Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Hard News Hard Hitting News Source Global Political News

Crime News

Officer Charged In Death Of Daunte Wright To Appear In Court

FILE – This file booking photo provided by the Hennepin County, Minn., Sheriff shows Kim Potter, a former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer. Potter faces a pretrial hearing Monday, May 17, 2021, for charges of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death during a traffic stop April 11 in Brooklyn Center. (Hennepin County Sheriff via AP, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright is scheduled to appear in court via videoconference Monday.

Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter, who is white, has an omnibus hearing, also known as a pretrial hearing, on Monday afternoon in Hennepin County District Court. The purpose of such a hearing is to go over evidence and determine if there’s probable cause for the case to proceed.

Wright, father of a young son, was killed April 11 after a traffic stop. The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said he believes Potter meant to use her Taser on Wright instead of her handgun. Body camera video shows her shouting “Taser!” multiple times before firing. The shooting ignited days of unrest. Wright’s family members and protesters had wanted prosecutors to file murder charges.

The shooting happened amid the trial for Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murder for pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck as the Black man said he couldn’t breathe.

Police have said Wright was pulled over for expired tags, but they sought to arrest him after discovering an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and had a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.

Police body camera video shows Potter approaching Wright as he stands outside of his car as another officer is arresting him. As Wright struggles with police, Potter shouts, “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” before firing a single shot from a handgun in her right hand.

The criminal complaint noted that Potter holstered her handgun on the right side and her Taser on the left, both with their grips facing rearward. To remove the Taser — which is yellow and has a black grip — Potter would have to use her left hand, the complaint said.

Intent isn’t a necessary component of second-degree manslaughter in Minnesota. The charge — which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison — can be applied in circumstances where a person is suspected of causing a death by “culpable negligence” that creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances to cause a death.

Wright family attorney Ben Crump has disputed that the shooting was accidental, arguing that an experienced officer knows the difference between a Taser and a handgun. Experts say cases of officers mistakenly firing their gun instead of a Taser are rare, usually less than once a year nationwide.

Brooklyn Center was moving toward firing Potter when she resigned shortly after the shooting. The city’s police chief also resigned, after the City Council fired the city manager.


Copyright 2020 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/daunte-wright-kim-potter-court-hearing-3029f3f876c9cfde6fe5cd0f64da7b37

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Business News

A pig liver that has been “decelled” is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie,...

Crime News

Cyrus Collins, left, an aspiring Minneapolis police officer, works his part-time job as a cook at The Blue Barn during the Minnesota State Fair,...

2022 Midterm Elections

FILE – In this image taken from video, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks to the media June 25, 2021, at the Hennepin County...

Covid-19 News

Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, speaks, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 in St. Anthony, Minn. Federal authorities charged 47...

Copyright © 2023 Hard News Herd Hitting in Your Face News Source | World News | Breaking News | US News | Political News Website by Top Search SEO