Kim Potter appears in new mugshot smiling after her conviction.
Hours after jurors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, convicted former police officer Kimberly Ann Potter, 49, for shooting and killing Daunte Wright, 20, Potter’s new jail booking photo has been released.
The former Brooklyn Center police officer on Thursday was found guilty of both first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter for shooting Wright during a catastrophic April 11, 2021 traffic stop.
Kim Potter’s attorneys comforted their client seconds before Judge Regina M. Chu read two guilty verdicts. (Image via screengrab from the Law&Crime Network)
There was never any dispute that Potter killed Wright. The incident was caught on police body camera video, which showed Wright beginning to resist Officer Andrew Luckey’s attempt to arrest Wright over a misdemeanor warrant. Wright got back into the driver’s seat of his car.
Potter pulled out her gun but identified it repeatedly as a Taser.
After yelling that she would use a Taser on Wright, Potter pulled the trigger of her pistol and shot Wright in the chest. The dying man, who prosecutors said was struck in the heart, drove off and crashed down the street.
According to the body camera video, Potter immediately recognized her fatal error.
“I grabbed the wrong fucking gun!” she screamed out. “I shot him! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” She also said she was going to go to prison.
Potter resigned soon after the shooting.
Prosecutors showed an image of police shooting victim Daute Wright during opening statements in the trial of ex-Brooklyn Center, Minn. Officer Kimberly Potter on Dec. 8, 2021. (Image via a slide used during prosecution opening statements.)
Prosecutors placed the responsibility for Wright’s death squarely on Potter.
“It was a tragedy of her own making,” Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge told the jury.
Jurors deliberated for more than 27 hours over four days before reaching both verdicts.
On Thursday, Potter appeared calm and resigned to her new reality when she learned her fate.
Kim Potter glances briefly toward a television camera after being convicted of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. (Image via screengrab from the Law&Crime Network)
After the verdicts were read, Judge Regina Chu denied Potter’s request to go home for Christmas and ahead of sentencing. The defense argued Potter is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.
“I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case,” the judge said.
Instead, Potter was remanded into the custody of the state.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
[Mugshot via Department of Corrections]