US policewoman Kim Potter, who ‘mistook gun for taser’, found guilty of manslaughter in death of black driver
- Motorist Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot in the chest in Minneapolis, not far from where the George Floyd murder trial was being held
- Potter, who broke down last week on the stand as she testified to her remorse for the shooting, showed little emotion as the verdict was read
A Minnesota jury on Thursday found former police officer Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of black motorist Daunte Wright during a traffic stop when she mistakenly fired her handgun instead of her taser.
A 12-member jury declared Potter, 49, guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the death of the 20-year-old Wright, whom she killed in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Centre on April 11 with a bullet to the chest.
Potter, who broke down last week on the stand as she testified to her remorse for the shooting, showed little emotion as Judge Regina Chu read the verdict and polled the jury. Potter was taken away in handcuffs after Chu rejected her lawyer’s plea for her to be allowed to spend Christmas with family.
“I am going to require that she be taken into custody and held without bail,” Chu said. “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”
Potter will be sentenced on February 18. She faces a maximum sentence of 15 years on the first-degree manslaughter conviction. Under state law, defendants cannot be sentenced for multiple charges pertaining to the same act.
