A mostly white jury has been chosen in the trial of former Minnesota Officer Kim Potter over the shooting death of Daunte Wright. Although split evenly by gender, nine jurors are white, two are Asian and only one is Black, all ranging in age from their 20s to 60s.
According to USA Today, the jurors had to answer a questionnaire before being chosen. All the jurors answered that they knew of the case because of media coverage and many said that they had already seen the body camera footage. Five jurors said they had a negative view of both Potter and Wright.
Daunte Wright was fatally shot and killed during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb after Potter says she mistakenly used her gun instead of her taser on April 11. Potter resigned two days after the shooting. She was charged with first and second degree manslaughter.
The defense used all five of their peremptory challenges, which means they can dismiss a juror without reason, and the state used all of three of theirs.
From NBC:
The defense on Thursday used one of its peremptory challenges to dismiss a first-year law student who has made comments on social media about cases in which police officers have been convicted. Such challenges cannot be made solely because of a person’s race, ethnicity or gender, and prosecutor Matthew Frank objected to the dismissal of the law student, an Asian woman.
Judge Regina Chu dismissed Frank’s objection, ruling there was no evidence that the defense strike was based on race or gender.
One of the jurors seated the first day was recalled for questioning Thursday after Chu said he had expressed concerns that his identity was revealed when he was first questioned. The jury is anonymous by order of the judge. The man remained on the jury after he told Chu he was willing to continue serving.
Source: Mostly White Jury Chosen for Kim Potter Trial in the Death of Daunte Wright
