Kim Potter found guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright killing News
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Kim Potter found guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright killing

A jury Thursday found former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter guilty on both first- and second-degree manslaughter charges for fatally shooting Daunte Wright.

Kim Potter, a 26-year-old police veteran in the state, was arrested in April following the killing of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man. Following the shooting, both Potter and Tim Gannon, the chief of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, resigned from their posts.

On April 14, the Washington County, Minnesota Attorney’s Office announced a second-degree manslaughter charge against Potter. In May, a Minnesota judge set the tentative trial date for December 6, pending any scheduling conflicts. 

After a two-week trial, the jury found Potter guilty of both first- and second-degree manslaughter. Even though Potter testified that she did not mean to hurt anyone, the jury found that she acted recklessly or with culpable negligence.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated that they achieved accountability for Wright’s death but that “[a]ccountability is not justice. Justice is restoration. Justice would be restoring Daunte to life and making the Wright family whole again.”

The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines recommend seven years of imprisonment for first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree manslaughter. Under Minnesota law, the maximum sentence for second-degree manslaughter is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $30,000, or both.

Potter is scheduled to be sentenced on February 18.