Shot in the Dark

Travesty

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails

You’re a cop. You’ve stopped a driver and have him standing on the side of the road because he’s got warrants for his arrest. He dives back into the car, presumably going for his gun. What do you do?

a. grab him from behind and wrestle with him. No, because he might still grab his gun and shoot you.
b. grab your expandable baton and smack him. No, because he’s diving into the car and there’s no room to swing the baton.
c. grab your pepper spray and Mace him. No, because inside the car, it’ll blind you, too.
d. grab your Taser and shock him. Maybe, depends on who else has hands on him that will also get shocked. What other options do you have?
e. grab your . . . .

. . . too late. He shot you. You’re dead and so’s your partner.

Intellectually, she intended to grab her Taser but instinctively, she grabbed her pistol. It’s a learned response. It’s what cops practice the most. Gun instructors say “train as you will fight” because that’s how your body will react in the half-second available. And cops train with guns because that’s ‘the gravest extreme,’ when the training matters most.

Officer Potter did not commit murder. This was a horrible accident but entirely foreseeable because the decision-action table is too long, too many variables to run through, and nobody can ‘train as you fight’ for all of them.

Joe Doakes

A roof on qualified immunity quite a bit – Justifiably so – but at its core, it is intended to protect people like police from excessive liability for exactly this sort of situation.

Unlike civilians, who are legally strongly discouraged from doing anything but running away from altercations, the police are expected to go toward the sound of trouble.

The pendulum likely need to swing back. I’m pretty sure this is a terrible case to enact that swing.

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15 responses to “Travesty”

  1. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    The charges against Kim Potter are irresponsibly political. I agree she should be charged with something, I mean gosh, the state can’t simply look the other way when someone dies, but first and second degree manslaughter in no way fit what she did.

    Here are the Minnesota statutes, see if you can find a fit:

    609.20 MANSLAUGHTER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.

    (1) intentionally causes the death of another person in the heat of passion provoked by such words or acts of another as would provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances, provided that the crying of a child does not constitute provocation;

    (2) violates section 609.224 and causes the death of another or causes the death of another in committing or attempting to commit a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor offense with such force and violence that death of or great bodily harm to any person was reasonably foreseeable, and murder in the first or second degree was not committed thereby;

    (3) intentionally causes the death of another person because the actor is coerced by threats made by someone other than the actor’s coconspirator and which cause the actor reasonably to believe that the act performed by the actor is the only means of preventing imminent death to the actor or another;

    (4) proximately causes the death of another, without intent to cause death by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V; or

    (5) causes the death of another in committing or attempting to commit a violation of section 609.377 (malicious punishment of a child), and murder in the first, second, or third degree is not committed thereby.

    609.205 MANSLAUGHTER IN THE SECOND DEGREE.

    (1) by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another; or

    (2) by shooting another with a firearm or other dangerous weapon as a result of negligently believing the other to be a deer or other animal; or

    (3) by setting a spring gun, pit fall, deadfall, snare, or other like dangerous weapon or device; or

    (4) by negligently or intentionally permitting any animal, known by the person to have vicious propensities or to have caused great or substantial bodily harm in the past, to run uncontrolled off the owner’s premises, or negligently failing to keep it properly confined; or

    (5) by committing or attempting to commit a violation of section 609.378 (neglect or endangerment of a child), and murder in the first, second, or third degree is not committed thereby.

  2. golfdoc50 Avatar
    golfdoc50

    Potter is vulnerable to a civil suit but is not guilty of a criminal offense. She shot a man endangering her and other cops, no matter what she said or thought in the heat of the moment. 100% justified. The hideous mother of the thug will cash in for sure. Let her spend it wisely.

  3. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    There were several questions about the circumstances that led to Wright’s death.
    1. He allegedly bragged about previously escaping apprehension. That wasn’t known beforehand, but why did he attempt to escape?
    2. Whose car was he driving? Who let the registration lapse?
    3. Didn’t his family, especially his mom, know about his missed court date? Why didn’t they make sure that he attended?
    4. The missed court date was allegedly for a gun charge and assaulting a women while attempting to rob her. Not directly related, but where did he get the gun?

    Nobody worries about his criminal record, because it doesn’t fit the narrative. As the old saying goes; “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time”.

    I’m still just really ticked off that whenever a cop is involved in an incident with a black person, there are 5 cell phone video recordings of it, but, let some gang banger shoot a 4 year old and nobody saw nuffin.

  4. Emery Incognito Avatar
    Emery Incognito

    Officer Potter was a Training Officer. That’s some real irony. Chauvin was a trainer too.

    Negligent homicide, clearly. Punishment is in order. So is empathy for all involved.

  5. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    Sorry to pop your balloon, Emery, but the “Training Officer” meme, is a non issue.

    Just like every job, trainers can’t cover all scenarios, nor predict them. They can train best practices, but can’t train individual reactions under stress.

    I’m sure that every one of us has encountered trainers that made mistakes.

  6. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    The charges against Kim Potter are irresponsibly political

    Seen in the cold morning light, so to speak, yes, this is true. But the charges were filed when everyone had a hard-on to stick it to the justice system in general and the cops in particular. The race grifters were looking to eff something up as it was (remember the crowds outside the BC police station?). Some irresponsibly political charges were the way that sad, stupid white bureaucrats could show their support, like kneeling down before a BLM flag.

  7. AllenS Avatar
    AllenS

    Kim Potter deserves at least one thing, a good shot award for killing a criminal.

  8. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    “Negligent homicide”

    I would like to see how that would be argued. What exactly was the negligence? The weapon confusion was an unconscious act. One could say it was negligent but negligence is defined as what a prudent person would do under similar circumstances.

    Would a prudent person do the right thing 100% of the time under similar circumstances.

    I doubt it.

    Let’s look at an analogous situation.

    A mechanic is charged with negligent homicide for “forgetting” to bleed the victim’s brake lines. They crashed. They died. But he didn’t intend harm. He just screwed up.

    A case could be made that he didn’t take the time to do it right.

    But the defense argues that the mechanic’s boss told him to finish the job within five minutes or get fired.

    Now the negligence begins to shift from the mechanic to the boss because too much pressure was put on the mechanic to do a good job.

    So who put the pressure on Officer Potter that caused the tragedy?

    Why it was none other than Daunte Wright himself.

  9. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    “Training officer” doesn’t mean super-human reflexes Ninja proficient in everything. “Training officer” means she took rookies on ride-along until they learned the basics of being a cop.

    Law enforcement still has the problem of train-as-you-fight and it’s getting worse. Now, in addition to the decision-action table of weapon choices, Liberals want to add ‘call social workers to counsel the bad guy about his life choices’ or possibly ‘assemble a sharing circle of respected community leaders to explore alternatives to violence.’ But the length of time the officer has to make the decision didn’t get any longer.

    You can’t practice every scenario to perfection – there isn’t time in the day – so you practice the ones that you need most often. Cuff ’em. Shoot ’em.

    It might be better for everyone – perps and cops alike – if the lines were clearer, if the choices were more stark. I suggest cops go back to the old model: cop carries a nightstick and pistol. Perps know their choices are get arrested, get beaten and then arrested, or get shot and then arrested if they live long enough (and the ambulance is in no hurry). What’s it gonna be?

  10. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    One thing that’s always struck me about the case is how full the tool belts of officers are. Google a picture of Potter’s belt–it’s a miracle, IMO, that there aren’t a lot more problems. We’ve come a long way from the days when Andy would have just a pistol on his belt, and Warren’s shoulder harness seemed like dramatic overkill and way too close to the Gestapo for our taste.

    My take on the case is that Potter needs to leave the force, maybe do some time for manslaughter, but in light of what I wrote above, some people on the force need to do some serious thinking about how things are being done. The current get-up for officers reminds me too much of how my older son would carry ALL of his toy guns and swords outside to make war on the enemies of our household. We never once got invaded by the Mongols or Hottentots due to his carefulness.

  11. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    The mother of Dearly Departed Daunte will likely end up with a lot of money. It’s a small comfort that there are already two civil suits pending against DDD’s estate by his earlier victims, including a young man who was paralyzed after being shot in the face by DDD.

  12. Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenesis

    I’ve heard that a cop pulling their pistol when they intended to pull their taser (or vice versa) is not terribly uncommon.
    Also, apparently Potter’s lawyers will argue that deadly force was called for, even if Potter chose to use her taser.
    There is no justice here. No one is looking for justice. What would “justice for Daunte” look like? A lengthy prison sentence instead of being shot?
    The Lefty judges and prosecutors who let criminals like Wright roam the streets are not doing any favors. Both Wright and Floyd were on trajectories that would ended up with them dead if they were not imprisoned. The same is doubtless true for hundreds of others still on the streets of the Twin Cities, given their freedom by progressive judges and prosecutors. How many lives of others will they destroy on their way?

  13. Emery Incognito Avatar
    Emery Incognito

    This situation is tragic all the way around. No one is perfect. Officer Potter made a tragic mistake that cost a young man his life and ruined her own. Witnesses said she fell to the ground immediately after the shooting overcome with distress and emotion. The parents lost their son and of course they are distraught and want justice but what does that look like in a situation like this? I don’t know but a lot of the rhetoric going on with protesters, Benjamin Crump, and others is way over the top. None of it sounds like mercy or justice to me.

  14. Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenesis

    There are persistent statements made by Wright’s partisan that he was pulled over for being black.
    Wright was scheduled to be tried for this crime at the time that he was shot:
    https://www.scribd.com/document/502729366/12-4-Arrest
    The crime was armed robbery of a woman’s rent money.
    He also had an outstanding warrant for a handgun:
    That on June 30, 2020, at approximately 1604 hours, Officers Boldo and Depies, Minneapolis Police, responded to a person with gun call near 51st and Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. The caller indicated that a light-complexed 17-year-old black male, wearing black shirt and shorts and white shoes, was waiving a black handgun. The male then got into a white Toyota Camry, occupied by 4 people with the driver wearing a red shirt. Officers located the car nearby, with a person,Defendant herein, Daunte Demetrius Wright, d.o.b. 10/27/2020, matching the person with the gun’s description sitting in the back seat. Once out of the vehicle, Defendant took off running with Officers in pursuit and managed to evade officers. Officers at the scene positively identified Defendant from prior interactions. A loaded Ruger .45 caliber handgun matching the caller’s description was found on the floor of the vehicle where Defendant had been sitting. Another occupant of the vehicle verified it was Defendant’s gun. Defendant does not have a permit to carry a firearm.
    https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/DocumentSearch

  15. Pureblood Pete Avatar
    Pureblood Pete

    The parents lost their son and of course they are distraught and want justice but what does that look like in a situation like this?

    His and hoes 2022 Mercedes-Maybach GLS; 20″ rims for those GLS’s; 6 cases of Remy Martin; hair extensions; gold necklaces; his and hoes Patek Philippe Calatrava watches in 18K Yellow Gold; 3″ long fake nails; a crib in a Minnetonka; $500 sneakers…Justice™ comes in lots of different finishes, flavors and colors, rAt Emery.

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