Trial of ex-cop Kimberly Potter in death of Daunte Wright gets final jurors

Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The jury for the trial of former suburban Minneapolis police officer Kimberly Potter, who faces manslaughter charges for shooting Black motorist Daunte Wright, was completed Friday with the naming of two alternates.

Potter, who was a Brooklyn Center police officer who appeared to mistake her gun for a Taser in the shooting death of Wright in April, will face a jury that is made up of 11 White people, one Black person and two Asian people.

Race has been a subplot in the case, with the shooting taking place in the middle of the highly charged case of Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in the police-involved death of George Floyd in nearby Minneapolis.

Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu told the jury, evenly split with seven men and seven women, they will hear opening statements on Wednesday.

Prosecutors charged Potter with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter charges in Wright's death. Potter was attempting to take him into custody during a traffic stop on April 11 at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors will argue that Potter was reckless in the incident and point to extensive training she had received before the incident. Her attorneys will argue she made a mistake in trying to reach for her Taser and will lean on video showing her repeatedly saying "Taser" before firing.

In October, Chu denied a defense motion to drop the first-degree manslaughter charge, saying there was sufficient evidence to support probable cause for the count.