Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was convicted of manslaughter last week for accidentally killing Daunte Wright during an April traffic stop.
The 26-year veteran now faces over a decade in prison for shooting and killing Wright with her sidearm, which she mistook for her Taser during the tense incident.
“Everybody makes mistakes, this lady here made a mistake, and my gosh, a mistake is not a crime,” defense attorney Earl Gray said during his closing statement. “It just isn’t in our freedom-loving country, that we’re going to put you in jail for a mistake you made.”
The 12-person jury didn’t agree. After four days of deliberation, they convicted Potter of first- and second-degree manslaughter.
Wright’s aunt called the conviction “bittersweet” in an interview with NPR.
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“It’s bittersweet still, you know, because Daunte is not here and tomorrow is Christmas,” she said. “Very emotional, very emotional. Happy that, you know, there were guilty charges. But it’s very, very emotional because, again, he’s not here.”
The viral incident took place on April 11 when Potter and a rookie cop pulled over Wright for having expired license tabs and a dangling air freshener on his rearview mirror.
Wright was not armed, but he did have an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge. When Potter and her partner tried to arrest him, he pushed them away and got back into his car.
Potter drew her sidearm, but based on what she said as recorded by her body camera, she clearly believed she was holding a Taser.
“I’m going to Tase you,” Potter shouted. Five seconds later, she yelled, “Taser! Taser! Taser!” and she shot Wright once in the side.
As she collapsed to the ground with her head in her hands, she screamed, “I grabbed the wrong f***ing gun. I shot him. Oh my God! Oh my God! I’m gonna go to prison!”
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Prosecutors did not dispute that Potter shot Wright by accident, but they said she still deserves to go to jail for “a colossal screw-up, a blunder of epic proportions.”
Others who have voiced support for the verdict believe Potter acted out of racial bias.
Attorney Benjamin Crump told NPR that implicit bias training and conflict resolution training at police departments will help prevent future police shootings of unarmed Black men.
Given that Potter meant to Tase Wright, not shoot him, it’s unclear how such training would have prevented this incident.
First-degree manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, but Minnesota state sentencing guidelines call for about seven, according to local outlet KARE. Prosecutors have said they plan to urge the judge to go above seven years while the defense will ask for zero prison time.