Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter potentially faces years behind bars when she is sentenced Friday morning for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, but her attorneys are pleading for a lower term or probation.
Prosecutors filed a memorandum with the court earlier this week asking Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu to hand down a prison term recommended by state sentencing guidelines — a move different from their previous intention to request a longer-than-recommended term.
Both sides presented good arguments that Chu will consider in the face of intense public scrutiny, said two law professors.
"To me, that's the big question — whether she's sent to prison — and they have a really good argument, both sides," said Bradford Colbert, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Jurors convicted Potter, 49, on Dec. 23 of first- and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Wright once in the chest during an April 11, 2021, traffic stop. Potter will be sentenced on the higher count, per state law.
State sentencing guidelines call for a prison term between about six years and about 8½ years for first-degree manslaughter for a defendant like Potter, who has no criminal history. The presumptive term is a little over seven years.
Joseph Daly, emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, predicted that Potter would receive prison time but less than the presumptive term. Veteran defense attorney Joe Friedberg was stumped as to a prediction.
"I just don't know," Friedberg said. "I think the political forces are resting very heavily on Judge Chu's shoulders."
Potter's attorneys, Paul Engh and Earl Gray, filed a memorandum with the court in January seeking a lower, unspecified term, saying that Wright was the "aggressor" and set the events into motion. They filed a second memorandum alternatively asking Chu to sentence Potter to probation because she has the support of her family, won't reoffend and because she would face physical danger in prison.
Engh did not return messages seeking comment Thursday; Gray was in trial in an unrelated matter.
"The District Courts have long been encouraged to 'avoid sentencing that is either mechanical or callous,' " Potter's attorneys wrote in their request for probation. "If there is a failure inherent in criminal law, it is that we have not used the behavioral sciences to help find the right point where too little time undercuts the seriousness of the crime, while too much does little good for society or the incarcerated defendant."
Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank fired back at the defense in his filing this week.
"It is Defendant's burden to establish to the satisfaction of the Court that she is amenable to probation; that is, that society's interests are better served by a probationary" sentence, Frank wrote. "Blaming the victim, claiming to be a victim of a political prosecution, fomenting fear and divisiveness, and denying responsibility does not satisfy that burden."
In their memo arguing for a lower prison term, Potter's defense blamed Wright for the shooting. Her attorneys also noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a lower prison term given to one of the officers convicted in the 1991 beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles was proper because King had driven while intoxicated, disobeyed police commands and attempted to escape.
"Without Mr. Wright's violent and aggressive resistance, nothing would have happened," Potter's defense wrote in their memo. "All Mr. Wright had to do was stop, obey lawful commands, and he'd be alive."
Police had stopped Wright, 20, for expired tags and a dangling air freshener and attempted to arrest him after they discovered an arrest warrant for carrying a gun without a permit. Wright broke free of an officer, and after a brief struggle, Potter shot Wright, and his car sped forward into another vehicle. Potter testified at trial that she believed she was deploying her Taser when she fired her handgun.
Frank also criticized Potter's defense for referencing the King case, arguing that King was combative with police while Wright never acted aggressively toward police. Potter is white; Wright and King are both Black.
"It is incredulous that, notwithstanding the impact of her conduct on her community, Defendant would attempt to support her request for a shorter sentence by comparison to …the case arising out of the beating of Rodney King," Frank wrote.
Friedberg said Potter's defense highlighted legitimate grounds for their arguments, but Daly said blaming the victim is a dangerous tactic.
"I understand the argument, but … when you start blaming the victim you weaken your argument," Daly said.
Frank urged Chu to sentence Potter to the presumptive prison term, or, if she were to choose a lower term, to pick a sentence between the presumptive terms for first- and second-degree manslaughter. The presumptive term for the lower count is four years in prison. Minnesota inmates must serve two-thirds of their prison term before they are eligible for supervised release.
In the event that the judge chooses probation, Frank wrote, she should sentence Potter to 10 years' probation and include several conditions: Potter should be required to serve one year in jail "to reflect on the seriousness of Daunte Wright's death," to speak to police about the dangers of weapon confusion, to speak with the Wright family if they so choose and to remain law-abiding.
Prosecutors had filed a memorandum in January asking Chu to review two proposed aggravating factors that would allow them to seek a prison term above state guidelines — that Potter abused her position of authority and "caused a greater-than-normal danger" to others. Chu has not issued a public order on the factors.
Friedberg said he believes the prosecution's new filing means their January request is now moot.
"They can't make a credible argument for upward departure," he said.
Potter posted bond after she was charged last year and was out of custody leading up to and throughout her trial. She was immediately arrested after her conviction and is in Department of Corrections custody as she awaits sentencing.
