Former Brooklyn Center, MN, officer Kim Potter faces first- and second-degree manslaughter charges in the April shooting of Daunte Wright. (Photo: KTSP screen shot)
The attorneys representing Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center, MN, police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April, has requested for the recently-added first-degree manslaughter charge to be dismissed.
The motion was filed on Wednesday in Hennepin County Court by attorneys Earl Gray and Paul Engh.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison added the first-degree manslaughter charge earlier this month. The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter, it's 10 years and a $20,000 fine, KTSP reports.
In the filing on Wednesday, the attorneys claim that the amended complaint "underplays" Wright's conduct during the incident, noting he had a warrant out for his arrest, resisted arrest and committed "by Supreme Court opinion, a dangerous crime" by driving away.
Body camera video showed Potter yelled, "Taser!" but she fired her service weapon. According to a police report filed at the time, Potter said thought she'd grabbed her Taser instead of a gun. She had been with the department for 26 years before she submitted her resignation following the shooting.
