MINNEAPOLIS — A third day of testimony began Friday morning in the manslaughter trial of former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kimberly Potter as the prosecution moves closer to completing its contention that she should be convicted of killing Daunte Wright last spring.
Friday's first witness was former Brooklyn Center Police Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was Potter's supervisor and on the scene at the time Wright was shot during an April 11 traffic stop. He left the department in October and is now a patrol major for the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office just south of the Twin Cities.
On Thursday, the woman who was in Wright's car when he was fatally shot on April 11 testified through tears about his last moments, recalling using her belt and cloth to stanch the flow of blood from his chest.
"I replay that image in my head daily," said 20-year-old Alayna Albrecht-Payton, who had dated Wright for about three weeks.
The prosecution also called witnesses who revealed that police waited several minutes to extract Wright from his car and begin life-saving measures. Prosecutors attempted to show that officers who arrived as backup encountered uncertainty not knowing at first that Wright had been shot by an officer.
Also Thursday, there were battles between prosecutors and defense attorneys, who objected to evidence and testimony in the state's case, citing what they saw as their prejudicial and repetitive nature.
The defense claimed that Kimberly Potter's fellow officer was in danger, and that she made a mistake when she fatally shot Daunte Wright while believing she was holding her Taser.
"The issue in our case here is the thought process of Kimberly Potter at the moment that she yelled, 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' and pulled the trigger of her gun," Engh said. "We have spent the day, rather, on a [traffic] accident that was caused by Daunte Wright's excessive speeding … I didn't see any evidence directed towards the proof of guilt here today, but rather, evidence of sordid pictures and prejudicial impacts that had little relevance."
Wright, 20, had been pulled over for expired vehicle registration tabs and an air freshener on his rear-view mirror when police discovered he had an arrest warrant in a gross misdemeanor weapons case.
Potter shot Wright once he broke free of an officer attempting to arrest him and got back in his car. Wright's car sped down the street after the shooting, crashing head-on into a moving vehicle with a couple in their 80s.
Potter's defense says she meant to fire her Taser. Prosecutors say her reckless actions touched other lives beyond Wright's. "Her conduct presented danger to more than just the individuals in the immediate area," prosecutor Matthew Frank said.
Frank argued that some of the testimony Engh objected to was being presented so that in the event of a conviction, prosecutors can use the evidence as "aggravating factors" to request a sentence for longer than recommended by state guidelines.
Chu said denied Engh's request. Potter, 49, is on trial on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter.
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