Jurors weighing the case of the suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright asked the judge after a full day of deliberations Tuesday what they should do if\u2026<\/b>
\nBy AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Jurors weighing the case of the suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright asked the judge after a full day of deliberations Tuesday what they should do if they can\u2019t reach a verdict. Judge Regina Chu told them to continue working, as was explained in the initial instructions she gave them. The jurors resumed deliberations for about 90 more minutes, then ended for the day shortly after 6 p.m. The jury also deliberated for about five hours on Monday. Former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter, who is white, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted of the most serious charge, Potter,49, would face a sentence of about seven years under state guidelines, though prosecutors have said they will seek more. Potter said she meant to use her Taser on Wright rather than her gun. Prosecutors presented evidence on the differences between the gun and the Taser, including weight, feel, size, color, and that the gun was holstered on her right side and the Taser on her left. Prosecutor Erin Eldridge had said in her closing argument that the jurors would be able to hold both the Taser and the gun to compare them, \u201cto get a feel for the two, and to get a sense of all those differences that you heard about in court, and see for yourselves how different they really are.\u201d The jurors asked if they could remove zip ties keeping former Potter\u2019s gun in an evidence box so they could hold it, and the judge said they could. Potter attorney Paul Engh had objected, saying that the gun should remain in the box \u201cfor safety purposes.\u201d Jurors can also examine the Taser during their deliberations. Chu read the jury\u2019s question about deliberating: \u201cIf the jury cannot reach consensus, what is the guidance around how long and what steps should be taken?\u201d She then reread from jury instructions that the jurors should continue to \u201cdiscuss the case with one another and deliberate with a view toward reaching agreement if you can do so without violating your individual judgment.\u201d Potter\u2019s attorneys objected to the judge rereading that instruction, arguing that doing so inappropriately emphasized that paragraph over the rest of the instructions. Chu overruled. Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, noted that the jurors didn\u2019t say they were at an impasse. \u201cJudge (Regina) Chu is going to let them keep deliberating if they don\u2019t express concern or distress about how it\u2019s going,\u201d Moran said. The judge has ordered that the jury be sequestered during deliberations \u2014 meaning they remain under the court\u2019s supervision in an undisclosed hotel and cannot return home until they have reached a verdict or the judge has determined they can\u2019t reach one. Her order allows them to communicate with family members as long as they avoid discussing the trial. During closing arguments, prosecutors accused Potter of a \u201cblunder of epic proportions\u201d in Wright\u2019s death in an April 11 traffic stop \u2014 but said a mistake was no defense. Potter\u2019s attorneys countered that Wright, who was attempting to get away from officers as they sought to handcuff him for an outstanding warrant on a weapons charge, \u201ccaused the whole incident.\u201d The mostly white jury got the case after about a week and a half of testimony about an arrest that went awry, setting off angry protests in Brooklyn Center just as nearby Minneapolis was on edge over Derek Chauvin\u2019s trial in George Floyd\u2019s death. Potter resigned two days after Wright\u2019s death. Eldridge called Wright\u2019s death \u201centirely preventable. Totally avoidable.\u201d She urged the jury not to excuse it as a mistake: \u201cAccidents can still be crimes if they occur as a result of reckless or culpable negligence.\u201d Potter attorney Earl Gray argued that Wright was to blame for trying to flee from police. Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun instead of her Taser because the traffic stop \u201cwas chaos,\u201d he said. Potter testified Friday that she \u201cdidn\u2019t want to hurt anybody\u201d and that she was \u201csorry it happened.\u201d Chu told jurors that intent is not part of the charges and that the state doesn\u2019t have to prove Potter tried to kill Wright. The judge said for first-degree manslaughter, prosecutors must prove that Potter caused Wright\u2019s death while committing the crime of reckless handling of a firearm. This means they must prove that she committed a conscious or intentional act while handling or using a firearm that creates a substantial or unjustifiable risk that she was aware of and disregarded, and that she endangered safety. For second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors must prove she acted with culpable negligence, meaning she consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm. ___ Associated Press writer Kathleen Foody in Chicago contributed to this story. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. ___ Find the AP\u2019s full coverage of the Daunte Wright case: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/death-of-daunte-wright<\/p>\n