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Kim Potter Found Guilty of Manslaughter. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired December 23, 2021 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE REGINA CHU, HENNEPIN COUNTY DISTRICT COURT: Find the defendant guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: The former Brooklyn Center Minnesota police officer killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April.

She says she mistook her handgun for her Taser. The jury in this trial deliberated for four days. At one point, it seemed that they were indicating they may not be able to reach a unanimous verdict, submitting a question to the judge on that front. However, they were able to reach a unanimous verdict on both counts.

Our Adrienne Broaddus has information on what took place inside of the courtroom -- Adrienne.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we watched here live on CNN.

And as the guilty verdict was read, not much emotion from Kimberly Potter. She did look down at one point and closed her eyes. As she was led away by sheriff's deputies taken into custody, her husband, who has been in the court with her -- courtroom every day, shouted loudly, according to our pool reporter who was on the inside, "I love you, Kim."

And she says "I love you" back.

When the guilty verdict was read, Katie Bryant, who you mentioned was the first to take the stand called by the prosecution, wept moments after learning this jury of 12 found the former Brooklyn Center police officer who shot and killed the firstborn shared between her and her husband was guilty.

She cried and she was comforted by her husband; 26 years of experience, that's how long Kimberly Potter had been on the force; 19 of those years, she had been trained to use a Taser. And that day back in April, she was a mentor to an officer. She was a field training officer. And this all started because of a traffic stop, according to the

officers that testified. And now Kimberly Potter, after she spent years protecting and serving others, will serve time in prison. This has been an emotional time for the community here in Minneapolis. Soon after the verdict was read, we heard loud cheers.

There's a group of demonstrators. And some of them are from Minnesota, others from outside of the state, but they applauded. You could hear them applauding.

And I traded a few texts just moments ago with Daunte's older brother, and I asked him his thoughts about the verdict. He responded with one word. He said: "Good."

Prior to the start of this trial, I spoke with him in Kenosha. He was there supporting other victims and he told me: "Adrienne I'm nervous. I don't know what's going to happen. I am nervous. This has been really hard on my family."

And this week -- tomorrow is Christmas Eve. The family is preparing to spend their first Christmas together without Daunte. And that's something Erin Eldridge reminded the jury during her closing arguments. She told members of the jury that the defendant, Kimberly Potter, testified her sons would be home for Christmas, but there would be an empty seat at the table in the Wright household.

And Kimberly Potter's sons were in the courtroom today. They held their head low as that verdict was read. And the defense attorney, Earl Gray, visibly upset, sitting down, burying his head in his hands -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Adrienne, thank you for that reporting.

And before I get to the rest of our legal team and our reporters, I want to pull up for our viewers a picture of Daunte Wright, a picture taken along with his son, who was just 2 years old when Daunte Wright was killed at the hands in April of then-Officer Kim Potter.

There he is, again, 20 years old, pulled over for an air freshener hanging in violation of Minnesota state law and expired tags. And his life was taken, Kim Potter found guilty on both counts, first-degree and second-degree manslaughter.

My colleague Omar Jimenez also joins us in Minneapolis.

Omar, of course, you were front and center covering the trial and murder conviction of Derek Chauvin. And Daunte Wright was killed right in the middle of that in Brooklyn Center, which is right outside of downtown Minneapolis.

What are you hearing from people in Minneapolis right now?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, people here in Minneapolis, for many of them, it is deja vu, going through that roller coaster of emotions of trying to see if police officers in this Minneapolis area would be held accountable for what they were charged with or for their actions.

And you can see a similar response to what we saw in the outskirts or after Derek Chauvin. There are a lot of people -- or I would say a few dozen people that have come here to demonstrate now in the name of Daunte Wright.

We do expect the Daunte Wright family, both his mother and father, to speak here a little bit later in this afternoon as well, as we also expect to hear from the prosecution in this case as well.

[15:05:01]

I want to show you just a little bit of what we're seeing here. This is the south entrance of the courthouse, or the Government Center, as it's known, here in Minneapolis, Hennepin County government center.

You can see people that have pulled up with portraits, even this one right in front, with Daunte Wright in particular, familiar signs of Black Lives Matter. You see other faces and names that have been popped up.

People feel that, whenever one of these verdicts come, it's not just for this particular case, but it's about so many other names and faces, especially black ones, that have come into these types of interactions with police.

But when I talked about that roller coaster of emotions before, it is a similar ending result as what we saw with Chauvin. It took some time to get to this point. As you know, Poppy, it took a number of days. And if you want to compare the two, it took more than twice as long to convict former Officer Kim Potter as it did former Officer Derek Chauvin.

HARLOW: Yes.

JIMENEZ: But, again, the emotions here are very similar. Many people feel this is vindication. And some were even surprised as she actually ended up convicted.

HARLOW: That's right.

And, Omar, if you could just stay with me, again, because you were there throughout covering the murder trial of Derek Chauvin. Minnesota is my home. And as we heard Reverend Al Sharpton say at the funeral of Daunte Wright, I remember when he decried the number of black men killed by police officers, particularly in the state of Minnesota.

It does feel -- and I wonder if the community there feels like more justice is being served at this point.

JIMENEZ: Yes, Poppy, and part of part of the reason that people have other faces here, and you think about the heartbreak that many people feel, because I heard Adrienne mention it earlier in this broadcast, that, at the end of the day, regardless of the result of this, you can't bring back Daunte Wright. And that is a pain that this family will always have with them. And we

noted that this is the holiday time. They are heading into Christmas here. And one of the points where the mother in particular broke down in tears over closing arguments was when the prosecutor noted that Daunte would not be home for the holidays.

And we spoke to some of the -- some of those close to Daunte Wright just before -- or just after, I should say, this verdict was reached. I want you to take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has proven that the world has changed. This has proven that the world can change and do better for us black people, us minorities in this world. That's all we want.

I have a black son growing up in this world. You can imagine my fear for him. Daunte wasn't doing nothing, didn't have no gun or nothing, and got killed. Who is to say who is the next man going to get killed?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... by a police officer.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need a change. That's all. It should have never happened. But we fought for this. We got maced. We got flash grenades threw at us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was pregnant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was pregnant.

Got shot in my stomach by the rubber pellets. We fought for this.

JIMENEZ: I saw you got emotional when you heard that word guilty. Describe what was going through your mind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just justice, justice, justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's bittersweet, because he's not here. but he got the justice that he deserved, because he didn't deserve to be killed. He didn't.

But what this verdict is showing that he got his justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And that phrase of justice for Daunte Wright is the main rallying call here.

You can see these are -- this is representative of a number of signs that we have seen here over the course of this. They want that face and name to be the centerpiece of all this, because, of course, the judicial proceedings and Kim Potter was the center of this trial that stretched weeks at this point.

But, again, that is the memory of the person who at the end of the day, regardless of how that traffic stop unfolded, is not going to be here from here on.

Kim Potter, as you saw, was taken into custody, where she will remain without bail until the sentencing date. And now, here, we await comments from the family, who similar to what happened in the Derek Chauvin case, there's a lot of fanfare, a lot of attention the trial itself.

But, at the end of the day, this is a family in mourning. And we will likely hear a lot of that when they come here to the south portion of the Hennepin County Government Center a little bit later. And, again, as I mentioned, we do expect at some point to hear something from the prosecution.

Remember, it is not the usual, it's not the norm that the state attorney general would take over the case. But when that happened with Chauvin, there was a lot of pressure for them to do the same with this case back in April. They did that. And for the second time in a row, we see them get convictions for these former officers, Poppy.

HARLOW: And adding additional charges later -- at later stages in both, in both cases, and getting guilty convictions on both.

Omar, thank you for that. Stay there. We will come back to you as soon as there's a press conference from either set of attorneys.

[15:10:03]

Let's get to our legal analysts. Let me bring everyone back in.

And before I get to that, Josh, I just want you to walk people through the key evidence, the key evidence in this trial that you believe led this jury to a guilty conviction on both first- and second-degree manslaughter.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, without question, the police body camera footage was front and center for members of this jury.

We see cases, we hear testimony where it's a he said/she said. This was an opportunity for jurors to see and hear for themselves because prosecutors entered so much evidence from the different officers who were on the scene that day. You see them pulling Daunte Wright over. You see Officer Kim Potter talking to that rookie officer as they approach the vehicle.

And, of course, you see that fateful moment where the officer pulls out her service weapon, yells, "Taser," and fires that fatal shot, not only that, but then the aftermath. You see her clearly distraught, saying on camera that "I shot him. I'm going to prison."

You get that kind of reaction that you don't always see in trials. And, by the way, this is one of those types of trials that is also going to, I think, make the case for those who advocate for more police body camera footage. It is a sense of accountability for members of the public to look after the fact and review what an officer has done.

And, by the way, I cover law enforcement, and I talk to law enforcement officers nearly every day, and so many of them say that good officers should want body camera footage as well, because if an officer is accused of wrongdoing, that body camera can help justify them.

But that piece of evidence, that body camera footage clearly taking center stage, also the witness testimony. Over 30 -- there were 33 witnesses that this jury heard from, including fellow officers of Kimberly Potter, some who were there on that day, providing their vantage point about exactly what happened.

One thing that was very interesting that you don't often see in these trials is there were two officers who are called by the prosecution who actually ended up making a case for the defense. They said that, in their view, in the circumstance, because Daunte Wright was resisting and could have driven away and harmed some of those officers, they believed, they testified that Kim Potter was not only justified in using her Taser, but also in using her service weapon, again, prosecution witnesses.

And that was what made so many of us wonder how that would actually resonate with this jury, hearing from officers on the scene. Obviously, the jury coming to a very different conclusion, that that's not just a mistake, but also a criminal mistake. And, obviously, you have with their verdict announced today providing some sense of accountability for this officer, after that act that all of us saw with our own eyes, with our own ears on that police body camera, again, the key pieces of evidence in this trial, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes.

Josh, thank you so much for that.

Elliot Williams I'm really interested in your take, especially on the conviction on manslaughter in the first degree, because looking at the actual statute in Minnesota here, to be able to convict on first degree, it says you have to cause the death of another in committing or attempting to commit a misdemeanor with such force and violence that death or great bodily harm was reasonably foreseeable.

You thought that was maybe too high a bar. Ultimately, the jury disagreed?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, yes, I hesitate to say maybe too high a bar.

It was more just I just had a hard time thinking that a jury would go there.

HARLOW: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Now, look, there's a lower standard for secondary manslaughter.

I thought that, if anything, they would have had that. What was really at issue here was the reckless handling or use of a firearm. That's the misdemeanor here. Now, the question is, how do we define recklessness, right?

And it's such an abuse of the duty of care to use a gun properly that it rose to the level of being a crime. I thought it was really an open question as to whether they would have gotten there. And it, frankly, would not have shocked me if they didn't.

But I think a number of factors got them there. Number one, like we talked about a second ago, the amount of training that she got, and the prosecutors walked through quite methodically the amount of training that an officer with her level of experience would have had over time, the most recently being, I believe, on Tasers about a month before this incident happened.

So that's number one. Again, just how it plays out in real time, there's about five or six seconds elapsed from the time she says the word "Taser" to the time she fires her weapon. Now ,look, we know that adrenaline's hot, emotions were high in the moment.

But if you or I stopped talking for five seconds right now, it would be excruciating. There would be silence. It's a long period of time. And if you go look at the video, a bunch of time elapses. And so the notion that, well, this was a heat of the moment decision, that might have been something that just didn't resonate with the jury.

HARLOW: Right.

WILLIAMS: Again, the big picture here is, this jury assessed what they think officers ought to be reasonably doing, and they found that this was just a grossly reckless and unreasonable use of a firearm, even for someone whose society has been trusted to have one.

[15:15:06]

HARLOW: Thank you all very much.

Stay where you are. We have a lot more to talk about.

We're also waiting for the family of Daunte Wright to speak. We will bring that to you live. Prosecutors also expected to speak in moments. We will bring you that press conference right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Much more now on our breaking news.

Former Brooklyn Center Minnesota police officer Kimberly Potter found guilty in the killing of Daunte Wright, guilty on both counts, first- degree and second-degree manslaughter.

[15:20:00] An emotional moment in the courtroom, Daunte Wright's parents holding hands, and they were heard taking deep breaths as the verdict was read.

We are expecting to hear from them live in just a few moments. We will bring that to you right here.

Adrienne Broaddus and Omar Jimenez, our correspondents, in Minneapolis, join us, along with our legal team, Elliot Williams, Page Pate, and our Josh Campbell.

Omar, let me begin with you again.

What more can you tell us about the reaction of Daunte Wright's family when the jury handed down their verdict?

JIMENEZ: Well, the reaction right now, I should say, is very celebratory. We're waiting to hear from them officially.

But I want to show you a little bit about what we're seeing out here. A band has walked up. People are dancing. They were just playing "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Again, you can see the celebratory nature of what people are feeling right now, chanting, cheering. There were worries that there may have been protests if this have gone the other way. Those worries are far behind lots of these people.

This is a process, I think -- and you say this almost every single trial. It's a process that many people sometimes lose faith in, and they take a very pessimistic attitude going in. And there was a lot of that as -- especially in the deliberation period of the trial, as it stretched on longer and longer.

You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at this crowd here. Now ,as celebratory as it is at this moment, a little bit later is when we are expecting to hear from the family of Daunte Wright, along with their attorneys here.

And that will likely strike a much more somber tone, because, again, at the end of the day, the day before Christmas Eve, two days before Christmas, this is a family that won't -- be without Daunte Wright. And it was a moment that forced the mother to burst out in tears over the course of closing arguments.

And it is likely going to be a sentiment that they evoke very emotionally when the time comes, Poppy.

HARLOW: That's right.

And his son, Daunte Wright Jr., spending his Christmas without his father. Omar, thank you. Stand by.

And we will get to the family as soon as they begin speaking

Page Pate, to you. The prosecution here -- sentencing is going to be February 18. And the

prosecution is going to push for a longer sentence on both counts than typically served in a case like this because of aggregating factors. What are those aggravating factors that they're referencing? And how successful do you think they will be, given that our Josh Campbell was telling me Minnesota police officers generally serve about two-thirds of their sentence in prison and about one-third on supervised release?

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Poppy, I think the prosecution is going to focus on two things in aggravation here.

One would be abuse of trust. This is a police officer who has been well-trained, over 20 years on the job. She should have known better. And so by giving her a firearm and by giving her a Taser, the people of Minnesota are placing their trust in her to do the right thing, to follow her training, and to be careful. And she wasn't.

The second thing is, she discharged his firearm, not just killing Mr. Wright.

HARLOW: Page, hold that thought. I'm sorry to interrupt.

I just do want to get to this live press conference outside of the courthouse.

Let's listen in here.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: At 20, Daunte could have done anything.

Maybe he could have gone into the building trades. Maybe he could have started a business. What we know is that he was a young new dad, and he was so proud of his son, Daunte Jr. We know that he loved his mom and he loved his dad and he loved his siblings and his big, beautiful family. He had his whole life in front of him.

And he could have become anyone. All of us miss out on who Daunte could have been. And no one has missed him more than his parents, Katie and Aubrey, and their children.

I'm very mindful today that there will be an empty chair at the Wright family dinner during the holidays. And that saddens me.

And, once again, I extend my deepest condolences to you.

With the jury finding Kimberly Potter guilty today of manslaughter in the first degree and manslaughter in the second degree in connection with Daunte's death, we have a degree of accountability for Daunte's death. Accountability is not justice. Justice is restoration. Justice would be restoring Daunte to life and making the Wright family whole again.

Justice is beyond the reach that we have in this life for Daunte. But accountability is an important step, a critical, necessary step on the road to justice for us all.

I want to thank the jury for their careful attention and deliberation and for their service to the people of Minnesota. I want to thank all of the witnesses who testified and who came forward with what they knew about this case.

[15:25:06]

I especially want to thank my remarkable team. When I took this case, I said it would be difficult to prosecute because history has shown that trying cases like this one is difficult. This team did not shy away from the challenge. And the people of Hennepin County and the American people and the people of Minnesota, what they saw in the courtroom was the fruit of many, many hours of labor and hard work and planning.

From my office, I want to thank specifically Mr. Matthew frank.

Matthew.

I want to thank Erin Eldridge. I want to thank Eric Miller and David Voigt and Dionne Dodd.

But this team wouldn't be much of anything If it were not for the amazing work of Joshua Larson, Raoul Shah, and Vernona Boswell.

Thank you, Vernona.

I also must thank colleagues who did not work on the legal matter, but worked on the community. And that is John Stiles, Keaon Dousti, and everyone.

So thank you to you all for your hard work.

I also want to thank the many staff at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension who worked on this case, the staff of the Hennepin County attorney's office and Washington County attorney's office.

Specifically, I want to thank Mr. Drew Evans, and those who testified in this case, like Agent Phil (ph), who did a fine job and who put in many long hours. We appreciate their service.

The next statement -- step in this case is sentencing. And all I will say about that today is that we have to look forward to the court setting a calendar date for that hearing. And, at that time, we will make our appropriate arguments within the context of the court hearing.

I think we have a date, do we not? What is that one? Anybody remember the day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: March 8.

ELLISON: March 8.

My thoughts are also with Ms. Potter today. She has gone from being an esteemed member of the community and honored member of a noble profession to being convicted of a serious crime. I don't wish that on anyone.

But it would be our -- but it was our responsibility as the prosecution, as ministers of justice, to pursue justice wherever it led, and the jury found the facts.

My thoughts are also with those who work in law enforcement and public safety. We hold you in high regard. And we also hold you to high standards. We don't want you to be discouraged. Your community respects and appreciates you. We want you to uphold the highest ideals of our society and ideals of safety.

And when a member of your profession is held accountable, it does not diminish you. In fact, it shows, it shows the whole world that those of you who enforce the law are also willing to live by it. And that's a good thing. It restores trust, faith and hope.

Well, in the words of Danielle Sered -- Danielle Sered is a noted author who writes on justice issues -- justice exists when all parties exercise their power in a way that is consistent with the humanity of everyone involved and in the interests of the greater good.

The humanity of everyone involved includes the humanity of community members. It includes the humanity of police officers. And when that standard of justice is not upheld, it must be the job of a prosecutor to step up and then step in and attempt to uphold it and uphold the principle that no one is above the law and no one is beneath the law.

Finally, my thoughts are with the community of Brooklyn Center, residents, elected officials and police officers, and all communities that hunger for better relations between police and community and for everyone to get home safe at the end of the day.

I hope today's verdict provides a measure of healing for all of them. I thank you. And we can take a question or two.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) as this dragged on to the 27th hour, what was going through your mind and the prosecution team?

ELLISON: That the jury was taking this seriously, that they were going through every bit of evidence, that they were not leaving anything to the side, and that they understood that this matter was of tremendous importance to the Wright family, but also to the Potter family, to the entire community.

So I thank them for their service.

QUESTION: Are you guys taking questions?

ELLISON: Let's get -- they want questions for the Wright family. Is that OK or...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they can answer.

ELLISON: OK, sure. QUESTION: I want to ask you guys. I mean, we were sitting right in

front of you, but what were you feeling when you heard the word guilty?

And what are you feeling now? Have you processed this? What do you -- what's going through your head and heart right now?

KATIE WRIGHT, MOTHER OF DAUNTE WRIGHT: Oh, my gosh.