Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter smiled in her new mugshot photo after being convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter.
The 49-year-old, who was found guilty on all counts at Hennepin County Court, was ordered to be held without bail after she shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright dead.
Potter did not react during the reading of the guilty verdict or when she heard that she would be held without bail.
Her husband shouted ‘I love you, Kim’ as she left the courtroom but Potter also remained impassive.
After reading the results, Judge Regina Chu said that this was their ‘true and correct verdict.’
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge also exchanged an embrace with Wright’s grieving mother, Katie Bryant, and with Wright’s father.
Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison also hugged the parents.
Ellison said that the former cop had gone from being “an esteemed member of the community and honored member of a noble profession” to a person convicted of a serious crime.
But AG said that Potter’s conviction was an “important step” towards justice.
This was the second high-profile conviction of a cop won this year by Ellison’s team, including some of the lawyers who helped convict former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Ellison said justice is “restoration and making the Wright family whole again,” and that “is beyond our reach.”
Katie Bryant said the results triggered “every single emotion that you could imagine.”
“Today we have gotten accountability and that’s what we’ve been asking for from the beginning,” she expressed.
“We love you, we appreciate you, and honestly, we could not have done it without you.”
After the jury was released, Potter’s defense attorney Paul Engh made a plea to the judge to reconsider her decision, saying: “She is a devoted Catholic. She’s not a risk to the public.”
Attorney Earl Gray also said that Potter had “deep roots in the community” and “is not going anywhere.”
But the judge did not budge and replied: “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”
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