UPRDATE ON TRIAL STATUS
After meeting for 5.5 hours on Monday, the jury did not return a verdict in the trial of Kim Potter, the officer who killed black motorist Daunte Wright. By the end of deliberations on Tuesday, the jurors asked the judge what happens if they can not reach a verdict.
Judges Regina Chu read the question in court. The jury's question about deliberating, read in court by Chu, said: “If the jury cannot reach consensus, what is the guidance around how long and what steps should be taken?”
The judge then reread from the jury instructions, telling the jurors to continue to “discuss the case with one another and deliberate with a view toward reaching agreement if you can do so without violating your individual judgment.”
Potter's attorneys objected to the judge rereading that instruction, arguing that doing so inappropriately emphasized that paragraph over the rest of the instructions. Chu overruled
Potter, 49 claimed that the death was accidental as she thought she was reaching for a taser and mistakenly fired her service weapon. She has been charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter for killing Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb. The case was gained national attention due to the racial parallels to the Geroge Flood shooting in the midst of a racial reckoning. The 26-year police veteran was training rookies when she pulled Wright over. Potter is facing a 7 year sentence but prosecutors say they will request more time.