With the trial of Kim Potter, a former Brooklyn Center police officer, beginning on Wednesday for shooting Daunte Wright at a traffic stop in April, local attorneys have stressed the importance of clarity in the case.
Local attorney A.L. Brown joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Adam Carter to discuss just this, sharing what he thinks will be crucial for both sides in this trial.
"A case will fall flat on its face if both sides don't give the jury a sense of what's coming and then produce it," Brown said Wednesday morning.
Potter's defense claims that the police officer mistook her gun for her taser during the traffic stop and did not mean to open fire on Wright. In her bodycam footage, she can be heard yelling "taser, taser, taser" before firing.
On the other side, the prosecution is arguing that Potter had gone through extensive training as an officer and should not have made the mistake.
When both sides give their opening statements, Wednesday Brown says it will be a critical part of this trial and is for any trial.
"In a trial, you can break it down into its parts and ultimately land into the conclusion that the jury reaches. But, each of those ingredients, including the opening statements, are just as critical. You can't have a cake without eggs," Brown said.
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Brown added that in opening statements, both sides will need to tell the jury what is going to happen and then deliver on what they say.
Like in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police Officer who killed George Floyd, the trial will be televised, and there is a video of the incident happening.
When it comes to who the video of Potter shooting Wright helps, Brown says it cuts both ways.
"For the state, it confirms the obvious that Kim Potter shot Daunte Wright," Brown said. "For the defense, it at least introduces into the narrative the excited utterances of Kim Potter immediately after that shooting which would indicate that she intended to use a different form of force as opposed to her firearm."
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However, Brown also said that it could not make a difference at all.
"It may not make a difference. If you accept Kim Potter's version of events, which is that it was an error, it was a mistake. I don't think the state has to prove that it wasn't a mistake," Brown said. "The question is whether it was reckless? Whether it was negligent? Whether it was a mistake that could have been avoided?"
Potter is set to testify in her own defense, and Brown thinks it is a strategic decision from the defense to tug at the heartstrings of the jury.
He also added that her defense attorneys are doing everything they can to show her innocence, like dressing her like a librarian, but he isn't shocked she is taking the stand.
"I'm not surprised at all that she is going to testify," Brown said.
