Judging Freedom - Jury finds former officer Kim Potter guilty in Daunte Wright's death

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

Police officer Kim Potter has been found guilty on all counts in the shooting death of Daunte Wright, who she shot during a traffic stop after she said she confused her gun for her taser. #KimPotter #DaunteWright #PotterVerdictSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Save $80 with code SPACE80 at Talkspace.com. good afternoon my friends judge napolitano here on judging freedom on a pop-up on breaking news a former uh brooklyn city minneapolis police officer kim potter has been found guilty of two counts of manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. You may remember this case. This is the case where the female police officer with 26 years experience, so much experience and so highly regarded in that police department that she was engaged to train rookie police officers. She grabbed for her taser and she shouted at the victim, taser, taser, taser. And of course, in fact, she had her Glock automatic in her hand. She fired one shot and killed him and murdered him. He was on his way to a car wash when the police stopped him. They stopped him because of a minor traffic infraction. While looking him up in their computer,

they discovered that there was an arrest warrant out for him for a gun violation. When they told him he was going to be arrested for that, he attempted to flee. That's when she took out the taser and used it. Oh, how I wish the police would not use deadly force when they don't have to. He didn't have a gun with him. He wasn't a threat to anyone. Nevertheless, we know the facts. Her defense was a very interesting one. Her defense effectively called for jury nullification because her defense was, I made a mistake.

Well, making a mistake is not a defense. It's basically saying to the jury, excuse me from this crime because I'm a good person. I didn't intend to do it. I served for 26 years as a police officer in a town in this county, and my record is without blemish. So let me off the hook. That's effectively what jury nullification is. You ask for jury nullification when you think the prosecution is wrong, or the law is bad, or the decision to prosecute was inappropriate, but there really is no defense. The judge permitted former officer Potter to make the, I made a mistake defense, even though under Minnesota law and under the law of almost every

state in the union, that's not a defense. The jury's decision is a curious one because it's going to require the judge to resolve it. So let's take a step back. Yesterday, the jury said they were deadlocked. They didn't jury said they were deadlocked. They didn't say what they were deadlocked on between first degree manslaughter or second degree manslaughter or between guilty on one and not guilty in the other or between guilty on both and not guilty on both. We don't know what they were stuck on and we may never know unless the judge allows the jurors to speak to the media. The judge did the right thing. She basically read them what we call the Allen charge, A-L-L-E-N, from a famous case called Allen versus North Carolina, in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of trial judges to say,

look, you got to make a decision here. I don't want you caving for a frivolous reason, but your job is to reach a consensus. You sort of push the jury into making a decision. You can't hint which way they should go, otherwise you have a mistrial, but you're pushing the jury as the judge to make a decision. The judge did that yesterday, and today they came out with a peculiar, in my opinion, peculiar verdict. They found former Officer Potter guilty of first-degree manslaughter and guilty of second degree manslaughter. Now, she can only be guilty of one. She can't be guilty of both.

First degree manslaughter is the use of a dangerous instrument with reckless disregard for whether it harms someone. Second degree manslaughter is the use of a dangerous instrument with careless disregard for whether it harms someone. We all know a careless person really doesn't care about somebody else's property. A reckless person doesn't care about somebody else's life. That's basically the difference between careless and reckless. The penalty for the lesser charge, second degree manslaughter, carelessness is maximum of 10 degrees, 10 years in jail. Excuse me. The penalty for the greater charge on which she was convicted is 15 years in jail. The judge is going to have to decide. She can't be guilty of both. What does the judge do? You don't like to do this as a judge. This is really what the jury should do.

You review all the evidence and all the testimony in the case, and then the judge decides, is she guilty of the greater charge or the lesser charge? And whichever one the judge decides she's guilty of, the judge dismisses the other one and sentences her on the one that the judge decides is the right one. If the jury had done its job, it would have chosen either first degree manslaughter or second degree manslaughter. It is sending a message to the police, not only in Minnesota, but throughout the country, that juries will not tolerate excessive use of force. You don't kill somebody. You don't even taser somebody who's on their way to a car wash. I realize that Daunte Wright freaked out when he learned they were going to arrest him, and they told him what they were going to arrest him for, but he didn't have the gun with him. He wasn't a danger to anybody. You can follow him at a reasonable speed, or you can radio ahead to block the roadway and

stop him. You don't use deadly force. The tragedy all the way around. Police departments, take note. Ah, what an afternoon. We're still waiting on the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict. It looks like that's not going to come until Monday. And we're waiting on the Theranos Pharmaceuticals verdict. Was this a massive $100 million fraud or another mistake? That's in federal court in San Francisco. That's probably going to come today or tomorrow. I love doing these pop-ups. My team loves when we do them. We love when you comment on them. We love when you question them. Subscribe to Judging Freedom. Check the box for getting the notifications. You'll find out when I'm doing these pop-ups. Ask me whatever you want.

If it's a good question, your name and your town in the United States, I'll read the question. I'll answer it to the best of my ability. If I don't see you, Merry Christmas, but I have a feeling you'll be seeing me again before this week is out. Judge Napolitano, judging freedom.