All Daunte Wright “had to do was surrender,” Minnesota defense attorney Paul Engh said in his opening statement in Kimberly Potter’s trial today.
“All he has to do is stop and he’d be with us,” Engh added.
The defense attorney’s opening statement centered on Potter attempting to use a Taser on Wright in order to protect her partner, Sgt. Mychal Johnson, because he was inside Wright’s car and would be injured if Wright drove off.
“She realizes what has happened much to her everlasting and unending regret,” Engh said regarding the moment Potter realized she fired her gun instead of her stun gun. “She made a mistake. This was an accident. She is a human being, but she had to do what she had to do to prevent a death to a fellow officer too.”
Potter, 49, wanted to become a police officer at an early age, her attorney said.
Officer Anthony Luckey, who Potter was training at the time of the shooting, made the decision to pull over Wright after he signaled incorrectly, had expired license plate tabs, and a tree-shaped air freshener hanging from his rearview window, according to Engh, but “this case isn’t about tabs, it‘s not about Christmas trees [air fresheners].”
The defense attorney said Luckey smelled marijuana in Wright’s car after pulling him over, and the 20-year-old was unable to produce a license or insurance for the vehicle he was driving.
“So we’ve got some flags here going on. It’s not anything about the tabs any longer. It’s about someone who shouldn’t be driving a car at all,” Engh said.
Officers were doing “legitimate police work” attempting to arrest Wright and identify the passenger in Wright’s vehicle to ensure her safety, Engh said.
Engh banged on the table while making his points. As part of his opening statement, the attorney previewed the witnesses the defense plans to call.
“Ms. Potter’s good name has been besmirched by this allegation, which is not true, and by the press coverage, which has been slanted, and we seek to reclaim it and reclaim it we will,” Engh said in his opening statement.
Source: www.cnn.com