with mockery when Potter’s attorneys were questioning a witness and noted that she had been rated “beyond expectations” in performance reviews capacity.
When Frank had a chance to question the witness again, he asked, “Is pulling out a gun and shooting someone dead instead of their Taser exceed expectations?”
Eldridge said in the opening statement that Potter handled her gun recklessly and with no regard for known risks – a topic prosecutors practiced throughout the trial. Eldridge says the case is about “an officer who knows she can kill someone if she does the wrong thing, but she can’t guarantee that she did the right thing.”
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