Opening statements in the trial of the police officer accused of manslaughter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright began Wednesday. Katie Bryant, 43, repeatedly broke down on the witness stand as she told jurors about her 20-year-old son, describing him as mother’s day 2021 jokester and loving father. She recounted their final conversation and what she saw at the scene of the shooting. I was so confused, angry, scared,” she said as jurors listened intently.
It was the worst day of my life. The veteran Brooklyn Center officer is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in Wright’s death during a traffic stop-turned-arrest in April. This case is about the defendant, Kim Potter, betraying her oath, betraying her badge, and betraying her trust,” prosecutor Erin Eldridge said in her opening statement. She had been trained year after year after year to prevent this kind of thing from happening, but she did it anyway. And she had to do what she had to do to prevent a death of a fellow officer,” attorney Paul Engh said in his opening statement.
Engh said Wright should have surrendered to the warrant. He later added, “Over the course of 26 years, she never fired a gun. Bryant, the first witness called by the state, said her son called her shortly after leaving her house to get gas and a car wash. She said Wright told her he was being pulled over and “sounded really nervous, scared” before she heard an officer tell him to step out of the car and the call ended. Bryant said she panicked and called her son back several times on Facetime. Bryant said the woman in the passenger seat of the car answered the video call, told her Wright had been shot and turned the phone toward the driver’s seat.
My son was laying there, he was unresponsive,” she said through tears. I wanted to go comfort my baby,” she said. I wanted to protect him because that’s what mothers do. Under cross-examination, Bryant told a defense attorney that, before the shooting, she did not know her son used marijuana or had a warrant for his arrest. Wright’s father, Arbuey Wright, two brothers and sister and were also present for testimony Wednesday. Potter’s husband, brother and sister-in-law sat in seats reserved for the defendant’s family. Potter was his training officer that day.
Luckey, 31, appeared in court in full uniform. He told jurors he initiated the traffic stop after noticing the car Wright was driving had a right-turn signal on in the left lane and had expired tabs and an air freshener hanging from the review mirror. Using an aerial photo of the intersection where the shooting took place, Luckey walked jurors through what happened during the stop. He said he smelled marijuana and observed marijuana leaves scattered around the car. Wright did not have a license or insurance, Luckey said. Luckey agreed with prosecutors that Wright was respectful and did not give him any reason to believe he was armed. He also agreed the woman in the car did not appear to be in distress.
Luckey said he, Potter and a third officer, a sergeant, attempted to arrest Wright after learning he had a warrant for failing to appear on a gross misdemeanor weapons charge and a protection order that barred him from having contact with a woman. On cross-examination, Luckey agreed with an attorney for the defense that, if Wright had been able to drive away, he and the other officer could have been injured or killed. Luckey said he heard Potter repeatedly inform Wright she would tase him, so he pulled back. Luckey said that’s when he saw a flash and heard the “bang” of a gunshot. Luckey said he got hit in the face by a projectile and was temporarily unable to hear due to the gun going off at close range. Video from the scene shows Potter shouted several expletives and said she “grabbed the wrong” gun.
Luckey said Wright’s car drove forward, “airborned over the median,” and crashed into another vehicle and a fence. As video of the incident played, the loud subsequent bangs of the crash rang out in the courtroom, and Katie Bryant cried. Luckey said Potter “became hysterical” after the shooting. His bodycam video shows her sobbing on the ground as officers try to comfort her.