Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer that shot and killed Daunte Wright in April of 2021 has been sentenced to 24 months Friday and to serve 16 months or two-thirds of the time. She then will serve the last third on supervised release. She does also have credit for 58 days served.
Potter had been found guilty of first and second degree manslaughter in December.
The 49-year old Potter allegedly mistook her handgun for her Taser during a traffic stop and shot the 20-year old Wright. She was a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department and resigned after the shooting.
Judge Regina Chu said this is one of the “saddest cases” of her career.
“I have been profoundly moved by the comments of the Wright family,” said Chu. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Chu also commended Potter on her 26 years of service to the community while talking about the purpose of incarciration. Chu said Potter was reckless and there should be accountability.
Chu decision on prison time comes down to what purposes would be served. She says retribution, deterrence rehabilitation, incapacitation are the four things the court looks at and says most of these, except retribution, don't apply to Potter.
While reading the sentencing, Chu said there is no question Potter is extremely remorseful and that it is beyond dispute she is amenable to probation.
In mitigating the sentence, Chu said the split-second decision and the fact she was executing a lawful arrest had to be considered. Chu also compared this case to Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd, saying this is not the same situation. "This is a cop that made a tragic mistake," said Chu.
Chu also addressed those that were calling for a longer sentence, saying, "As difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Miss Potter's situation. Officer Kimberly Potter was trying to do the right thing."
Prior to the sentencing, a very emotional Kim Potter spoke to the Wright family.
“To the family of Daunte Wright, I’m so sorry I brought the death of your son” Potter says. “Katie, I understand a mother’s love and I’m sorry I broke your heart. My heart is broken for all of you. Earlier when you said I didn’t look at you during the trial, I didn’t feel like I had a right to. I didn’t even have a right to be in the same room as you. I’m so sorry I hurt you so badly. I pray for Daunte many, many times a day. He’s not more than one thought away from my heart and I have no right for that, for him to be in my heart. I do pray that one day you can find forgiveness only because hatred is so destructive to all of us. And I pray peace will always be with you and your family. Again, I am so sorry.”
Potter also went on to apologize to the Brooklyn Center Police Department and the community.
There were also several victim impact statements read by the family of Wright. Katie Wright who is the mother of Daunte Wright emotionally spoke to Potter.
“He will always be my son and I’m proud to say that,” Wright told the court. “I have had many sleepless night contemplating what I am going to say today. I hope the defendant is listening as I speak loud and clear today. Yes, I refer to her as defendant, because I will not give her the respect of calling her by her name. She referred to Daunte, over and over again, as ‘the driver’. As if killing him wasn’t enough to dehumanize him, she never once said his name. And for that I’ll never be able to forgive you.”
She finished by saying to her son, “I’m proud to be your mom and I love you Daunte.”
Aubrey Wright, Daunte’s father, also spoke saying how proud he was of his son.
“Daunte was my reason to do better,” said Wright. “I love my son with all my heart. I would always tell him, no matter what, I got you."
Wright said this should never have happened.
"Kim Potter was trained and was trained to prevent this type of thing from ever happening. Kim Potter should be held accountable and the maximum sentence should be applied which is incomparable to the life sentence we've been given because of her negligence. My son Daunte's life was taken way too soon and he's never coming back. And it's affected the whole family."
Daunte Wright's brother Damik Bryant spoke too, reading a poem he had written for Daunte. Wright's sister addressed the court as well, saying even though the charge is manslaughter, she believes this is not an accident and was a murder.
Defense lawyers in the case have asked the judge to consider probation instead of prison time, or a reduced prison sentence shorter than what Minnesota's sentencing guidelines recommend. Those guidelines call for 7-years for first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors were asking the judge for a longer sentence than guidelines required but have since backed off of that request.
Like with the trial of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, the state handled the prosecution led by Attorney General Keith Ellison.
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In closing arguments, an assistant attorney general for the state of Minnesota Erin Eldrige hammered home that Wright had his life taken away from him by Potter, who had received extensive training.
"This was no little oopsie. This was not putting the wrong date on a check. This was not entering the wrong password somewhere. This was a colossal screw-up, a blunder of epic proportions," Eldridge said.
Despite the guilty conviction, lawyers on both sides did agree that Potter intended to pull her Taser. However, prosecutors were able to convince the jury that Potter’s extensive training should have prevented Wright’s death.
Following the death of Wright, significant protests and unrest broke out in Brooklyn Center and across the Twin Cities for several days in a repeat of the death of George Floyd.
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