A possible hung jury still looms over the Kim Potter trial for as day three of deliberations closed with no conviction on Wednesday.
After having deliberated for 21 hours – five on Monday, eight on Tuesday, and eight on Wednesday – the jury still could not decide on whether or not to convict officer Kim Potter of manslaughter for the shooting of Daunte Wright, opening up the possibility of the trial to extending past Christmas. Should the jury fail to reach a verdict, the judge could rule a mistrial due to a hung jury.
One positive development, according to Twin Cities, is the jury asked no questions on Wednesday, which might signal an end to the deadlock reported on Tuesday when Judge Regina Chu was asked by the jury “what they should do if they cannot agree on a verdict,” according to Fox News.
“If a jury cannot reach consensus, what is the guidance around how long and what steps should be taken?” read the jury’s question that the judge shared with the court.
Judge Chu then re-read instructions that were given to the jury before deliberations began on Monday.
“You should decide the case for yourself but only after you should have discussed the case with your fellow jurors and have carefully considered their views,” the judge told the jury.
“You should not hesitate to re-examine your views and change your opinion if you become convinced they are erroneous, but you should not surrender your honest opinion simply because other jurors disagree, or merely to reach a verdict,” she added.
The judge overruled an objection from Potter’s defense claiming that by rereading the instructions, the jury would focus only on those particular instructions while ignoring all other previous instructions.
While the judge told jurors that they would have time off for Christmas, those rules could be subject to change if deliberations continue. Joe Friedberg, a Minneapolis defense attorney, said the holiday might help speed up the process.
“I think the holiday will put pressure on them to agree,” Friedberg told Twin Cities.
In April of this year, 26-year police veteran Kim Potter mistakenly shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright, an unarmed black man, when she confused her handgun for a taser as Wright resisted arrest. During her testimony last week, Potter broke into tears, pleading that she did not mean to shoot him.
“I was very distraught. I just shot somebody. I’m sorry it happened,” she said through her tears. “I’m so sorry.”
In the event of a hung jury, the judge will have to declare a mistrial, leaving it to the prosecutor to decide if the defendant will be tried again, if a plea bargain will be granted, or if the charges will be dropped entirely.
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