Police chief says cop who fatally shot Daunte Wright accidentally fired gun instead of Taser

Funny you should show that because for many years I carried this as a back-up.



I carried that for about half of my career. The latter half I carried this as a back-up, a Glock 26 9mm. This is the actual gun I carried in a pocket holster in my left front pocket. I'm right handed, so this gave me access to a firearm with either hand ....



To the average person, it seems impossible that a person could confuse a firearm with a Taser, but this link explains it.

https://www.forcescience.org/2021/04/unintended-a-theory-of-taser-weapon-confusion/

I feel soooo sorry for Kim Potter.

 

That is the exact reason that Potter's Defense Team brought in an expert witness to support that theory.

 

@Andrew Jackson In 2006 I bought an inexpensive 4-cylinder commuter car with a 5-speed manual transmission. I drove it for 12 years, putting on 150,000 miles. In 2018 I sold it and bought a new car with an automatic. Consciously, I knew it was an automatic. But, at first, I found myself moving my left foot to the nonexistent clutch pedal when I rolled to a stop and reaching for the gear shift to move it into neutral. That is a "capture error" resulting in a performance "slip", although it had no consequences like the "capture error" Kim Potter had.

I feel immensely sorry for her. She was a police officer, but she is only human.

 

I understand completely, Seth.
I get it.
Considering that the woman who cross-examined her was also a big part of Chauvin's Prosecution, it is clear that the State wants major consequences.

The Elements of Man. 2 seem to be there:
609.205 MANSLAUGHTER IN THE SECOND DEGREE.
A person who causes the death of another by any of the following means is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both:

(1) by the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another;

_________

Experts said that with no priors she could get 4 years and serve 32 Months (with 2 fir 1 Good Time).

I don't think she should do any more time than anybody else convicted without priors.
Nor, shouid she do less.

 

I don't hold her responsible for Wright's death. That responsibility goes to Wright for...wait for it...*drumroll* resisting arrest. If he didn't resist arrest, he's still alive today. that plain and simple. She didn't take an unreasonable risk, she tried to perform her job to the best of her capability. A job that by necessity informs some kind of risk. If law enforcement officers bare more risk than the civilians in interactions, you'll get less policig as a whole.

 

agree, though after seeing her response, I do not think she was mentally strong enough to be a police officer, she totally lost it

but she did not intentionally shot him with a gun, she attempted to use less lethal force first, but she did not have to even do that legally, maybe by policy she did, which would just mean she should be fired, never be allowed to be a police officer again

she just was not thinking straight due to the adrenalin rush it seems, we expect cops to be able to handle it, not all people can (I doubt I could, thus I would not make a good cop)

there is a huge difference between this case and 'real' bad cops we have seen imo

 

That’s true but racism against whites isn’t just directed at the racist whites. Hell there’s an entire dogma out there today which says if you’re white youre INHERENTLY born racist.

 

Nah bro all whiteys are bad. And like I’ve told you folks before. The left makes no exceptions for good whiteys. To the left they’re just as evil and racist as a kkk member.

 

It's obviously an accident, brought about and precipitated by Wrights criminal misconduct.

 

And her error.

 

Which sounds why tasers should be nothing at all like firearms. it would be so easy to design them to look like a simple tube, activated with the thumb instead of a trigger.

She is negligent for her mistake. The department is negligent for providing her with a taser that made it really easy to make that mistake.

 

Just because he was a violent felon in the past, doesn't give you the right to execute anybody years after a conviction.
Your argument is actually that his black life with a conviction doesn't matter. That's a racism norm, but not a law to hide behind.

You can not prove that the vehicle was a lethal weapon. There was no sign at all that it's going to be used as such. So you're desperately are making it up.

That cop is a actually very experienced one, and training other cops. That adds to it, that it wasn't some mistake she pulled the wrong weapon.

 

A Taser may be used against a person who is "actively resisting" arrest. It may not be used when a suspect is using passive resistance to arrest. An example of passively resisting would be someone who has been told to turn around and place their hands behind their back but who then simply stands or sits there and doesn't obey. Daunte Wright was actively resisting arrest, so the intended use of the Taser was appropriate.

Kim Potter made that appropriate decision but then had a stress-induced "capture error", and drew and fired the gun. I'm not convinced that she "consciously" took chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another. Obviously, she did "create an unreasonable risk", but not "consciously", in my opinion. Compare what she did to what Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd. What Chauvin did was done "consciously." Both cases resulted in the unwarranted death of a criminal suspect, but the culpable mental state of the two officers was completely different.

When a surgeon makes an error that causes someone's death, we sue them, but we don't lock them up. An interesting series on TV is "Air Disasters". Sometimes the crash is caused by mechanical failure, but other times it is caused by pilot error. In those cases where the pilot survives, but the crash results in death or injury to passengers and crew, we don't lock up the pilot in prison. Again, we sue the airline.

I'm sure the jury will convict Kim Potter of something. But honestly, I don't know what justice is done by locking her up. She had no malicious intent, and she is not a danger to society. She is not going to be "reformed" by a prison term. Do we really need to lock her up "to make an example out of her"? An example of what? That good people can make mistakes? That we are human?

 

Which would not have occurred were it not for his conduct. Unless you want to abolish laws, law enforcement and the entire justice system along with our constitution, government, and nation, and leave the people to chaos, things like this will happen. The former is clearly the superior choice.

 

I don’t want to abolish laws. That’s a completely bizarre suggestion.

Your approach means that in any interaction with police, where the suspect doesn’t cooperate fully, the cop is justified in using lethal force.

Yes, he should have cooperated. She shouldn’t have use her gun. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

And you obviously miss my point completely. These kinds of shootings (where the cop thought it was a taser) do happen. You seem to want to say, “to bad, these things happen”.
I say, “isn’t there a way to avoid this happening again ?”

i think there is an easy way. Make the taser in the shape of a flashlight (for example). Activated with the thumb. It would be much more difficult to confuse the two.

Tell me why that’s a bad idea.

 

Yes, Seth.
And, I agree.
How jurors see that EXACT Point, is what will decide the case.

Which is precisely why the testimony (for the Defense) by an Expert Witness on "capture error" was introduced.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/12/16/potter-defense-includes-psychological-explanation-for-error

And, obviously, the Prosecution was aware (before trial) that such an argument could help the Defense, since they made a motion to exclude that testimony which was denied.

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021...-to-exclude-expert-testimony-on-action-error/

 

I’m not stunned that you’re unaware that a vehicle can be a deadly weapon. How you think you’re pulling tricks on people is the amusing part of your posting.

 

So what?

Obviously a vehicle CAN be a "Deadly Weapon".
So could a Pencil (if jabbed in someone's eye).

BUT, in the situation with Potter, it is beyond misguided to extrapolate that the vehicle was a "deadly weapon".
Give me a break.

 

How many police officers have been killed by being run down or dragged by vehicles? Many more than being shot or stabbed I reckon.

I feel so sorry for this poor girl, I hope she gets the lesser manslaughter charge, does a year in prison and then gets out with plenty of time to rebuild her life.

 

Exactly.

I am sure she will.

 

bullshit. Now you’re pretending that vehicle wasn’t a deadly weapon against police officers at the time. It was.

 

I really dislike the prosecuting profession as a whole. Prosecutors have no interest in the truth and certainly have no interest in the judicial system outside of incarcerating the defendant, because that is how they get paid(they don't get paid for the proceedings itself.). As long as there's a financial incentive inherent within the justice system, we will not be able to reach true justice.

 

yeah, that bothers me too, it's like even when they realise they made a mistake, they do not want to admit it as that would be a loss

it should not be about winning and losing.... not getting it right is a loss

 

There's a ton of blame to go around but from the start I would have found Kim "Not Guilty " on all charges.

The Control Freaks made up a bunch of silly things that are crimes in order to give the Slave Patrol free rein to harass anyone they don't like. So, when the trainee Patroller saw a Black guy driving with a piece of paper hanging from the rear view mirror he jumped right on him like a wolf eating a chicken. Kim said that she would have ignored it and even the expired license tags.

Then they do the stop but in the meantime Daunte calls his mother and she doesn't tell him to chill and not act stupid. He has been through the process before and even if he ended up in jail he would have been able to get out Monday. His woman passenger didn't tell the fool to chill so that she wouldn't get shot by the trigger happier Slave Patrol. And he was stupid because he knew what would happen if he acted like an idiot and resisted what was coming. He didn't give a damn about his kid, who now doesn't have a father because he acted like a fool.

The trainee Patroller, who has been a cop a couple times before, fumbles handling Daunte, who he is trying to arrest on a warrant. That allows Daunte the opportunity to get in his car and attempt to escape, or maybe to even grab a gun and start shooting. Recognizing a potential dangerous situation, Kim is quick on the draw and whips out her pistol. She yells Taser and the other two cops stand there like idiots with their hands up their butts. As Daunte tries to drive away she shoots him and he drives down the road until he crashes.

The Chief shows up and immediately throws Kim under the bus claiming that it was an accident on her part. So, the net result is that the media and public became focused on why Kim didn't know the difference between her gun and her Taser. The focus should have been that she shot a guy who had just been arrested on a valid warrant who was trying to escape police custody.

So, if I was on her jury it would be an automatic "Not Guilty" verdict on all counts. Daunte is dead because of his own stupid actions.

 

It was obvious that was what happened as soon as anyone with a brain saw the video. Have you stressed trained? It's fairly easy to make these distinctions when you have a resting heart rate, it's a whole 'nother world at 200 bpm.