MINNEAPOLIS — A juror who heard the manslaughter case against Kimberly Potter said that he believed the ex-Brooklyn Center police officer made a mistake when she drew her handgun instead of her Taser and shot Daunte Wright a year ago, but he also thinks the trial's outcome was correct.
Ross Smith, 34, of Eden Prairie, was an alternate juror who heard the case and whose name Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu released Friday, along with those of the jurors who were seated and those who were dismissed during questioning before testimony began on Dec. 8 and ended with guilty verdicts two weeks later.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reached out Friday to all 14 of the jurors — two of them alternates — who were empaneled for the trial. Several declined to be interviewed, while others did not return messages.
Smith, 34, said that one piece of evidence that worked against Potter was what police body-worn cameras captured at the scene of the shooting on April 11, 2021, when she repeatedly said, "I killed a boy" and expressed fear of going to prison.
At the same time, Smith recalled in an interview with the Star Tribune, "she came off as credible and really genuine" when she testified that she thought she fired her Taser and not her firearm while confronting Wright as he resisted arrest during a traffic stop.
"I felt like (the fatal shooting) was a true mistake," Smith said, "and not anything beyond that."
Once Smith and the other alternate were dismissed, the sequestered jury of six women and six men reached their verdicts in about 27 hours of deliberations spread over four days. They received the case about 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 20 after hearing eight days of testimony. They appeared deadlocked at 4 p.m. Dec. 21, asking Chu for guidance about how to proceed, and were sent back into deliberations.
Jurors reached a guilty verdict on second-degree manslaughter at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 21, and convicted Potter on first-degree manslaughter at 11:40 a.m. Dec. 23.
Potter was sentenced on Feb. 18 to a term of two years, with the first 16 months being served in prison and the balance on supervised release, scheduled for next April.
Smith said he watched the livestream in real time as Chu pronounced her sentence, which fell below state guidelines and was criticized by Wright's family and supporters as being too lenient.
"I think it was fair," said Smith, who is married and the father of a toddler. "I think it was as I was expecting."
Smith said he felt Potter's defense attorneys did the best they could for their client under the circumstances.
"They did their job, but the evidence and the criteria the judge set (in her jury instructions)" validated guilty verdicts on both counts, he said.
Smith disagreed with the prosecution's decision to spend hours of time on a gravely wounded Wright crashing his vehicle moments after he was shot.
"They spent two days presenting evidence that had nothing to do with the actual shooting," he said. "We spend a day on reviewing and talking about officers trying to revive (Wright). ... I just thought that was irrelevant."
Smith said he understands his views on the verdicts and sentence are limited to a degree because he was dismissed before deliberations began.
"I didn't see all the evidence (like the others)," he said, "or hold the guns or anything else."
Smith was referring to Potter's service firearm and Taser. Assistant County Attorney Joshua Larson tried to give the jurors the Taser and handgun during testimony in order for them to better understand the differences, but Potter's defense successfully objected. However, they made available to jurors during deliberations to hold and compare for differences in weight, shape and color.
Smith also had praise for Chu, who presided over the most high-profile of trials in the waning months of her 20-year career on the bench.
"I feel like Judge Chu described the (jury) instructions well," he said. "She was very unbiased and shut down the prosecution and the defense when they went too far, depending on the rules that were set for the trial."
Chu, who is retiring from the bench next week after 20 years, said on the day she released the jurors' names that "Although many on the jury had reservations about serving on a high-profile case that was likely to bleed into the holidays, they did their civic duty and agreed to serve despite personal sacrifices."
" I was impressed with their respect for our justice system, how intently they listened to the evidence, and how hard they worked to come to unanimous verdicts," she said.
