Last Updated on December 23, 2021
The former police officer who shot a man while attempting to discharge her taser has been convicted of both counts she was charged with following the incident, which occurred in April of this year.
Potter was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second degree manslaughter for the shooting.
The jury deliberated for 27 hours over the course of four days, with some questioning whether they would finish before Christmas.
During her emotional testimony, CNN reported that Potter said she remembered “yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ and nothing happened, and then he told me I shot him.”
She insisted that she “didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
The maximum penalty for first degree manslaughter is 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine, but Minnesota sentencing guidelines suggest that Potter – who has no criminal history – should receive between 6 and 9 years in prison.
Moments ago the judge denied Potter’s defense team’s request for her to be released pending sentencing. She will be remanded into custody until she is sentenced.
As National File reported at the time, the local police chief admitted that Potter discharged her firearm by accident while trying to fire a taser at the suspect, Daunte Wright, who was fleeing from police.
Instead, Potter fired her gun, fatally wounding 20-year-old Potter.
The local police chief admitted that Potter was attempting to fire her taser at Wright, who was wanted for “attempted aggravated robbery charges, and reportedly repeatedly choked a woman at gunpoint in an effort to make her give him $820 in cash”.
In body cam video of the botched arrest, Potter is heard verbally warning Wright that she would tase him, before shouting “Taser! Taser! Taser!” and firing her service pistol into the fugitive’s side, prompting her to react with shock.
The last video uploaded to Wright’s Instagram account before his death featured him brandishing a firearm toward the camera.
Soon after Wright’s death, the case made headlines when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) crossed state lines to join rioters and urge them to become more “confrontational” with police and detractors.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated with additional information as it becomes available.
