Kim Potter released from prison after serving about 16 months for fatally shooting Daunte Wright
A white former police officer convicted of manslaughter after mistaking her handgun for a Taser and fatally shooting Black motorist Daunte Wright in suburban Minneapolis in 2021 has been released from prison.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections said Kim Potter was released at 4 a.m. Monday after serving 16 months of her two-year sentence. She will be on supervised release for the remainder of her sentence.
"Based on the intelligence we gathered, we released Ms. Potter at a time we felt was safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility," DOC spokesperson Andy Skoogman said.
WCCO learned that threatening comments and the potential for violent protests outside the correctional facility led to her early release.
In Wisconsin, where she will spend her supervised release, she will have to adhere to a number of conditions including regular contact with an agent assigned to oversee her release. She will also not be able to leave Wisconsin unless it's been approved by that agent. She must also comply to random unannounced visits and searches of her property as well as regular drug and alcohol testing.
She cannot buy any type of firearms or dangerous weapons.
Wright's parents gathered at the site of his death Monday evening. His mother said that she's upset Potter will get to hug her children tonight and she will never see her son again.
"There is a lot of emotion, even though we were 16 months prepared for this. There was no preparing for it, but we knew it was coming," Katie Wright said.
WCCO received a copy of Potter's application to reduce her sentence. In her handwriting, she wrote: "The sadness and remorse I feel for this death will stay with me forever. I pray for Daunte daily."
NEW: The MN Board of Pardons did not review former officer Kim Potter's request to have her sentence commuted, when she made it in 2022.
— Guy Still (@mplstvguy) April 24, 2023
In the application she wrote that being imprisoned "kept her from doing the good work God intended me to do."
She was released today. pic.twitter.com/3PaT0SdIFe
Potter's attorney declined an offer to comment Monday.
A supervised release is similar to parole, and it's how the system is set up in Minnesota. Unless you are convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, you are required under Minnesota law to serve the first two-thirds of your sentence in prison and the remaining third is on supervised release.
Parole is granted based on good behavior or leniency by a parole board, which Minnesota does not have.
A spokesperson for the corrections department told WCCO's Pauleen Le the process to determine a location for supervised release is a long and thorough one. Potter, like anyone getting out on supervised release, has to work with a case manager to figure out the details. A lot of factors are taken into consideration, such as are they most likely to succeed there? Do they have family support there? Are they safe? Are their victims safe? Are there better opportunities for employment there?
In this case both Minnesota and Wisconsin approved Potter's plan.
After Dec. 21, when she completes her supervised release, she is free to go whenever she wants.
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Judge Regina Chu had said at Potter's sentencing that she would be required to serve two-thirds of her sentence — 16 months — then spend the rest on supervised release.
Potter, now 50, appears much thinner in a new photo released by the Department of Corrections. Her attorney, Earl Gray, said he had "no idea" why her appearance changed.
"It just shows it's rough doing time," Gray said. "I don't know many mug shots that show somebody in a good light."
A message left with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the lawyer for Wright's family, wasn't immediately returned.
Potter killed Wright after a traffic stop in April 2021. The shooting happened as Derek Chauvin was on trial in Minneapolis on murder charges in George Floyd's killing. Wright's death sparked several days of protests.
Brooklyn Center officers initially pulled over Wright, who was a 20-year-old father, for having expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Civil rights advocates say laws against hanging objects from rearview mirrors have been used as a pretext for stopping Black motorists.
Potter is heard on video yelling "Taser" several times just before she fires her pistol as Wright tried to drive away from the traffic stop.
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The state attorney general's office had sought a sentence recommended by state guidelines of just over seven years in prison. Wright's family and Crump denounced the two-year sentence as too lenient and accused the judge of giving more consideration to the white officer than the Black victim.
Chu said at the time that the case wasn't the same as other high-profile killings, including George Floyd's death that resulted in a 22.5-year sentence for Chauvin.
"This is a cop who made a tragic mistake," Chu said.
Defense attorneys argued at the sentencing hearing that Potter deserved leniency because Wright was trying to drive away and Potter had the right to defend herself.
Potter, a 26-year police veteran, apologized to Wright's family at sentencing and spoke directly to his mother: "Katie, I understand a mother's love. I'm sorry I broke your heart ... my heart is broken and devastated for all of you."