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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/us/just-joining-here-is-what-you-need-to-know.html

A motion   successful  beforehand   of the Hennepin County Courthouse today.
Credit...Christian Monterrosa/Associated Press

Dec. 17, 2021Updated 3:39 p.m. ET

Kimberly Potter, a erstwhile constabulary serviceman who changeable and killed Daunte Wright during a postulation stop, has taken the witnesser basal successful a Minneapolis courtroom, giving her archetypal nationalist relationship of what happened.

Ms. Potter, a achromatic serviceman who worked for the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 26 years, appeared to accidentally gully her weapon alternatively of her Taser erstwhile she fatally changeable Mr. Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, successful April. Mr. Wright had breached escaped from different serviceman who was trying to apprehension him connected an outstanding warrant for missing a tribunal day connected an earlier weapon charge.

Mr. Wright had called his parent erstwhile helium was pulled over, and she testified past week that helium sounded tense connected the phone. The constabulary had stopped his car due to the fact that it had an expired registration sticker and an aerial freshener hanging from the rearview mirror, some of which are violations.

Body camera videos of the shooting showed Ms. Potter, 49, shouting that she was going to stun Mr. Wright with her Taser and yelling “Taser! Taser! Taser!” instantly earlier firing a azygous slug into Mr. Wright’s thorax from her work gun. In the videos, a distraught Ms. Potter is seen telling chap officers that she “grabbed the incorrect gun,” utilizing an expletive, and past collapsing to the ground, sobbing. A fewer days aft the shooting, she resigned from the constabulary force.

Prosecutors bash not quality that the shooting happened by mistake, but they contend that Ms. Potter acted truthful recklessly and dangerously that she should beryllium imprisoned. They person charged her with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter, either of which would astir apt mean respective years successful situation if she is convicted.

Here are the cardinal moments truthful acold from her testimony:

  • Ms. Potter broke down astatine respective points during testimony. The archetypal came erstwhile she was describing the moments erstwhile she changeable Mr. Wright. “I retrieve yelling ‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’ and thing happened, and past helium told maine I changeable him,” she said. She began to outcry again erstwhile prosecutors played video captured by her assemblage camera successful the seconds earlier the shooting.

  • Ms. Potter testified that successful her agelong vocation arsenic a constabulary officer, she did not judge she had ever fired her Taser, and that she had not received immoderate carnal grooming connected weapons confusion, a cardinal contented successful the trial.

  • When she was cross-examined by a prosecutor, Ms. Potter acknowledged that Mr. Wright had not threatened oregon punched officers and that she had not seen immoderate weapon successful Mr. Wright’s car.

  • Ms. Potter was shown side-by-side photographs of her weapon and Taser. “These items look different, don’t they?” the authoritative asked. “Yes,” Ms. Potter replied.

  • Toward the extremity of her testimony, prosecutors hammered Ms. Potter connected the information that she did not effort to get assistance for Mr. Wright aft shooting him. “I’m atrocious it happened,” she said, crying intensely connected the stand. “I’m truthful sorry.”

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