A jail consumption picture of Kim Potter that confirmed her smiling broadly after she was convicted of manslaughter in Daunte Wright's dying flared up at her sentencing Friday, with Wright's mom saying it confirmed Potter wasn't genuinely sorry for his dying.
Potter's legal professional stated no disrespect was meant and Potter was merely doing as instructed by the jail employees.
Katie Wright introduced up the mug shot as she addressed the court docket. Potter, then a Brooklyn Heart police officer, stated she confused her handgun for her Taser when she fatally shot Wright final April. A jury convicted her in December.
Katie Wright stated Potter by no means checked out her and different Wright members of the family as they handed within the hallway throughout the trial, and when she testified, expressed sorrow solely after a break the place she "had time to be coached on the right way to achieve some kind of sympathy from the jury."
"How do you present regret once you're smiling in your mug shot after being sentenced to manslaughter? After taking my son's life? How do you say you are sorry with no tears?" Katie Wright stated.
Damik Bryant, Daunte Wright's brother, additionally referred to as the mug shot "painful" and urged the decide to impose a "robust sentence."
Protection legal professional Paul Engh started his remarks by responding to the Wright household's anger.
"There is no disrespect meant to the reserving photograph," he stated. "Ms. Potter signifies they requested her to smile, she smiled. It was not meant to be disrespectful, it was in response to the jail's request."
When Potter was given an opportunity later to handle the court docket, she addressed the Wright household straight, saying she was "so sorry that I introduced the dying of your son." She additionally informed Katie Wright that she felt she did not imagine she "had a proper to" have a look at her throughout the trial.
"I perceive a mom's love, and I am sorry I broke your coronary heart," Potter stated.
Potter is White. Wright, who was Black, was killed after Brooklyn Heart officers pulled him over for having expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.
Choose Regina Chu later sentenced Potter to 2 years, properly beneath prosecutors' request, saying that mitigating components warranted it.
"To those that disagree and really feel an extended jail sentence is acceptable, as troublesome as it could be, please attempt to empathize with Ms. Potter's scenario," Choose Regina Chu stated after handing down the sentence, including that Wright's life "mattered."
"Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically," Chu stated. "She by no means meant to harm anybody. Her conduct cries out for a sentence considerably beneath the rules."
After Friday's emotional listening to, Wright's mom stated of her son, "Immediately, the justice system murdered him yet again."
