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The former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black father, is due to appear in court via videoconference on Monday.
Kim Potter, 48, a white former police officer in Brooklyn Center, will have her pre-trial hearing on Monday afternoon at Hennepin County District Court. The hearing will go over evidence and determine if there's probable cause for the case to proceed.
Wright, a father of a young child, was shot in the chest on April 11 after he was pulled over for a traffic stop. Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department shortly after the shooting on April 11, before being charged with second-degree manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
The shooting took place while officers were trying to take Wright into custody, after they learned he had an outstanding arrest warrant. This was due to having failed to appear in court on charges of fleeing police and having a gun without a permit.
Police body camera footage shows Potter approaching Wright as he stands outside of his car as another officer is arresting him. As Wright tries to resist arrest, Potter shouts, "I'll Tase you! I'll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!" before firing a single shot from a gun in her right hand.
A criminal complaint said that Potter holstered her handgun on the right side and her Taser on the left. To remove the Taser, Potter would have to use her left hand, the complaint said.
The city's police chief who also resigned after Wright's shooting, claimed Potter shot Wright by accident, because she mistook the firearm for a taser.
Experts told The Associated Press say cases of officers mistakenly firing their gun instead of a Taser are rare, usually occurring less than once a year in America.
The Wright family has called for more serious charges to be filed against Potter. Their family's lawyer, Ben Crump, has argued that Wright's killing could not have been a mistake, given Potter is a 26-year veteran of the department.
Newsweek has contacted the Wright family's and Potter's legal teams for comment.
Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu denied several requests from media organizations to record the omnibus hearing. Video recording of such cases in Minnesota only is allowed if both parties consent, and Potter rejected.
Brooklyn Center Council on Saturday approved reforms that intend to make significant changes to policing in the city
The proposal, called the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety & Violence Prevention Act, will create new divisions of unarmed civilian employees to handle non-moving traffic violations and respond to mental crises.
About the writer
Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more