“The defendant will tell you Daunte Wright is somehow to blame for his own death. But make no mistake, we’re here because of the defendant’s actions, not Daunte Wright’s,” prosecutor Erin Eldridge said as the state began its closing argument.
Potter had 26 years of training in use of force with her firearm, 19 years of training on Taser use, including training on “weapon confusion,” Eldridge said.
The defense rested Friday afternoon after an emotional Potter spent hours on the stand, breaking down several times as she described the “chaotic” moments that day in April.
“I was very distraught. I just shot somebody. I’m sorry it happened,” Potter cried as a prosecutor asked her about her behavior moments after the fatal shooting. “I’m so sorry.”
Potter has pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter.
The defense has characterized the killing as an accident and argued she was within her rights to use deadly force to protect a fellow officer, who was reaching into Wright’s car when Potter fired the gun.
Prosecutors maintained Potter was negligent and acted recklessly in mistaking her gun for her Taser.
While being cross-examined by Eldridge, Potter said Wright had not threatened the officers in any way during the traffic stop that resulted in the shooting.
“He never said, I’m going to kill you?” Eldridge asked.
“No,” Potter replied.
Potter’s testimony was the first time she had publicly given her account of what happened.
There are 14 jurors, 12 who will deliberate and two alternates. The 14 include seven White men, four White women, two Asian women and a Black woman. They will be sequestered until the trial ends.
Video showed fatal encounter
Potter, 49, fatally shot Wright in April in Brooklyn Center — near Minneapolis — after police pulled Wright over for an expired tag. During the stop, officers learned he had an outstanding warrant and attempted to arrest him.
Potter can be heard yelling “Taser” repeatedly before she shoots Wright. After firing her handgun, she yells, “Holy s***! I just shot him!”
She resigned from the police department days later.
Eldridge presented more than two dozen witnesses over six days, including a policing expert who testified Potter was not justified in using deadly force when she fatally shot Wright.
A defense witness, Stephen Ijames — a law enforcement expert and former assistant police chief from Missouri — testified Thursday a Taser would have been effective in incapacitating Wright.
Ijames also told jurors deadly force is warranted if an officer is partly inside a vehicle as a suspect is attempting to drive away, a reference to the officer who was reaching into Wright’s car when Potter opened fire.
CNN’s Carma Hassan, Anna-Maja Rappard, Brad Parks and Ashley Killough.