MINNEAPOLIS – Jurors went into deliberations on whether police officer Kim Potter should be punished for using her duty handgun instead of a Taser against a black motorist in suburban Brooklyn Center. The motorist, 20-year-old Daunte Wright, died. Potter’s defense is that she made a mistake, firing her gun instead of a Taser, in a traffic stop that turned chaotic. Prosecutors called it a “blunder of epic proportions” that warrant a verdict of guilty. Potter, 49, a 26-year police veteran, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter.
Potter. On witness stand she concedes the core facts and apologizes: “I’m sorry it happened. I didn’t want to hurt anybody.”