Kim Potter sentenced to 2 years in Daunte Wright's death

Capt Gregory Prickett You're an attorney and a former police officer if I remember right and you certainly have more experience than I have but I do have to disagree. Dante Wright was worried about going to jail to face weapons possession charges so he decides to resist arrest and start to flee in his car as officer were trying to cuff him. He could have killed anyone of those officers and I do believe Potter would have been justified in using deadly force at that time. At 20 years old, Wright was a career criminal who had some pretty serious charges and arrests against him prior to this incident. She thought she was tasing him and grabbed the wrong weapon. She made a horrible mistake but I believe had she shot him and not said tase, she would have been justified. Parents who accidentally leave their kids in their cars are often not charged even though death results. Just like those parents, Kim Potter she didn't mean to kill Wright.

SFC William Farrell - And in other cases, those parents are charged. Here, IIRC, Wright didn't start to drive away until after he was shot. Further, the misdemeanor weapon possession charges that he faced from the warrant don't rise to the level required by Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). Nor does the resisting arrest charge. Had she intended to shoot him, I believe that it would have been worse, completely without justification.

Capt Gregory Prickett - Well you certainly know the law 100% better than I but we'll just have to disagree.

Gray told the jury that it was Wright's choice to drive away after being shot and that Potter was not liable for Wright's actions. He pointed to the testimony of the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Wright and who said Wright would have had "seconds to minutes" to live after the shooting.

"How could she be at fault for that, he purposely decided to drive away," Gray said. "He just didn't want to go to jail."

SFC William Farrell - That's BS. He started to drive away because he had just been shot.

This trial wasn't about the personal history of Dante wright.. it was about who shot him.

MSG Stan Hutchison This is not an upstanding citizen. He could have complied and instead he decides to try and take off in his car while officers tried to arrest him. They could have been killed or seriously injured. Daunte Wright had led a life of crime and violence in the years before his death, DailyMail.com can reveal
The 20-year-old was involved in the shooting of two of his school friends, a home burglary, and previously assaulted and robbed a woman at gunpoint
Jennifer LeMay said Wright shot her son, Caleb Livingston, 18, in the head and at a gas station and left him to die in an incident in Minneapolis in May 2019
Caleb now suffers from a traumatic brain injury and respiratory arrest, and is bound to a wheelchair. He cannot speak and requires 24/7 care
LeMay said: 'I have mixed emotions about [Wright's] death, part of me is content knowing he'll never be able to hurt someone again'
'But then the other part is furious. When Kim Potter killed him, she took away any possibly for him to be held criminal accountable for what he did,' she added
Another woman, identified only as CV, told DailyMail.com Wright assaulted her and pointed a gun at her in an attempted robbery in December 2019
And in 2017, Wright was arrested and charged with felony 1st degree burglary of an occupied dwelling after breaking into his friend's parent's home

SFC William Farrell - Regardless of his past, the officer did not have the right to kill him.

Here is your outstanding citizen Takeyia. Daunte Wright had led a life of crime and violence in the years before his death, DailyMail.com can reveal
The 20-year-old was involved in the shooting of two of his school friends, a home burglary, and previously assaulted and robbed a woman at gunpoint
Jennifer LeMay said Wright shot her son, Caleb Livingston, 18, in the head and at a gas station and left him to die in an incident in Minneapolis in May 2019
Caleb now suffers from a traumatic brain injury and respiratory arrest, and is bound to a wheelchair. He cannot speak and requires 24/7 care
LeMay said: 'I have mixed emotions about [Wright's] death, part of me is content knowing he'll never be able to hurt someone again'
'But then the other part is furious. When Kim Potter killed him, she took away any possibly for him to be held criminal accountable for what he did,' she added
Another woman, identified only as CV, told DailyMail.com Wright assaulted her and pointed a gun at her in an attempted robbery in December 2019
And in 2017, Wright was arrested and charged with felony 1st degree burglary of an occupied dwelling after breaking into his friend's parent's home

SFC William Farrell - None of that matters. Potter, under the circumstances then present, did not have justification to kill him, and she did. I'll accept that Wright was a low-life who belonged in prison for decades or life, but that's still not justification for killing him at that time.

Everyone has a right to their opinion.
The fact in this matter is Potter had a legitimate right to stop Wright's vehicle. She had a legitimate right to place Wright under arrest. Wright chose to resist. None of this would have happened if he did not take his own actions.
As for the shooting, it was a horrible tragedy, but it was a mistake, not intentional.
Deaths occur every day such as car accidents. When the death is unintentional, such as running a red light, the person may be culpable, but no one is calling it murder and demanding 15-20 years.
In this case, the video shows that Potter was surprised when the gun fired. It shows she wasn't aware that she had grabbed her gun instead of the Taser. There was no intent to shoot or kill.
For those who aren't aware, a Taser is very similar to a firearm. It is in a holster similar to a pistol, the taser has a grip, barrel, trigger guard, and trigger very similar to a pistol. This is deliberate to ensure the Officer is able to train and use it more rapidly due to familiarity.

Joe, in Minnesota it is a crime to, with "culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another...." Whether the negligence was based on a of lack of training, or the position of the taser, or mistake, a jury found that Officer Potter committed a crime in killing Wright.

We prosecute drunk drivers for accidents all the time, and put them in prison. We do that even though the driver had no intent to injure or kill someone. In my last year of law school, with a 3L bar card as a DA's intern, I sat second chair on the trial of an intoxicated Marine who was involved in an accident that severely injured someone. He was convicted and sentenced for a felony. He had no intent to injure anyone, it was an accident. This is no different, other than the fact that she was a police officer.

And yes, Wright chose to resist, and that was also a crime. It is not a crime that merits his death however, and certainly not his death by negligence.