State Attorney General Keith Ellison's office is now leading the prosecution against former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, the 26-year veteran who is charged with 2nd degree manslaughter for fatally shooting 20-year-old Daunte Wright April 11.
According to a news release from the AG office, the decision comes after Washington County Attorney Pete Orput returned the case to Hennepin County. Then County Attorney Mike Freeman requested the AG's office lead. Since George Floyd was killed, a coalition of metro-area county attorneys have agreed to hand off investigations to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. Freeman in the statement said that includes "asking the Attorney General to take police use of deadly force cases."
Ellison and his staff and assembled team of private attorneys secured a historic conviction against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd last month. Chauvin was convicted of all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Ellison has stressed in interviews since the conviction that he has confidence in the Washington County Attorneys Office to prosecute Potter and added in the statement: "I did not seek this prosecution and do not accept it lightly."
"No one, however, should expect this case will be easy to prosecute," Ellison said. "History shows that this case, like all cases of officer-involved deaths by deadly force, will be difficult. We are not destined to repeat history."
Potter is set to go to trial in December. It's unclear if charges will elevate to murder, as demonstrators -- dozens of whom protested in front of Orput's home -- have called for. Ellison said a review of the charges is underway and assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, a presenting attorney during the Chauvin trial, will supervise the case.