Kim Potter Trial | Lawyer Tried To Delay But Kim Potter Was Sent To Prison After Trial
Kim Potter Trial | Lawyer Tried To Delay Her Imprisonment With a $100,000 Bail, Kim Potter Was Sent To Prison After Trial
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Former police officer Kim Potter will be sentenced early next year after a Minnesota jury found her guilty Thursday of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.
After the guilty verdict was announced, Potter’s lawyer tried to negotiate for Kim Potter to spend her time outside the walls of a prison until the sentencing. He proposed a $100,000 bail which was denied.
Kim Potter was processed into the women’s prison in Shakopee for the shooting death of Daunte Wright less than two hours after her guilty manslaughter convictions.
Her sentencing is set for February 18, 2022.
The verdict came after much speculations that a hung jury could be the result which would have meant a mistrial. However, Daunte Wright and his family were given justice as the former police officer was found guilty on both charges of first and second degree manslaughter.
The first-degree manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. The second-degree charge has a maximum sentence of 10 years and/or a $20,000 fine.
Potter will only be sentenced on the most serious charge. For someone with no criminal history, the presumptive sentence for first-degree manslaughter in Minnesota is about six to eight-and-a-half years, according to state guidelines.
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To determine Potter’s sentence, Chu will likely consider arguments made by both sides, victim impact statements and whether Potter makes a statement that takes responsibility or shows remorse at her sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors said Potter should face harsher sentencing because of two aggravating factors: she abused her position of authority and “caused a greater than normal danger” to the safety of other people nearby, including the passenger in Wright’s vehicle, two officers on the scene and civilians on the busy public street.
Meanwhile, Potter’s attorney Paul Engh said he will seek a “dispositional departure” from sentencing guidelines, meaning he’ll ask the judge to stay the sentence and allow Potter to be put on probation, home monitoring or serve her sentence in a local jail instead of prison.
The parents of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man killed by police during a chaotic traffic stop in Minnesota earlier this year, spoke out after a former officer was convicted of manslaughter in his death.
Katie Bryant, Wright’s mother, said she could “never forgive” former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter charges Thursday.
“When they read first guilty my heart dropped and I let out a wail and buried my head in his chest. Tears of joy,” said Bryant.
“Never. I could never forgive that woman. She took my son away from me,” said Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, on “Good Morning America.”
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