Minnesota News Network

Opening statements in the manslaughter trial of former Brooklyn Center officer Kimberly Potter are set for today. The defense contends that Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun instead of her Taser when she shot and killed 20-year Daunte Wright last April. Former U-S Attorney for Minnesota Tom Heffelfinger says he doesn’t expect any big surprises in opening statements. He predicts the prosecution will address “the fact that [Potter] had Taser training almost immediately before the incident, within a month or two.” Heffelfinger says Potter’s defense will likely focus on “her state of mind and it was a horrible accident and her immediate reaction to what she had done.” The defense indicated during the jury selection process that Potter will testify on her own behalf. Potter has pleaded not guilty. The case will be decided by a jury of 12, with two alternates also serving. The judge says she expects the trial to wrap up around the Christmas holiday.

“All right counsel, we have our jury,” Judge Regina Chu said as the 14th and final juror was seated in the manslaughter trial of Kim Potter. 12 will serve as jurors and two as alternates. Former Brooklyn Center officer Potter is charged with the shooting death of Daunte Wright last April. She has pleaded not guilty. Chu thanked both sides for “being efficient in the questioning” and said she was “really glad we’re on track for starting when we’re supposed to start.” The jury makeup is as follows: white male, 50s; white woman, 60s; white male, 20s;  Asian woman, 40s;  white woman, 20s; black woman, 30s;  white male, 40s; white male 60s;  Asian woman, 20s; white man, 40s;  white woman, 40s;  white man, 50s; white woman, 70s; and a white man, 30s. Opening statements are set for next Wednesday.

President Biden is at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount this afternoon on a visit that’s billed to promote the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill he recently signed. U-S Senator Tina Smith says some of the funding will help Minnesotans get hooked up to broadband Internet. Smith says more than 170,000 Minnesotans currently lack access “and these dollars will be so helpful in completing that connection so that we get closer to the goal of having every single household in the state connected to having high-speed Internet access.” Senator Smith says Minnesota should receive around $100 million to help expand access to broadband statewide and the goal is to have every single household in the state connected to high-speed Internet access. Ahead of the president’s visit, Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller of Winona says “the runaway spending from the President and Congress on non-infrastructure related items is harming the economy by causing inflationary increases to everyday costs for Minnesotans. When we need to be coming together to get Minnesotans on track after two years of pandemic restrictions, this Washington spending spree is going to hit all Minnesotan’s pocketbooks even harder.” Miller says Biden’s visit comes as the nation is facing the worst inflation in 31 years, and Minnesotans are seeing large increases to fill up at the gas pump, heat their homes, buy groceries, and pay for everyday items.

Jury selection is set to begin today in the trial of former Brooklyn Center officer Kimberly Potter. Potter is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the April shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Former U-S Attorney for Minnesota Tom Heffelfinger says there are some key differences in this case compared to the case of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, including: “Officer Chauvin wasn’t a particularly sympathetic defendant, officer Potter is a much more sympathetic defendant, she clearly was distraught after she realized what she had done.” Heffelfinger says the selection process will be similar to the process in the trial of former Officer Chauvin and “there’ll be a lot of time spent looking over the questionnaires and asking questions, I do expect this to take some significant time, I would be surprised if there was a jury selected before a week from today.” In that case, Chauvin was found guilty on all charges. The defense, in this case, contends Potter mistakenly drew her gun instead of her Taser during a traffic stop.

There will be extra law enforcement looking for impaired drivers on the state’s road from now through the end of the year. At a press conference today, Amanda Albrecht recounted how her family’s life has changed since Thanksgiving 2006 when her sister Breana was killed after getting behind the wheel while under the influence. Albrecht said, “Breana made one mistake that costed (sic) her life a couple months ago, and for the first time in 15 years, I was mad at her for the ongoing pain my family goes through.” Breana was weeks shy of her 20th birthday when she was killed in a drunk driving crash near Lake Elmo. Breana was going around 100 mph. She was intoxicated, not wearing her seat belt and texting at the time of the crash. Albrecht urged Minnesota drivers: “with the holidays coming up, there will be a lot of parties happening, there are so many options to get home safe these days, please don’t take a chance and if you see someone trying to leave after they’ve been drinking, please stop them, you could save lives.”
The Department of Public Safety says driving while impaired by any substance is illegal and drugged driving incidents are on the rise. During the last five years, 26 people died in drunk driving-related crashes during the holiday DWI extra enforcement period and one of every five deaths on Minnesota roads–or 21%–is drunk driving-related.

Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today he is running for a second term. Ellison says he’ll continue in a second term to fight for fair wages for Minnesota workers “and fair prices in consumer areas and we’re going to make sure that people have a place to live that’s fair and decent for them to live in and that there’s nobody who is left out of this society or this economy simply because of who they are.” Ellison says if re-elected he will continue to “stand up for people in rural communities, suburban communities, urban communities, that’s what we’re going to be doing in the MN Attorney General’s office. We have a fight and we are in to make sure that everyone can afford their lives and live with dignity, safety and respect.” Ellison led the prosecution team that won the conviction of ex-officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Ellison is Minnesota’s first Black attorney general. He was also the first Muslim elected to Congress, a job he left in 2018 to run for attorney general.

The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting 5,277 new cases of COVID-19 today and 43 more deaths. State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says it’s good that Minnesotans continue to get vaccinated, but as the Delta wave continues to surge “right now we find ourselves in a truly alarming spike in cases in recent days. Our exhausted healthcare workers, and our exhausted public health workers, continue their truly heroic efforts to protect Minnesotans, but every day now we’re seeing dozens of Minnesotans dying from an illness they didn’t have to get.” Malcolm at a press briefing today added that “the tragedy in this current spike in cases is that more than ever we have the tools and the knowledge to minimize the impact of this virus, but a sizable number of people, here in Minnesota and in other states, are not using those tools, some because they mistakenly think COVID is over or it’s no big deal.” There have been more than 831,000 positive cases of coronavirus–including reinfections–reported statewide. So far, 8,925 people have died from COVID-19 in Minnesota.