Jury to hear opening statements in Kim Potter case this week

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Opening statements loom this week for a white former Minnesota police officer who said she drew her handgun by mistake when she fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright, but not before the two sides meet with the judge Monday to finalize jury instructions.

Kim Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in Wright's April 11 death in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb. Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday.

Jury instructions are an important part of any case because they tell jurors what the law is and how the facts of the case should be applied to the law, said Mike Brandt, a Minneapolis-area defense attorney who is not connected to the case. Generally speaking, the defense will try to broaden the instructions — so prosecutors have more to prove — while the state will try to make the instructions as narrow as possible.

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