As for the trial of Kim Potter, the officer who shot Wright, neither the prosecution nor defense disputes that it was a mistake, that she thought she was holding her Taser. Several officers, and the defense’s use-of-force expert, testified that Potter would have been fully justified in shooting Wright in order to protect the other officer from being dragged by the car.
I wonder how many of those several officers thought Derek Chauvin was justified in placing his knee on George Floyd's neck. That observation aside what Coulter fails to mention is that the prosecution argued that mistakes can still constitute criminal behavior particularly if the end of the result is the death of another person. Prosecutor Erin Eldridge convinced the jury that notwithstanding the mistake that Potter is still guilty of both recklessness and culpable of neglect.
One of the few conservatives who acknowledged Potter was in the wrong was Pat Robertson not long after Wright's death. Now Robertson was incredulous that Potter could possibly mistake a gun for a taser given the different color, size and texture as he demonstrated. Robertson went so far to characterize this as crazy. But the fact she did mistake those things demonstrates both Potter's recklessness and neglect.
Robertson was also laser focused on Potter's behavior, not that of Wright. Whatever criminal acts Wright may have committed did not justify his death at the hands of Kim Potter whatever Ann Coulter might believe. Wright's culpability should have been determined by a judge and jury not by a police officer engaged in reckless and neglectful conduct. Wright should have been afforded the same process that Potter received - a fair trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment