The defense in the trial of former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter rested on Friday, leaving closing arguments and the start of jury deliberation to begin next week.
The defense rested its case after Potter herself took the stand as the last witness in the case. Judge Regina Chu instructed jurors to stay away from the media and refrain from speaking about the trial over the weekend before dismissing them until Monday morning, when the court will begin again with closing arguments.
During her testimony, Potter described the moment she shot Daunte Wright on April 11 as the 20-year-old black man was attempting to flee officers. She broke down during the testimony, covering her face with her hands before reaching for tissues to dab her eyes. Potter recounted:
I remember a struggle with officer Luckey and the driver at the door. The driver was trying to get back into the car. … I went around officer Luckey as they were trying to get back in the door, in between the door and officer Luckey and the driver, and the driver is getting into the car. … They’re still struggling and I can see Sergeant Johnson and the driver struggling over the gear shift because I can see Johnson’s hand, and then I can see his face. … He had a look of fear on his face. It’s nothing I’d seen before. … We were struggling. We were trying to keep him from driving away. It just went chaotic. And then I remember yelling ‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’ and nothing happened and then he told me I shot him.
Potter is facing charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter over Wright’s death. Joe Tamburino, a criminal defense attorney not affiliated with Potter’s case, explained the charges last month.
“In both cases, we’re dealing with recklessness or negligence. And for the first-degree manslaughter, that means that there’s an underlying offense. In this case, they’re alleging misdemeanor mishandling of a firearm,” he said. “For the second-degree, they’re just stating that it is reckless or extreme negligence. So for the second one, they would have to show that Ms. Potter was extremely negligent when she did the act. For the first-degree, they would have to show not only was she negligent, but also, she did an underlying crime, meaning the misdemeanor mishandling of a weapon.”
The trial has at times focused on the justification for the level of force used against Wright, despite whether or not Potter intended to shoot him. Prosecution witness Seth Stoughton, a former police officer turned law professor, argued that Potter was not justified in using either her taser or her gun against Wright.
However, defense witness Stephen Ijames, a 40-year police veteran who trains officers in appropriate taser usage, testified that Potter’s use of a taser against Wright would have been justified. Ijames added that Potter would have been justified in shooting Wright had he won control of his vehicle from Sgt. Mychal Johnson.
Potter, who was a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center police force, resigned days after shooting Wright. “I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately,” she wrote in a resignation letter.