MINNEAPOLIS — Jurors in the manslaughter trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter in the death of Daunte Wright began a fourth day of deliberations Thursday morning in downtown Minneapolis.
The jurors began deliberating at 8:40 a.m.
The jury finished at 6 p.m. Wednesday without sending any note or query to Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu. Jurors received the case at 12:45 p.m. Monday and have been in deliberations for about 24 hours in total.
Potter, 49, faces several years in prison if convicted of either first- or second-degree manslaughter in the death of the 20-year-old Wright. Police body-worn camera video taken during the fatal shooting showed Potter shouting "Taser! Taser! Taser!" at the Minneapolis man as he tried to evade arrest on a warrant for a weapons charge.
But instead of unholstering her Taser from her left hip, Potter grabbed her handgun from her right. She fired once, striking Wright in the heart. On police body camera video, Potter appeared devastated immediately afterward and collapsed to the ground.
Defense attorneys argued that Potter's mistake wasn't a "conscious" decision, so she should not be punished. Prosecutors said the 26-year veteran's error was egregious enough to be criminal.
By law, jurors deliberate behind closed doors so no one has access or influence over their them. The only insight into their thoughts occurs when jurors send a formal written question or notice to the judge through the sheriff's deputy watching over them.
Outside the 24-story Hennepin County Government Center Wednesday, a group of about 50 protesters kept up a chilly vigil on the south side among signs bearing Wright's face and planted in the snowy lawn. "What is taking so long?" activist Brandyn Tulloch asked the group. "We all saw the video. We all saw her reaction to what she did."
The jury was last heard from at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the panel convened to pose two questions to Chu.
Their first question: "If the jury cannot reach consensus, what is the guidance around how long and what steps should be taken?"
Chu reread an excerpt from the jury instructions she gave a day earlier before deliberations began, telling them to continue working toward unanimity without violating their individual judgment.
The jurors' other question had to do with removing zip ties securing Potter's gun to a cardboard box so they could hold the unloaded Glock.
In Potter's case, nine jurors are white, two are Asian women and one is a Black woman. Four are in their 40s; three are in their 20s; two are in their 60s; two are in their 50s; and one is in her 30s.
In most other recent cases involving law enforcement defendants, juries have been speedier in reaching agreement.
In April, jurors took about nine hours to convict former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd. In 2020, a Washington County jury took a day to acquit sheriff's deputy Brian Krook of killing Benjamin Evans. In 2019, jurors convicted former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor of killing Justine Ruszczyk Damond after about 10 hours of deliberations.
An exception was former St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was acquitted in 2017 of killing Philando Castile. His jury deliberated for 30 hours over five days.
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