LIVE UPDATES: 5 more jurors seated on 2nd day of Potter trial
[anvplayer video=”5074852″ station=”998122″]
4:35 p.m.
The next juror is called in at 4:07 p.m. Says her home was burglarized at one point, she’s called police other times but been satisfied with their work. She’s worked security for an event before. Says Black Lives Matter "goes too overboard" and they "seem like they’re more interested in getting on the news" than helping people but says she thinks all lives matter. She says her daughter was arrested for DUI but she has no complaints with the court. She says she feels the court should have a COVID-19 vaccination requirement but when told about the court’s masking requirement she says that’s fine.
Gray then takes over questioning potential juror No. 32. She says she doesn’t really want to come to Minneapolis but she’s fine serving as a juror and could be impartial.
Frank then gets his turn. Potential juror No. 32 cites the violence in Minneapolis as the reason she doesn’t want to come to the city. She also says she "hears things" about crime in Minneapolis but she was fine coming to the courthouse so maybe she was mistaken. She adds that police do a good job and really make her feel safe, citing a recent hip dislocation she suffered and police helped her. Frank focused on her potential bias toward police but she says she doesn’t think she has a bias and needs all the facts. She’s never served on a jury before. After the defense starts to object to Frank’s repeated questions, Frank calls for a sidebar. Afterward, potential juror No. 32 says she was in the Army for less than two years in the 1980s and she didn’t enjoy it. She has a gun at home and had a permit but it has since expired. After over 15 minutes of questioning, Frank says the state is using its third and final peremptory challenge to dismiss the juror.
Judge Regina Chu presides over jury selection in the trial of Kim Potter on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.[Court TV]
Chu then dismisses the court until Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
4:05 p.m.
After a nearly 45-minute break, potential juror No. 30 is called in for questioning. She tells Chu she lives in south Minneapolis and her community was very affected by George Floyd’s death. Personally, she says some police officers do bad things but she doesn’t think all are bad. She says she’s had many interactions with officers, some good, some bad but not necessarily due to the officers’ fault. However, those interactions wouldn’t affect her decisions. She also says police used a Taser on her uncle but it was for his personal safety and it didn’t negatively impact her feelings toward police. She’s pregnant and still dealing with severe nausea and vomiting. She says she’s had to go to the emergency room about six times during her pregnancy due to its severity. After about 10 minutes of questioning, Chu asks the attorneys for a sidebar. After a few minutes, Chu asks the potential juror if she thinks she’ll be physically able to serve, and she replies, "yes."
Engh then takes over questioning her. Engh asks several more questions about her nausea and vomiting and potential juror No. 30 says it’s unpredictable but she has medicine that can help her control it a little better. Her baby is due in February. Engh then calls for a sidebar.
After another few minutes, Chu grants the defense’s request to strike for cause and informs the juror that she’s excused from jury duty.
3 p.m.
Juror No. 28, a white man in his late 40s or 50s, enters and quickly answers a couple of questions from Chu.
At 2:40 p.m., Engh takes over questioning. He’s a chief procurement officer and he says what he knows about the case is what he saw in media coverage. He says his car was broken into in the past but the police found the person and he was pleased with how the case was handled. He also felt negative about the damage that resulted from the demonstrations over the past year and he’s opposed to defunding police departments. He adds that he’s unsure if he wants to be a juror but would do it, if chosen.
After about five minutes, Frank gets his chance to question the potential juror. He says he’s "extraordinarily busy" right now at work, particularly with the holidays approaching. He also says, if he’s allowed, he’d have to go to work at night to catch up if he was a juror, which would cause some added stress. Frank asks a few times but the juror says he would make it work and be fine serving as a juror. He says the protests allowed people to have a voice, which was positive. He also says the media "has a tendency to be bipolar about things" and he tuned it out a bit because he cares about the truth. He adds that he can set aside anything he’s seen in the media if chosen to serve on the jury. He says he strongly feels police keep him safe, he has a lot of trust in them and he’s strongly opposed to defunding the police. He’s also seen no evidence that police treat people of color any differently than anyone else. However, he says police officers are human and do make mistakes. He says he’s been a hunter for over 40 years and it’s important to him.
After 15 minutes of questioning, Frank says the state will use its second of three peremptory challenges and Chu dismisses the juror. Chu then puts the court in recess for a 20-minute afternoon break.
2:38 p.m.
Potential juror No. 26 — an Asian woman in her 20s — is the next up for individual questioning. Chu asks her about working at a place that was damaged during demonstrations over the past year. She says she was upset because "the protests were being taken advantage of" by unrelated people. She says she doesn’t want to be a juror in this case, saying she has a lot of family and friends who are very opinionated on the matter, although she says those opinions wouldn’t affect her judgment. She also says she has final exams over the next couple of weeks. However, if chosen, she says she believes it’s her civic duty and would do so.
After just a few questions by Gray, Frank takes over questioning potential juror No. 26. She says everything she’s heard about the case was what she saw in the media right after Wright was shot. She says she believes everyone should be able to express their opinions, regardless of what they are. She has a brother in the Marines but they don’t talk about their jobs much.
After about seven minutes, Chu tells Juror No. 26 that she will serve on the jury in this case, making her the ninth juror seated for the trial.
2:20 p.m.
At 2 p.m., all potential jurors except potential juror No. 25 leave the room and individual questioning begins. She says she doesn’t think she wants to be on the jury but she’d serve if chosen.
After a few minutes, Gray starts questioning her. Potential juror No. 25 — a white woman in her 20s — says she saw video of Wright’s death two or three times but she can presume Potter’s innocence and base her decisions only on the evidence in the trial. She adds that she doesn’t believe that committing a crime makes someone a bad person and people deserve the chance "to correct their actions." She also says she believes police should use non-lethal force.
She reiterated that she’s reflected on the case and her willingness to serve on the jury, so she’d rather not serve and be in the middle of it. That prompted Gray to call for a sidebar. After a couple of minutes, Gray asks potential juror No. 25 if she would have a bias in favor of Daunte Wright and others who’ve been injured by police and she says she might. That prompted another brief sidebar, and Chu then granted the defense’s request to have the juror dismissed for cause.
1:40 p.m.
The court reconvened at 1:30 p.m. and, after about eight minutes, the next panel of seven potential jurors entered the courtroom to be sworn in and have the logistics of the case and the process of jury selection explained to them by Chu.
Just before the jurors entered the room, Chu confirmed that the last two jurors seated will be the alternates.
11:55 a.m.
Potential juror No. 23, a Hispanic woman in her 40s, enters the courtroom at 11:50 a.m. She says she doesn’t speak English well and struggled to understand Chu when she was sworn in earlier. After a couple minutes, Chu excuses her and, because the next panel of potential jurors wasn’t expected to be ready until 1:30 p.m., Chu tells the attorneys they can get lunch early.
She also says she’s pleased with how jury selection is going and tells the attorneys to think about whether or not it would make sense to move up the start of the trial from Dec. 8. She said they will need at least one day off after the jury is set to go over jury instructions and other items.
The court goes into recess for lunch at 11:55 a.m.
11:50 a.m.
At 11:21 a.m., potential juror No. 22 — a white man in his 50s or 60s — enters and quickly answers a few questions from Chu. He notes his wife was a law clerk for a judge at one point but has since retired.
Engh then takes over questioning him. He says, based on the video he saw on the news, he believes Potter "possibly made an error." He believes he’d be a fair juror. He says he’s been a registered nurse since 1994 and is in a nurse practitioner program currently.
Frank takes over at 11:30 a.m. and asks more about why he thinks Potter made an error. The potential juror says it was based on what he saw of her in the video he saw and what Potter said in it. He calls the demonstrations and events of the past year difficult from citizens all the way up to police. He says police officers have to make difficult decisions and he somewhat agrees they shouldn’t be second-guessed, although he expects them to follow the law. He trusts police unless proven otherwise and expects them to protect him. He adds that he can remain impartial. He owns guns to hunt waterfowl with his son and says they handle them responsibly. He briefly discusses his wife’s former work after she graduated law school. In addition to nursing and his current school program, he also manages a few properties. He says he does need to take some tests for school in the middle of the month but they’re flexible and can be done online, so they won’t affect him as a juror.
After 15 minutes, Frank calls for a brief sidebar, and Chu then tells the man that he will serve as a juror on the case, making him the eighth juror seated.
11:20 a.m.
Court reconvenes at 11 a.m. and potential juror No. 21, a white man in his 40s, enters for questioning. He says a lot of the looting and damage during demonstrations over the past year were bad but he things many of the things protesters were saying were important conversations to have. His brother-in-law works for the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The potential juror’s neighbor had home broken into and police responded and arrested the man. He says the police were excellent and very professional. He also sat on a criminal jury about protesters trespassing but said he doesn’t believe anything from that trial would affect his decisions in this case.
After about five minutes, Gray takes over questioning. The potential juror says the criminal trial he was a juror for was about 10 years ago. He noted he’s seen the video of Wright’s death multiple times and he has a slightly negative impression of both Potter and Wright. He adds that "blue lives matter" seems like a marketing move and counter-cry to Black Lives Matter, which he says is trying to point out Black people are dying at a higher rate than others, although he says he hasn’t done his own research into that.
At about 11:15 a.m., Frank starts questioning potential juror No. 21. After a few questions and the juror saying he could remain impartial, Chu informs him he will serve on the jury for this case, making him the seventh juror seated.
10:40 a.m.
At 9:55 a.m., a new panel of seven potential jurors comes into the courtroom and Chu explains the logistics of the case and the process of jury selection to them before they’re sworn in. After nearly 25 minutes, all except potential juror No. 20 — a white man in his 30s or early 40s — leave and individual questioning resumes. He says his apartment was broken into at one point and he reported it to police. Nothing came of it but he said his interactions with police went well. He also says his cousin had law enforcement use a Taser on him during his arrest about a year ago but they’ve never talked about it. He notes he has three young children.
At 10:24 a.m., Gray takes over the questioning of potential juror No. 20. The potential juror says he doesn’t have any experience with guns or Tasers but he feels it’s "a very dumb mistake" to grab a gun instead of a Taser and fire it. He says his colleagues discussed the shooting after it happened. He says he was raised to trust police officers but interactions with officers make him nervous, although he’s not had any negative personal experiences with officers. Additionally, he says he’s neutral on defunding the police and says he believes people of color are treated unfairly at times. However, he says he’d be able to judge the case fairly based on the evidence presented at the trial.
After 15 minutes of questions from Gray, the state uses its second of up to five peremptory challenges to dismiss the juror.
Chu then calls for a 20-minute morning break.
9:52 a.m.
At about 9:15 a.m., the next prospective juror comes in and is questioned by Chu. She says she has a negative impression of both Potter and Wright based on what she’s seen in the media. Potential juror No. 19, a Black woman in her 30s, also says she lives in the area of some of the demonstrations after Wright’s death and saw some of the damage. However, she says she never participated in any of the demonstrations. She adds that she has a Taser for protection but has never used it or taken any training classes. She also reported feeling somewhat unfavorable toward both Black Lives Matter and "blue lives matter." She said she was also robbed about 20 years ago but never reported it, and someone in her family was accused of theft at some point but she felt like justice was served in the case and it doesn’t impact her feelings toward police. As a mother of two, she says she has some concerns about being away from her children around the holidays and possibly being sequestered but is still willing to serve as a juror. She’s never served on a jury before.
After nearly 15 minutes, defense attorney Paul Engh starts questioning potential juror No. 19, a teacher. She says she bought her Taser for protection and carries it often but hasn’t ever used it or needed a permit or class for it. She says she saw the video of Wright’s death four or five times on the news but never searched it out. She adds that it’s terrible that situations like Wright’s are continuing to happen and she’s seen them on the news, and she specifically cites the recent Ahmaud Arbery case. Engh asks about the arrest of a family member and she says it was maybe 15 years ago and she doesn’t remember if the family member was charged but doesn’t believe so. She says she believes there is more negative information shared by the media of people of color than necessary. On police officers, she says it’s a tough job of service and requires a certain level of professionalism, but officers know that going into it so people have a right to second-guess officers’ decisions. However, she also calls the incident chaotic and says she could be impartial if chosen as a juror.
About 15 minutes later, Frank takes over questioning. Franks asks for clarification on the type of Taser potential juror No. 19 has and she says it just produces an electric shock, it doesn’t shoot projectiles. She also has a permit to carry. She adds that she wouldn’t have any trouble setting aside what she saw of the video in the news if she were chosen as a juror. Potential juror No. 19 has a close family member who was in the military but they don’t see each other often. On her gun ownership, she notes they’re for hobbies and other purposes besides self-defense.
After a little more than five minutes, Chu informs juror No. 19 that she will serve on the jury, making her the sixth juror seated in the case.
Another panel of seven potential jurors is then called in to be sworn in and have Chu explain the process.
9:12 a.m.
Just before 9 a.m., Judge Regina Chu and the attorneys for both sides go over some procedural items and Chu also informs Potter that she’s allowed to change her mind about testifying if she wants.
At 9:03 a.m., potential juror No. 17 — a white woman in her 20s or 30s — enters and quickly answers a couple of questions from Chu.
Potter attorney Earl Gray then takes over and the potential juror quickly answers his couple of questions.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank then takes over questioning. Potential juror No. 17 says she recently graduated and works full-time. It’s her first time being called for jury duty but she says she can follow the law and could be impartial as a juror. Frank asks about her thoughts on police officers and she responds that communities will always need police officers but some bad things will always happen.
After about five minutes of questioning, Chu informs the juror that she will serve on the jury in this case, making her the fifth juror seated in the case.
Wednesday, jury selection in the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter resumed. Four jurors were seated on the first day of jury selection, Tuesday.
Potter faces first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s April 11 death.
On Tuesday, each side used a strike on a juror, leaving the state with two peremptory challenges left while the defense has four.
KSTP’s complete trial coverage
This story will continue to be updated throughout the day as jury selection proceeds.