How the guilty verdict in the Kim Potter trial could influence police reform

Judy Woodruff:

We are following two important stories tonight, the spread of Omicron throughout the country, and the conviction of a former police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed Black man.

We begin with the latter.

A jury in Minnesota found Kim Potter guilty in the death of Daunte Wright, who was shot last spring.

John Yang has the details.

John Yang:

Judy, the jury convicted Potter on two counts of manslaughter after 27 hours of deliberations. Potter shot Wright, who was 20 years old, after reaching for her Taser, but pulling her gun.

The incident began as a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. There was a struggle, as officers tried to arrest Wright on an outstanding weapons warrant. And then Potter shot him as he tried to flee in his car. Prosecutors said she was negligent and reckless.

After the verdict, the judge revoked her bail, and Potter was taken into custody. Under state sentencing guidelines, she could face at least seven years in prison. Prosecutors have said they will ask for more when she's sentenced in February.

Wright's mother described her emotions.

Katie Wright, Mother of Daunte Wright: The moment that we heard guilty on manslaughter one, emotions, every single emotion that you could imagine just running through your body at that moment.

I kind of let out a yelp, because it was built up in the anticipation of what was to come while we were waiting in the last few days.

John Yang:

The trial stirred a lot of emotions in the twin cities region.

A little while ago, I spoke with "NewsHour" special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro, who was outside the courthouse when the verdict was announced.

Fred, you were out there when the verdict was read. What was the reaction when the verdict was announced?

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Well, John, there was a palpable tension awaiting the verdict, a crowd smaller than the one that we saw just a few months ago in the Derek Chauvin trial, but one no less passionate about what they wanted out of this.

And, of course, as soon as the verdict was announced, there was an eruption of jubilant chanting. And you might be able to hear nearby here that this celebration has continued and marches around the block.

For many of the activists who came out and kept vigil here during this trial, this verdict sent a message.

Ashley Dorelus, Protester:

Accountability is what we saw when the jurors gave her guilty. Officers across the country need to realize that we are no longer asking for them to stop killing us. We are demanding it.

Tanya James, Protester:

They cannot keep killing our Black people and our people of color. And they're realizing it, because they have got too many allies. They have got too many people that got their back.

We're not putting up with. White people ain't putting up with it no more. I'm not putting up with it no more. So, yes, this is change. You're seeing change. And we ain't done yet.

John Yang:

Fred, you mentioned the Derek Chauvin conviction, which took place in that very same courthouse behind you.

What's been the impact on the community of having this trial, and now this conviction, followed so closely on the heels of the Chauvin conviction?

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Well, John, the issue of policing, public safety, and police-community relations, relations with communities of color has been front and center and has not receded, like so many issues.

It's, in a weird way, sort of like the pandemic. It keeps coming back in the form of new issues, whether it was a referendum in November on police reform here in Minneapolis, the trial of Kim Potter. And we're not quite done with this issue yet, because we have the state trial of the three officers who were charged alongside Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd killing. And they also face a federal trial.

So this is an issue that will continue to really vex this community in so many ways. It's not receded from the headlines, and it's not likely to for very long.

John Yang:

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis, thank you very much.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

John, you're welcome.

John Yang:

This case, along with those surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, have highlighted issues of police use of deadly force and accountability.

Shannon Prince is an attorney who focuses on policing policy and restorative justice. She's with the firm Boies Schiller Flexner.

Shannon Prince, thanks so much for being with us.

On this question of police accountability, what message do you think the jury sent today?

Shannon Prince, Boies Schiller Flexner:

Well, I think that the jury sent the message that police are accountable not only for their deliberate acts, but even for accidents that arise from recklessness or unreasonability.

John Yang:

And do you think this is going to continue, further these issues along, because this was someone who said they never intended to use deadly force; it was an accident?

Shannon Prince:

So, I do think this verdict furthers the cause of police reform, it increases police accountability, and it decreases police impunity.

However, what really moves police reform forward isn't individual verdicts, but policy, and we saw that in a policy that was passed by Brooklyn Center, the town where the incident took place, after Daunte Wright was killed. They passed an act in part named after Daunte Wright that, among other things, creates an unarmed civilian force to handle non-moving traffic violations of the sort that began this incident.

Now, such forces have been used successfully in other countries, and, hopefully, they will prevent further traffic stops from escalating to violence, as this one did.

John Yang:

And talk about this traffic stop. This is a traffic stop that Potter, Officer Potter, said she would not have made if she was alone, but she had a trainee with her.

What role did race play in that, do you think?

Shannon Prince:

So, it's impossible to look into the hearts and minds of other individuals, but we know that data shows that Black people are disproportionately likely to be pulled over by the police, even though white people are disproportionately likely to have contraband in their cars.

Now, the reason Daunte Wright was pulled over was because he had an air freshener dangling from his rearview mirror and expired license tabs. Some may feel that those minor non-moving violations were actually pretextual. And it's entirely possible that, if Daunte Wright weren't a black man, Kim Potter and her trainee officer wouldn't have pulled him over for such minor reasons.

John Yang:

Much was made about this jury when it was selected, because there was only one black juror. The others — there were nine white people and two Asian Americans.

Yet they rejected the defense argument that deadly force was justified in this case. And they also did not take — there was — the prosecutors put in a lesser charge that sort of would invite a compromise. What do you think that says?

Shannon Prince:

Well, I think that it shows, first of all, that Americans of all backgrounds can be counted upon to enact justice, that Americans of all backgrounds are willing to enact justice.

But I think it's also important to know that, although this jury was less diverse than the jury that convicted Derek Chauvin, it is racially proportionate with the local community.

John Yang:

The prosecutors are saying that when — they're going to argue aggravating causes when they — or aggravating factors when the sentencing comes around, that she endangered the public by shooting Daunte Wright and sort of allowing him to get away in this car while — when he was wounded, and didn't do anything about it.

What do you make of that?

Shannon Prince:

So, that charge goes back to the fact that, when Kim Potter incapacitated Daunte Wright, he drove off, but because he wasn't able to navigate, he ran into an elderly couple, and the husband of that couple was gravely affected by that accident.

And then there's also a second aggravating factor, which is that Kim Potter abused her position of authority as a police officer. Now, I think that there is evidence to support both of those aggravating factors. And what happens next is, it has to be decided whether or not they're actually present.

Now, it was Kim Potter herself who have the right to decide whether she wanted the jury or the judge to answer that question. She waived the right to have the jury decide. So, that question will go to the judge.

John Yang:

Shannon Prince of Boies Schiller Flexner, thank you very much.

Shannon Prince:

Thank you.