After 11 days of testimony and arguments by attorneys, jurors in the trial of Kimberly Potter have now been sent to deliberate whether the former Brooklyn Center police officer should be convicted of manslaughter for shooting Daunte Wright in the chest as he resisted arrest.
The jurors received the case early Monday afternoon and stopped for the day at 6 p.m. They will resume Tuesday morning.
After closing arguments, Hennepin Count District Judge Regina Chu went through some final instructions and evidence review matters before dismissing them to weigh charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in connection with Wright's death on April 11.
"It's now time to do your job," Chu said before dismissing the two alternate jurors and leaving the remaining 12 with the task of reaching unanimous verdicts on both counts. Jurors will deliberate until 6 p.m. before being dismissed. As previously ordered by Chu, the jurors will remain sequestered throughout deliberations.
Six women and six men serve on the jury. Nine of the jurors are white, two are Asian women and one is a Black woman. Potter is white, Wright was Black.
Four jurors are in their 40s, three are in their 20s, two are in their 60s, two are in their 50s and one is in her 30s.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Erin Eldridge told jurors that "at the heart of it, this case is a very simple case,"
She said the case is about "reckless handling of a firearm and culpable negligence: She drew a deadly weapon, she aimed it, she pointed it at Daunte Wright's chest and fired."