Our live coverage of today’s testimony has ended. You can read more about the trial here.
Testimony concluded on Friday after prosecutors declined to call any rebuttal witnesses in the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter, who faces manslaughter charges for fatally shooting 20-year-old Daunte Wright in April.
Jury instructions and closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday morning. Jurors will be fully sequestered during deliberation, according to the judge’s Aug. 10 order.
During eight days of testimony in the trial, jurors heard from 33 witnesses.
Potter faces first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter charges for fatally shooting Wright after repeatedly yelling “Taser” during a traffic-stop-turned-arrest on April 11, 2021. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The defense rested on Friday in the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who faces manslaughter charges for fatally shooting 20-year-old Daunte Wright in April.
Potter faces first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter charges for fatally shooting Wright after repeatedly yelling “Taser” during a traffic-stop-turned-arrest on April 11. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During two days of testimony in the defense portion of the trial, attorneys called eight witnesses, including the defendant.
Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, who testified in her own trial in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, said she had never shot her gun during her 26-year-long law enforcement career.
When asked by defense attorney Earl Gray if she ever shot her gun in real life or at anyone during her time as a police officer, Potter said “no” to both questions.
Potter also again said she never deployed her Taser during her career.
An emotional Kim Potter was asked about her behavior after she shot and killed Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, earlier this year.
As defense attorney Earl Gray began his questioning of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter on Friday, jurors mostly watched Potter as she detailed her training and career history. Only some jurors were seen taking notes, according to a pool reporter in court.
As Potter’s testimony moved on to her recollection of the day of the fatal shooting in April, the jury “perked up,” according to pool reports. Jurors were observed “watching intently” as Potter explained the sequence of events that occurred after pulling over Wright.
Wright’s parents, Katie Bryant and Arbuey Wright, who were in court Friday morning were observed holding hands throughout much of Potter’s testimony before the lunch break.
As Potter cried describing how she yelled “Taser, Taser, Taser” and fired her gun, Wright’s parents did not visibly react, according to the pool reporter. Several jurors were observed taking notes.
As Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge later played the moments before the shooting from Potter’s body camera in court, Wright’s father watched the video on a screen on the back wall of the courtroom. As Eldridge advanced the video frame by frame, Wright’s father was seen taking his wife’s hand as she looked down and shook. After the moment Potter can be heard yelling “Taser” on the video, Wright’s mother was seen crying and wiping her eyes with a tissue, according to pool reports.
Potter’s husband, Jeff, did not appear to visibly react during the emotional moments of testimony Friday, according to pool reports.
The trial of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter is in a break for lunch after she began to cry during her testimony.
Potter, who faces first- and second-degree manslaughter charges in the killing of Daunte Wright, cried on the stand, prompting her attorney to call for a recess.
Potter was asked to review video footage of the April incident, in which she said she mistakenly pulled her firearm instead of her Taser.
The 49-year-old Potter could be heard saying “I shot him” on video immediately following the shooting.
The prosecution alleges that Potter should have easily noticed the distinction between her gun and her Taser. In her defense, Potter — a 26-year law enforcement veteran — said that the Taser she was carrying was a new model and had only been issued to her 17 days prior.
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge asked former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter about her Taser training during cross-examination.
Potter is on the stand in her own trial in the fatal April shooting of Daunte Wright. Potter has said she mistook her firearm for a Taser.
Potter said she has been trained on Tasers since 2002.
Eldridge showed photos of Potter’s yellow-and-black Taser and black firearm side by side.
Eldridge then asked about the differences in drawing a gun versus a Taser from a police belt.
Potter confirmed that she has drawn her Taser for “de-escalation” but never deployed it in her 26-year career.
Defense attorney Earl Gray asked former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter about her interactions with police throughout her life and her 26-year career as a police officer.
Potter took the stand to testify in her own defense on Friday in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.
Potter said she never received any complaints from the public and she had never deployed her Taser during her time on the police force.
She also said she never physically received weapons confusion training.
Testifying at her own trial, former police officer Kim Potter explained why she resigned from her job with the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police force in the days following the death of Daunte Wright.
Potter had been with the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 26 years until her resignation two days after the killing, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Potter, 49, faces first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter charges. In body camera footage of the April shooting, Potter can be heard yelling “Taser” repeatedly before she shot Wright.
Ex-police officer Kim Potter provided details in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, breaking down on the stand when she was asked about the moment she shot him.
Potter has said she mistook her gun for a Taser when she killed Wright in April in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Potter said that during the traffic stop, things turned “chaotic,” and she discussed her fellow officer, Anthony Luckey — who was a trainee working with Potter at the time — having a struggle with Wright outside his vehicle.
Another officer, Sgt. Mychal Johnson, also struggled with the driver over the gear shift, and he “had a look of fear on his face; it’s nothing I’d seen before,” Potter said, getting emotional.
She said she didn’t recall what she said after the shooting or what she said at the police station afterward. She said she didn’t remember saying anything about prison.
Potter also said Luckey initiated the stop when he saw expired registration and an air freshener hanging from rear-view mirror.
Luckey said there was an “obvious smell of marijuana” coming from the car, in which a woman was also seated in the front passenger seat, Potter said.
Former police officer Kim Potter, who has said she mistook her firearm for her Taser when she shot and killed Daunte Wright earlier this year, testified that she was never physically trained on weapons confusion.
“And with respect to weapons confusion, was there ever any training — actual training — about what was confusion as you remember it?” a defense attorney asked her.
“No,” she answered.
In a follow-up question, an attorney asked Potter if she knew what weapons confusion was before the day of the shooting.
“It would be mentioned in training, but it wasn’t something we physically trained on,” she said.
Potter, 49, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright. In body camera footage of the shooting, Potter can be heard yelling “Taser” repeatedly before she shot Wright during a traffic-stop-turned-arrest.
Former police officer Kim Potter has been called to testify in her own trial in the fatal April shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
The defense team started by asking Potter about her husband and children. The defense attorney then asked about her interactions with police throughout her life — starting with a time in elementary school where an officer visited to teach students about bike safety.
“He really influenced me as a youngster that the police were good people, and I wanted to be something like that some day,” she said.
Potter went on to detail how she volunteered as school patrol officer in junior high and joined the police explorers in high school. Potter noted she studied criminal justice and sociology in college and interned at a police department.
Potter, 49, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright. In body camera footage of the shooting, Potter can be heard yelling “Taser” repeatedly before she shot Wright during a traffic-stop-turned-arrest.
Wright’s death prompted several days of protests in the Minneapolis suburb. It rocked a metropolitan area scarred by other police-involved deaths and reignited national conversations about policing and the use of force against people of color.
Former police officer Kim Potter has been called to testify in her own trial in the fatal April shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
The shooting happened April 11 near Minneapolis after police stopped Wright. During the stop, officers learned he had an outstanding warrant and tried to arrest him.
Wright was trying to flee the scene when Potter yelled “Taser, Taser” and instead pulled out her gun and shot him.
Officer Anthony Luckey — who was a trainee working with Potter at the time — testified he initially stopped Wright for an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror before things went awry. Body camera footage shown during his testimony also showed Potter saying “I’m gonna go to prison,” to which Luckey said she was not.
Potter, 49, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, she faces at least a decade in prison.
Wright’s death prompted several days of protests in the Minneapolis suburb. It rocked a metropolitan area scarred by other police-involved deaths and reignited national conversations about policing and the use of force against people of color.
