Intent Key To Chauvin, Rittenhouse Verdicts. Potter Too?

Rogue cops like convicted Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd death are rightly punished severely but Kim Potter’s killing of Daunte Wright had a Rittenhouse feel after she & 2 experts testified using either a taser OR gun might have been justified in stopping the suspect’s hurting if not killing her partner.

Agreed, as prosecutor Erin Eldridge said, it’s hard to believe a veteran officer like Potter didn’t immediately know the difference between a gun & a lighter, different colored taser, which are supposed to be holstered on opposite sides of the body. Yet, as a tearful Potter told the jurors of her “horror” at realizing she had actually shot the 20-yr-old sitting behind the wheel of his car rather than tase him, she thought she had to quickly do something to keep Wright from fleeing the scene & after fighting with the police. As it turns out, she said in between sobs, Sgt. Mychal Johnson had leaned into Wright’s car to cuff him, when Wright stepped on the accelerator, thereby starting to drag him along. Perhaps even under the car. As Fox News noted, “a use-of-force expert called by the defense reiterated this point by testifying Potter had the legal authority to employ either her Taser or firearm to stop Wright from causing serious bodily injury or death to Sgt. Johnson. The former chief of police, Tim Gannon, said the same thing.”

Potter is being charged with manslaughter, not premeditated murder as was Chauvin & Rittenhouse, generally meaning, the “intent to kill” needed to be proven by the prosecution need only amount to negligently or “recklessly” knowing the alleged conduct could have caused great bodily harm AND was unjustified. But, THAT not-so-bright line between intent to do right or wrong is the dilemma facing the 12 jurors now deliberating on Ms. Potter’s fate.

Davd Soul