There was wild jubilation outside the courtroom after former police officer, Kim Potter was found guilty of manslaughter, in the death of Daunte Wright.
The jury came to its conclusion after sitting for a cumulative 24 hours over 4 days.
Many saw the conviction as a start of a new area. An era where police officers can be held accountable for their actions, remembering the death of George Floyd, whose trial was still been held at the time of Daunte Wright’s killing.
After the judgment, her sentencing was set to February 18, where she could face about 7 years in prison.
49-year-old Kim Potter, white, fatally shot 20-year-old black Daunte Wright, twice, during a police stop. She said she mistakenly reached for her gun instead of her taser, as he tried to evade arrest.
The jury was able to prove that the death of the teenage boy was an act of recklessness on the part of the former officer who has since been relieved of her badge.
“It is so negligent; it is so unusual to grab a Taser and think it’s a gun that that act itself evidences recklessness.”
A special agent from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Sam McGinnis, also testified that there were remarkable differences in the physical composition between an officially issued taser and a gun; citing differences in weight, the shape of the trigger, location of each weapon, and mode of retrieving each weapon before use.