Jury for Officer’s Trial in Daunte Wright Death Reaches 10

MINNEAPOLIS—Jury enactment moved guardant Thursday successful the trial of a suburban Minneapolis constabulary serviceman charged successful Daunte Wright’s shooting death, with a 10th juror seated up of opening statements adjacent week.

Kim Potter, 49, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter successful the April 11 shooting of Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, pursuing a postulation halt successful the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.

Potter, who is white, has said she meant to usage her Taser connected Wright aft helium pulled distant from officers portion they were trying to apprehension him, but that she drew her handgun by mistake.

The 10th juror is simply a antheral who said helium erstwhile wanted to go a constabulary serviceman and participated successful a constabulary explorer programme successful precocious schoolhouse but past changed his caput due to the fact that helium was acrophobic helium “would extremity up having to usage my gun.” He has worked successful accusation exertion for the past 20 years.

He said helium had a somewhat antagonistic content of Potter and that she should person had capable “muscle memory” to cognize which broadside of her assemblage her Taser was on.

Before his addition, the partial jury was two-thirds white, according to accusation provided by the court. One juror is Black and 2 identified arsenic Asian. The tribunal is lone providing the contention of the jurors astatine the extremity of each day’s proceedings. The 10th juror’s summation evenly divided the sheet by sex.

One of the jurors who was seated the archetypal time was recalled for questioning Thursday aft Judge Regina Chu said helium had expressed concerns that his individuality had been revealed erstwhile helium was archetypal questioned. The assemblage is anonymous by bid of the judge. The callback took spot disconnected camera and Chu didn’t denote immoderate solution erstwhile a livestream resumed.

Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday, though Chu said they could beryllium moved up. Fourteen jurors—12 to deliberate positive 2 alternates—are needed.

Attorneys and the justice person probed imaginable jurors for what they knew astir Wright’s decease and astir their views of protests against constabulary brutality that were predominant successful Minneapolis adjacent earlier George Floyd’s death.

Each broadside has a constricted fig of peremptory strikes that tin beryllium utilized without requiring a reason. Prosecutor Matthew Frank connected Wednesday utilized up his past 2 strikes, including 1 to disregard a pistillate who described her fears astir unit successful Minneapolis, expressed spot successful the constabulary and said officers shouldn’t beryllium second-guessed.

Frank besides utilized a onslaught to disregard a antheral who said helium was a hunter, weapon proprietor and Fox News viewer, and that helium hasn’t seen immoderate grounds that constabulary dainty achromatic and Black radical differently.

Potter, who resigned 2 days aft she changeable and killed Wright, has told the tribunal she volition testify. Body-camera video recorded the shooting, with Potter heard saying, “Taser, Taser Taser” earlier she fired, followed by, “I grabbed the incorrect (expletive) gun.”

Wright was changeable successful Brooklyn Center arsenic erstwhile Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was lasting proceedings 10 miles (16 kilometers) distant for sidesplitting Floyd. Wright’s decease sparked respective nights of aggravated protests successful the suburb.

Jurors’ names are being withheld and they are not shown connected the livestream of the trial.

The astir superior complaint against Potter requires prosecutors to beryllium recklessness; the lesser lone requires them to beryllium culpable negligence. Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines telephone for a condemnation of conscionable implicit 7 years connected the first-degree manslaughter number and 4 years connected the second-degree one. Prosecutors person said they would question a longer sentence.

By Steve Karnowski and Amy Forliti