MOSTLY WHITE JURY SELECTED FOR TRIAL ON DAUNTE WRIGHT DEATH

MINNEAPOLIS A mostly white jury was seated Friday for the trial of a white suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she drew her handgun by mistake when she fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright after a traffic stop.

Nine of the first 12 jurors seated for Kim Potter’s trial are white – roughly in line with the demographics of surrounding Hennepin County, but notably less diverse than the jury that convicted former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin this spring in the death of George Floyd.

Ms. Potter, 49, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 shooting in the suburb of Brooklyn Center. Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday.

Legal experts have said juries that are diverse by race, gender and economic background are necessary to minimize bias in the legal system.

The Chauvin jury that was split 50-50 between white people and people of colour was “mostly just luck of the draw,” said Ted Sampsell-Jones, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.

He said racial and ethnic diversity matters in terms of the perceived legitimacy of the jury, but attitudes about police and policing are much more important for the case outcome.

“It might be true in general that Black people are more distrustful of police than white people, but it isn’t true as to every individual,” SampsellJones said. “Lots of young white people in Hennepin County are far more progressive and anticop than some older Black people, for example.”

Ms. Potter has said she meant to use her taser on Mr. Wright after he tried to drive away from officers while they were trying to arrest him, but that she grabbed her handgun instead. Her body camera recorded the shooting.