Kim Potter Verdict: Guilty of First- and Second-Degree Manslaughter in Shooting of Daunte Wright

The jury had deliberated for around 28 hours over four days, following nine days of testimony and arguments.

Ms. Potter could face up to 15 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter and up to 10 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter. On the first-degree count, the jury found Ms. Potter guilty of taking a life while committing another crime, in this case, the reckless handling of a firearm. The second-degree verdict represented the jury finding Ms. Potter culpably negligent for the killing.

Defense lawyers said they planned to argue for a reduced sentence, citing Ms. Potter’s long record of public service and lack of prior charges. They also asked the judge to allow her to remain on bail ahead of sentencing.

“She’s not going to run, she’s obviously not going to commit any more crimes,” lawyer Earl Gray told the judge shortly after the verdict. “She’s been convicted of an accident.”

Mr. Gray didn’t immediately return a call seeking further comment.

Judge Regina Chu said she couldn’t handle Ms. Potter’s case differently than any other and ordered her into custody pending sentencing, which was set for Feb. 18. Ms. Potter had been free on $100,000 in bail.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, thanked the jury and noted that the verdict wouldn’t restore Mr. Wright’s life, but it did represent a degree of accountability. “Accountability is an important step, a critical, necessary step on the road to justice for us all,” he said.

In closing arguments on Monday, prosecutors argued that Ms. Potter should be found guilty for her reckless actions. “What this case is really about is about an officer who mishandled her firearm,” said prosecutor Erin Eldridge, an assistant attorney general for the state of Minnesota. She urged jurors not to speculate or “get sucked down into that rabbit hole of hypotheticals and misdirection.”

Meanwhile, the defense argued that Ms. Potter was justified in using her firearm to prevent injury to other officers, even though she didn’t know she was about to fire it. The defense also said that she didn’t cause Mr. Wright’s death. Rather, Mr. Wright was the cause, the defense argued, because he didn’t comply with officers when they tried to arrest him.

“This is a very, very emotional case. But you have to look at the law. And the evidence, the evidence about, did she have a right to use deadly force. Of course she did,” said Mr. Gray. “The causation was Daunte Wright.”

Last week, Ms. Potter broke down several times as she testified in her own defense, at one point saying, “I’m sorry it happened. I’m so sorry.”

Ms. Potter, who is white, pulled her 9mm handgun during the struggle to arrest Mr. Wright and said, “I’ll tase ya,” according to the criminal complaint and video of the incident. She fired the weapon as Mr. Wright, whose mother is white and father is Black, attempted to drive away. She said, “I shot him. I grabbed the wrong f—ing gun,” according to the complaint.

During her testimony, she said she didn’t recall saying that or saying that she was going to go to prison for the shooting.

Officers told Mr. Wright he was being pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror and expired tabs on his license plate, according to the complaint. Officers on the scene later learned he had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons violation.

Ms. Potter described a chaotic situation after officers tried to arrest Mr. Wright for the outstanding warrant and he broke free and attempted to drive away.

Ms. Potter recalled a look of fear on another veteran officer’s face as he leaned inside the car from the passenger side and tried to stop Mr. Wright from putting the car in gear. “It’s nothing I’ve seen before,” she said.

“We were trying to keep him from driving away,” she said. “It’s just, it’s just one chaotic…. Then I remember yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ and nothing happened and he said I shot him.”

The April 11 killing in the Minneapolis suburb took place during the trial of former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who was later found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder in the killing of George Floyd. Following the shooting of Mr. Wright, Brooklyn Center was rocked by several nights of protest and unrest. Ms. Potter, known as Kim, and the Brooklyn Center police chief resigned two days after the killing.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

earlier this month asked the state National Guard to be prepared to come to the assistance of local authorities in case of any unrest sparked by the verdict.

Write to Joe Barrett at joseph.barrett@wsj.com