(Photo credit: Court TV via AP Pool / AP)
One member of the jury that convicted former Brooklyn Center police officer, Kim Potter, of manslaughter charges in the killing of Daunte Wright explained how it reached the verdicts.
According to this anonymous member, an initial count showed that most of the jury believed that Potter was guilty of both counts: first- and second-degree manslaughter. Deliberations primarily concerned the “legal phrases of the instructions” from Judge Regina Chu. Deeper discussions led to fewer jurors that would have convicted Potter, but they broke into group sessions to review the legal terms. Plus, holding the gun and taser swayed most of them to convict Potter because the gun was “twice as heavy,” and that there was a “trigger draw weight” with the gun unlike the taser.
Although they reached a guilty verdict on the second-degree manslaughter charge on December 21st, the juror acknowledged that it took more convincing for two members on the first-degree manslaughter charge, which it did not reach until the 23rd.
Kim Potter is scheduled to be sentenced on February 18thand faces up to 15 years in prison.