Potter’s ex-chief: ‘I saw no violation’ of policy by officer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter ’s constabulary main astatine the clip she changeable and killed Daunte Wright testified successful her defence astatine her manslaughter proceedings connected Thursday, calling her “a good officer” and saying helium “saw nary violation” of argumentation successful her actions astatine the scene.

Tim Gannon resigned 2 days aft the April 11 shooting, saying helium believed helium had to discontinue “because I would not instantly occurrence Kim Potter.” Potter resigned the aforesaid day.

Potter, 49, is charged with manslaughter successful Wright’s death. During an April 11 postulation halt successful the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, the 20-year-old Black motorist broke distant from officers trying to apprehension him and was attempting to thrust distant erstwhile Potter changeable him. Body-camera video captured Potter, who is white, shouting “I’ll tase you!” and “Taser, Taser, Taser!” earlier she fired once.

Under questioning from Potter lawyer Earl Gray, Gannon testified that helium viewed body-camera video instantly aft the shooting and squad car video recently, and erstwhile helium had “all the information successful beforehand of me, I saw nary violation.”

“Violation of what?” Gray asked.

“Of policy, process oregon law,” Gannon said.

On cross-examination, authoritative Matthew Frank asked Gannon whether it was accordant with argumentation “for an serviceman to not cognize they person their firearm successful their manus erstwhile they sprout it.”

Potter’s attorneys person argued that she would person been wrong her rights to usage deadly unit adjacent if she had intended to bash truthful due to the fact that a chap serviceman was endangered by Wright’s effort to flee.

Gannon testified that it appeared to him from squad car video that Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was assisting successful the stop, was “leaning into” Wright’s car. He said it was his sentiment that deadly unit was reasonable.

Gannon recalled his ain acquisition successful a concern wherever helium was dragged by a car. He said helium felt “sheer terror” and a feeling of “simply trying to survive.”

Prosecutors called constabulary witnesses to physique their statement that Potter was an experienced serviceman who had been thoroughly trained successful usage of a Taser, including warnings astir the information of confusing 1 with a handgun. They person to beryllium recklessness oregon culpable negligence if they are to triumph a condemnation connected the manslaughter charges.

The decease of Wright acceptable disconnected aggravated demonstrations for respective days successful Brooklyn Center. It happened arsenic different achromatic erstwhile officer, Derek Chauvin, was lasting proceedings successful adjacent Minneapolis for the killing of George Floyd.

Gannon said Potter was known for handling calls, acting professionally and penning bully constabulary reports. He testified that she volunteered with a radical that helped retired erstwhile officers were killed successful the enactment of duty. She besides worked connected home maltreatment cases and was a tract grooming officer.

Earlier Thursday, the defence opened its lawsuit with use-of-force adept Stephen Ijames, a erstwhile adjunct constabulary main successful Springfield, Missouri. Ijames testified that officers were legally bound to apprehension Wright aft discovering helium had a warrant for an outstanding weapons violation.

Ijames besides testified it was precise improbable that Wright could person driven distant had Potter really utilized her Taser. That pushed backmost against a prosecution use-of-force adept who testified earlier that utilizing either a weapon oregon a Taser connected Wright would person made things worse due to the fact that helium could person been incapacitated and his conveyance could person go a weapon.

After Potter changeable Wright, his car took disconnected and crashed seconds aboriginal into an oncoming vehicle, hurting respective people.

Ijames, who said helium wrote the Taser argumentation for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, told the tribunal Thursday that helium disagreed with a prosecution use-of-force adept who testified that Potter was excessively adjacent to Wright for the Taser to beryllium effective.

Ijames said a Taser is the astir effectual instrumentality to incapacitate idiosyncratic erstwhile utilized properly, 2nd lone to a gunshot to the head. He besides said officers had to presume that Wright “very apt could person a gun” due to the fact that helium had 1 successful the past, and that it would person been a “dereliction of duty” for them not to person tried to apprehension him.

But Ijames testified that deadly unit is warranted if an serviceman is halfway wrong a conveyance that is astir to beryllium enactment into drive. In Wright’s case, 2 different officers were trying to get him retired of the car erstwhile Potter changeable him.

He aboriginal agreed nether questioning by the authorities that deadly unit would not person been tenable if an serviceman successful Potter’s presumption was unaware that 1 of the different officers was incapable to exit the vehicle.

Frank noted that Ijames’ written study did not authorities that Potter had acted arsenic “an nonsubjective officer” would person done successful a akin situation, a operation the authorities has often invoked during the trial.

Frank besides seized connected a portion of Ijames’ study successful which helium said Potter’s azygous trigger propulsion backed up the thought that she meant to usage her Taser. That’s due to the fact that officers intending to usage deadly unit are often trained to occurrence much than once.

The defence besides called respective quality witnesses for Potter. Former Brooklyn Center Officer Colleen Fricke testified astir moving alongside Potter, saying she saw her arsenic a mentor and friend.

Fricke was asked to ticker implicit Potter aft the shooting. “I saw her curled up successful the country of the room” — by herself and crying, Fricke said.

It wasn’t wide erstwhile Potter would instrumentality the stand.

The lawsuit is being heard by a mostly achromatic jury.

Associated Press writers Tammy Webber successful Fenton, Michigan, and Doug Glass successful Minneapolis contributed to this report.