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Prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for former Minnesota officer Kim Potter in killing of Daunte Wright

Potter, a Brooklyn Center police officer at the time, fatally shot Wright at a traffic stop. She said she mistakenly drew her handgun instead of her Taser.
Kim Potter stands with defense attorney Earl Gray, as the verdict is read, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on Dec. 23, 2021.
Kim Potter stands with defense attorney Earl Gray as the verdict is read in her trial at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on Dec. 23.Court TV via AP file

Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last year, according to court documents.

A sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday asks for a sentence of 86 months — or 7 years and 2 months — when Potter, 49, is sentenced Friday.

Potter, a Brooklyn Center police officer at the time, fatally shot Wright, 20, on April 11, after, she said, she mistakenly drew her Glock handgun instead of a Taser.

A jury convicted her of first- and second-degree manslaughter in December.

The fatal shooting of Wright, who was Black, by a white officer sparked renewed protests and calls for justice in and around Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, as well as in other U.S. cities.

The state attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case, argued in the sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday that the presumptive sentence of 86 months under state guidelines is the right one.

“The degree of Defendant Potter’s recklessness in handling her firearm and causing Daunte Wright’s death cannot be excused or even minimized,” the document submitted by Attorney General Keith Ellison says.

Police pulled Wright over because of expired license plate tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror, officials have said. Police have said they discovered an outstanding warrant and tried to arrest him and that Wright tried to flee before he was shot.

Potter testified at trial that police were trying to stop Wright from driving away and that she remembered yelling "Taser" and then being told that she had shot him. She also tearfully apologized.

An attorney for Potter did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

Potter's attorneys have argued in motions that she should be given a lesser sentence. They cite a lack of criminal history and her remorse as factors that justify a reduction; they also note that she will never be in law enforcement again.

Potter’s attorneys have also argued in another motion that Wright escalated the situation by trying to flee from police and that a victim’s conduct is grounds for a sentence reduction.

Prosecutors in the state’s sentencing memorandum rejected that as trying to blame Wright for his own death.

Prosecutors said Wright was not violent and that he pulled away from an officer in an attempt to drive away, that Potter escalated to a high level of force when the situation was under control, and that her recklessness led to his death.

The fatal shooting of Wright occurred less than a year after the killing of George Floyd, who was also Black, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Floyd's death sparked widespread protests.

The officer in that case, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. Three other former Minneapolis police officers are on trial on federal charges and also face state counts.