Winter break begins December 20 and will last through January 3.
“This decision was made in anticipation of the conclusion of the Potter trial,” the school district said in a statement. “While we do not know what the outcome of the trial will be, we believe that extending winter break will allow the district and families to avoid any challenges that may arise within our community as a result of the verdict.”
There were no rebuttal witnesses from the defense or the prosecution.
Jury instruction arguments will be held today.
Potter said she didn’t remember what she did or said following the incident because she “was distraught.”
“I had just shot somebody,” Potter said. “I’ve never done that before.”
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge noted that after she shot Daunte Wright, Potter didn’t communicate over the radio about what happened or run down the road to check on Wright or the other car involved in the accident.
“You were focused on what you had done because you had just killed somebody,” Elridge said.
Potter begins to get emotional.
“I’m sorry it happened,” Potter said, through tears. “I’m so sorry.”
Eldridge then said that Potter “knew deadly force was unwarranted and unreasonable.”
“I didn’t want to hurt anybody,” Potter replied.
“We were trying to keep him from driving away. It just went chaotic,” she said, describing the moments before she shot Daunte Wright.
“I remember yelling ‘Taser Taser Taser’ and nothing happened and then he told me I shot him,” she said.
Potter then became emotional as the prosecutor began playing body camera footage from the day of the incident.
The prosecutor asked, “You have your firearm in your right hand, correct? And you are pointing it directly at Mr. Wright?”
Potter broke down immediately after seeing the footage.
Judge Chu then asked her if she needed a break, Potter nodded yes.
They are currently on an hour lunch break.
The prosecution displayed evidence showing the Taser and gun as well as Potter’s holster. Erin Eldridge noted the difference in color, shape and size.
“They look different, don’t they?” Eldridge asked.
“Yes,” Potter replied.
Eldridge also noted the difference in how to remove the Taser and gun from the holster.
Potter explained that while she hadn’t fired her Taser or gun, she had unholstered and drawn them before during her time as an officer.
She also confirmed she had been trained on Tasers since 2002 and was aware of how they worked.
Potter stated, “I remember a struggle with Officer Luckey and the driver at the door, the driver was trying to get back into the car. I went around Officer Luckey and the driver’s getting into the car. I can see Johnson’s hand and I can see his face.”
Potter then became emotional while she described the moments she pulled out her gun and mistook it for her Taser.
Potter said, “I remember yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’ and nothing happened, and he told me I shot him.”
At the time of the incident, Potter was a field training officer with trainee Officer Luckey.
She said Luckey was driving and she was in the passenger seat. Luckey noticed Wright’s vehicle had a pine tree air freshener and expired tabs and he wanted to stop the car.
If she was alone, Potter said she would most likely have not have pulled Wright over.
She said the air freshener was a minor equipment violation and that expired tabs were common at the time because COVID had impacted the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“We were advised not to try to enforce a lot of those things,” she said.
After the vehicle was pulled over, Luckey ran Wright’s name and discovered that he had a warrant out for a weapons charge and a protection order.
She said the plan was to arrest Wright and investigate if the female in the passenger seat was the petitioner of the protection order.
Potter added that people with weapons warrants are likely to be carrying a weapon.
“In my experience over 26 years, I’ve found guns in cars, either by accident or by them just being sitting out in plain view.”
She added that traffic stops could be dangerous because “you don’t know who you’re pulling over.”
Potter and Luckey called in for backup and approached the vehicle again once Sergeant Johnson arrived.
Defense attorney asked, “Did you ever use a Taser, use it by actually shooting it, in all your years career as a law enforcement officer?”
Potter responded, “I would take my Taser out on rare occasions, but I don’t believe I ever deployed it.”
The defense also said Potter’s taser was shaped like a gun
Gray, " the Taser 7 was shaped like a gun, fair statement?
Potter, “Yes.”
Potter is charged with first and second-degree manslaughter.
She will likely be the final witness called by the defense on the eighth day of the trial.
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge noted that Miller often works with police departments and officers.
Miller said officers are trained to manage stress and make decisions under stress.
“It is important to you, in your profession, to impart on officers how to manage stress, how to make decisions under stress,” Eldrige asked.
Miller confirmed that.
He also agreed with Eldriges notion that “prevention is half the battle.”
Miller stated, “An action error is a sequence of responses in which an intended action has an unintended effect… In plain language, you intend to do one thing, think you’re doing that thing but do something else and only realize later that the action you intended was not the one you took”.
Potter’s defense attorney then asked Miller about the risk factors that contribute to an “action error”.
“The subject may not respond to lawful commands, you don’t know the occupants of the vehicle. If in fact, you discover that there may be outstanding warrants these are all factors that sort of buildup”, Miller said.
Miller also stated, “the reason that officer can’t recall it, it didn’t get into his or her brain in the first place. And if it did, it didn’t have time to be consolidated by this memory formatting process in order to be stored in a way that could later be recalled”.
The trial is streaming live on YouTube.
The judge also said the defense has two more witnesses which will likely include former police officer Kim Potter who will testify on her own behalf.
Court will resume Friday at 9:00 a.m.CST
Engh said Wright failed to appear in court and had multiple charges against him. He said he wanted to include this evidence on the record to “rebut the inference that Mr. Wright was a peaceful individual” and refute the image of him as a law-abiding citizen.
Judge Regina Chu said any bad acts by Wright that Potter was aware of were allowed on the record. However, Potter was not aware of these issues and, therefore, they did not impact her state of mind when she approached Wright during the incident.
Thomas Hall said he met Potter at his neighbor’s house about a decade ago and he is friends with her children.
Hall quickly left the witness stand after the defense concluding their questions.
Gannon said the officers would have been injured if Daunte Wright’s car went into reverse.
Defense attorney Earl Gray noted if the car backed up, there would be a risk of “great bodily harm,” a justification for using deadly force.
Gannon agreed that a Taser could have been used in a situation to prevent a driver from fleeing.
“Is it your opinion that not only could a Taser be used in this chaotic situation, but also a gun?” Gray asked.
Gannon replied, “yes.”
The former police chief said that he wouldn’t fire Potter immediately after the incident, also noting she was a “fine” officer.
“I saw no violation of policy, procedure, law”, Gannon said.
The prosecution is arguing that there was no basis for Potter to use deadly force.
Prosecutor Matthew Franks noted that if an officer is trying to arrest someone on a warrant and the person pulls away, the officer can’t just shoot them.
“Of course not,” Ijames responded.
Prosecutor asked, “Is it your opinion that he was not in a position to operate or drive that vehicle?”
Ijames responded, “He was in a position to operate it, he wasn’t operating it at the time”.
According to the video, Ijames said it appears Potter only fired one shot. He said generally, officers will fire multiple shots when using their guns in a deadly force situation. When using a Taser, officers typically fire one shot, “a press and release.”
Prosecutor Matthew Frank noted that if Potter pulled her trigger one time, a reasonable officer in her position would not have perceived a reasonable basis to use lethal force by shooting her gun.
Ijames said that Potter’s single trigger pull could indicate she did not perceive a need to use deadly force in that situation.
“From what I’ve seen in the video,” Ijames said, “an officer in her position was not perceiving the need to use deadly force. And so the use of the Taser would have been an appropriate tool and that’s what she was trying to do.”
The defense argued that Potter would have been justified in using deadly force during the traffic stop.
In cross examination by Potter’s defense attorney Ijames was asked, “In light of your review was Officer Potter’s perceived use of a taser consistent with contemporary and professional police training and practice?”
Ijames then said, “yes”.
Ijames then explained why he disagrees with the defense attorney on the effectiveness of the Taser at that range, “the 7 spreads wide at close range by design independent of that, the physical positioning of a seated suspect changes everything.”
Potter herself is expected to take the witness stand in her own defense.
The trial is streaming live on YouTube.
The prosecution plans to present the photos as evidence, along with testimony from the medical examiner.
Judge Chu said the pictures from the autopsy will be shown in court and in the overflow room but will not be broadcast o the live stream per the family’s request and maintain the “dignity of the deceased.”
The judge said jurors are to return to court Monday at 9 a.m.
He took over the position after the former chief Tim Gannon resigned along with Potter after the incident.
Gruening described his role at the time of the incident as most administrative. The prosecution asked him about the typical protocol for an investigation into an officer-involved shooting.
He detailed the protocol and outlined his role working with the officers on the scene and his work turning evidence over to the Bureau of Critical Apprehension (BCA) to conduct their independent investigation into the incident.
During his testimony, the defense objected to mention of Potter’s involvement in the police union. Judge Chu sustained the objection and reminded the prosecution that there will be no union talk during the trial.
“I am definitely going to let you go home early today”.
“It’s getting kind of icky out there and slippery”, Judge Chu said.
Gray said it was 13 seconds Johnson told Wright he was under arrest, Wright then began to struggle with Luckey, and then 6 seconds later Potter began to attempt to assist
When Johnson asks for her gun, Potter appears to say “No, just let me kill myself,” according to body camera footage. Johnson responds, “that’s not happening Kim.”
Johnson said another officer was concerned Potter would harm herself.
Body camera footage shows Johnson asking Potter for his gun back moments later. He said he was “able to turn away from” Potter and “discretely” removed the magazine and bullets from the chamber. He returned his gun to Potter without any ammunition.
Johnson then said he took Potter’s gun in order to hand it over to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the outside agency that would take over the investigation.
According to body camera footage shown during the trial, Potter was heard repeatedly saying " Oh my God, I’m going to go to jail".
Officer Johnson who was also on the scene stated, “Kim that guy was trying to take off with me in the car”.
He said he responded to a call for help at a traffic stop with Officers Potter and Luckey. There was a warrant out for Wright’s arrest for a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon without a permit.
The prosecution showed his body camera footage of the incident, stopping at several points to have Johnson explain what is happening.
While Wright was out of his car with Officer Luckey, Johnson opened the passenger side door and reached over Alayna Albrecht-Payton in the passenger seat to put the car in park and turn the engine off. He does not recall if the car was already in park or if the engine was off.
When Wright got back in the car, Johnson grabbed his arm to put him in handcuffs and prevent Wright from driving off. Johnson was still reaching over Albrecht-Payton at this time. He told her to “just stay back.”
Potter then said she would tase Wright and Johnson recalls hearing a “loud pop.” He did not know at the time that it was a gunshot until Potter said she shot Wright with her gun moments later.
After the shot was fired, Johnson got out of the car before it drove off.
The judge also stated that they may cut testimony short today and end at noon.
According to weather reports, it has not started snowing as of yet in their area.
The medical examiner will take the stand and the photos will be shown in the courtroom. However, the pictures will not be sent to the pool. Reporters can describe the photos but cannot publish or broadcast them.
Graphic footage from police body camera video of officers pulling Wright out of his car and performing life-saving measures shown in court Thursday were not broadcast.
The judge also advised the state on the procedures of presenting a photo in the trial going forward.
She stated if they present photos with Wright’s eyes open to cut off the photo at the nose because the jury does not need sympathy and passion.
Alayna Albrecht-Payton recounted the moments leading up to the incident, what happened after Wright was shot and the injuries she suffered from the car crash after the shooting.
This comes after graphic images were shown during cross-examination of the witnesses.
In the video, police officers approach Wright’s vehicle and remove him from the car to administer life-saving measures.
The footage was graphic, showing blood from the gunshot wound and Wright’s naked body as his pants came down while he was pulled out of the car. The court live feed quickly cut away from the body camera video and focused on Officer Irish and prosecutor Josh Larson watching the footage play in court.
In the audio from the video, officers can be heard administering life-saving measures. Wright was pronounced dead and his body was shown under a sheet at the end of the video.
Irish said he observed that Wright had a gunshot wound to the chest.
He then removed Wright’s clothing, checked for a pulse on his wrist and an artery in his neck and placed a chest seal on the exit wound.
According to a reporter on the scene, the people were chanting “Justice for Daunte Wright.”
The video footage is from Officer Alan Douglas Salvoas’ vehicle. Salvoas was driving behind the car Wright crashed into.
The officer got out of his patrol car with his gun pointed towards Wright’s wrecked vehicle and yelled, “put your hands up” repeatedly.
Wright’s girlfriend Alayna then replied, “I cant.”
Salvosa notified dispatchers of suspects not complying, a civilian car injury, a female with lacerations, and a driver who was not breathing.
He also told dispatchers that he was by himself holding the suspects at gunpoint.
After responding officers arrived they were briefed on a male who was not breathing. One officer was then heard saying “We will deal with that when we deal with it.”
At this point, he said he had no information that there was a weapon in the white car. He also said he did not receive information from the officers at the traffic stop. Salvosa added he “was confused” because he was not informed of what occurred.
The windows of Wright’s car were “heavily tinted” and Salvosa said he could not see inside but could detect movement. He ordered the passengers to come out of the vehicle. The passenger, Alayna Albrecht-Payton, rolled down her window and said that she could not come out of the vehicle or put her hands up and that the driver, Daunte Wright, “was not breathing.” Salvosa saw Wright slumped over in the driver’s seat and called for medical assistance, noting that the male was reportedly not breathing.
Salvosa described his tone as “aggressive” and “amped up” because he had them at gunpoint. He said it “felt like forever” before other officers arrived, but noted it was likely only a few minutes. He said officers waited 10 minutes before removing Wright and Albrecht-Payton from the vehicle.
Once Albrecht-Payton exited the car, he said she put her hands up and walked towards another officer. Salvosa said he had no further interacted with her. He eventually lowered his weapon when other agencies arrived and was ordered to tape off the crime scene.
He later learned that the driver was shot and pronounced dead after other officers removed Wright from the car and administered aid. Once he learned the incident was an officer-involved shooting, he was placed in isolation as a potential witness.
Salvosa stated he was one of the responding officers after receiving a call for backup for a car with warrants attached to it.
Officer Douglas told the court, moments before he could make it to the scene he witnessed Wright’s car coming into oncoming traffic, crashing into a car in front of his patrol car.
Salvosa also said, he then notified dispatch of the car crash and asked that they send an ambulance.
Blanski said she heard the crash and went outside to check if everyone was okay. She said she was outside for most of the day “for all the events that unfolded.”
When she went outside, Blanski said Daunte Wright’s family showed up. She said a woman believed to be Wright’s mother arrived and was “visibly upset.”
She provided security camera footage from her home that captured the crash to law enforcement. While much of the incident is blocked by trees, Blanski described the gray car involved in the crash as “heavily damaged.”
Lundgren Wells testified about her father’s health further declining.
She stated that prior to the crash her father, Kenneth had a stroke with brain bleeding 20 years ago and he never fully recovered from it.
Lundgren Wells says her dad hasn’t been the same since accident, was hospitalized and became belligerent. “That’s not my dad,” she said.
She noted that after the crash things accelerated quickly with his brain shrinking and sense of reasoning also declining.
He is currently in hospice care.
Denise Lundgren Wells said her mother Patricia left her a voicemail after the car crash.
According to Lundgren Wells, the voicemail said, “We’ve been in an accident. The car is totaled. The guy in the other car died. We’re tired and going to bed. Don’t call us.”
Lundgren Wells tried to call her mother back, but there was no answer. She sent her husband to drive to her parents’ house.
Then, Lundgren Wells said she tracked down her parents’ car in order to recover their personal items. Authorities told her it was being held by the BCA and her parents looked in the White Pages for how to contact law enforcement to get their vehicle.
During the redirect, prosecutor Erin Eldridge asked Alayna Albrecht-Payton whether the car was turned on or off during the incident.
Defense attorney Earl Gray objected several times and the prosecutor reframed her question.
Alayna Albrecht-Payton testified that she thought the car was still running throughout the entire incident. She also said Wright’s hands were never on the wheel but his foot was on the gas when he was shot after he returned to his car.
Lundergen stated she didn’t sustain any injuries, but her 86-year-old husband was injured.
She said her husband was trapped in the car, and she had to go to his side of the vehicle to help lower his head and help him out of the vehicle.
Patricia also stated that she was worried about why no one was there to help them after the crash.
Lundergen noted that her husband is a lot worse since the accident and he is now at home in hospice care.
Alayna says she and Wright smoke marijuana at her house the morning of the fatal incident. She stated they were in the car on the way to Wright’s mother’s house, but she did not go in the house to meet Wright’s mother.
Albrecht-Payton noted that she did not notice any changes after Wright smoked.
Police told her to get out of the car. She was crying and the police told her to put her stuff down and asked if there was anyone else in the vehicle.
An officer said, “you’re not being arrested” but then put her in handcuffs.
Albrecht-Payton said she sustained several injuries as a result of the crash, including a broken jar, bitten lip and a cut on her left ear. She later said she suffered a concussion and emotional trauma from the incident.
Alayna stated that moments Daunte was shot she remembers the car they were in crashing into another car.
At that point she found a clothing item in the car and pressed it against his chest not knowing where Daunte was shot.
“I was trying to push on his chest and call his name, and he wasn’t answering me, and he was just gasping”.
Albrecht-Payton also said during the incident Wright’s mother called repeatedly and she answered the video call and put the camera on Wright revealing his deceased body to his mother.
Payton also expressed her guilt in showing Wright’s body to his mother on the video call.
“No mom should have to see her son dead on a video call on a phone”
Albrecht-Payton said she was just beginning her romantic relationship with Wright at the time of the incident.
She says she was in the front passenger seat when Wright was pulled over by police. She said they were pulled over because of air fresheners, tabs and a warrant.
According to Albrecht-Payton, there were no weapons in the car or on Wright’s person.
Albrecht-Payton began getting emotional on the witness stand as she described the moment before Wright was shot.
She said she was “nervous and scared” during the traffic stop because she doesn’t “have a good past with police” and gets nervous every time interacts with police. Wright was also scared, she said.
“He was really scared, I’ve never seen him like that before,” she said, describing him as a “really happy and positive.”
Then she details the moment Wright was shot.
“I just remember hearing the boom, the bang of the gun,” Albrecht-Payton said through tears.
Wright’s girlfriend was also in his vehicle on the passenger side the day he was pulled over by police and Potter fatally shot him.
