with that jury. that s why they call it jury duty. they got a really difficult job, and i really hope they are able to reach a decision. and laura, if they re not, that s a decision too. it just means that a jury wasn t able to reach a verdict because this was a really close and a really difficult case. i wonder if the jury will agree with you that though those weren t crocodile tears. the benefit of the doubt that is extended to police officers and the idea of the reason why they re able to have the weapons and the ability to arrest and stop is because there is an elevated expectation that they can rise to the occasion and grapple with the stress, grapple with the split second decisions and make the right call. i m curious to see how this jury comes down on this very important notion. and again, at the end of the day, either way daunte wright will not be home for christmas. it s a very difficult case for everyone involved. thank you for your time. it s tragic. i appreciate it.
you ve got a big question for any defense team. the question they have normally is do you put your client on the stand? in these three trials between holmes and potter, they testified, maxwell had said she will not do so saying that the prosecution has not met their burden. there s no reason for her to do so, she said. is that the right call? to call them on the stand to have them there? yeah, all three made the right call, holmes had to testify to put her defense that she was being manipulated by the much older boyfriend, so she had to take the witness stand for her case. in potter s case, potter absolutely had to testify. she s a police officer who shot somebody. in order for you to understand kind of what the perspective is for her, she had to testify. and then in terms of maxwell, she would have been roasted on the witness stand if she had gotten up there. her lawyers made absolutely the right choice because in that case, the question is maxwell a predator or a victim, right? is
this case because here s a part of her cross examination. listen to this. you didn t make sure any officers knew what you had just done, right? no. you didn t run down the street and try to save daunte wright s life, did you? no. you were focused on what you had done because you had just killed somebody. i m sorry it happened. i m sorry. i mean, the prosecutor was able to point out her mistakes, but she also got very emotional and expressed remorse, the sorrow. and then is, again, a case they don t have to prove intent. what stands out more to a jury, the pointing out what she did wrong or the emotional response it might evoke from the jurors themselves? emotional response. look, laura, these are split second decisions that occurred.
and two, this whole emotional testimony that she gave, i think that the defense is hoping for what we know to be jury nullification where jurors say, yes, the facts are there. the law is there. there s enough there to find someone guilty, but we don t you know, we don t want to do it. we don t want to do it because maybe we feel sorry for her. maybe she s already expressed some remorse. jury nullification is a big issue in this case. then we heard the defense argue that daunte wright caused his own death. that was pretty unbelievable. unbelievable, but you know, i know, we see this so often in these cases, particularly when you have a white defendant who s been charged with killing an unarmed black man, so that he would get up and make that statement was pretty offensive. but not surprising. i do have some problems with the way the defense presented its case. i think they were trying to play on the jury s sympathies and cause them to, you know, feel sorry for kim potter. and what
things that an officer, particularly one with 26 years of experience would be expected to do. i thought the prosecution had laid out a pretty effective case, at least for the second degree manslaughter, if not for the first degree, which is, you know, you talked about recklessness. but based on what we re hearing, these jurors don t see it, at least some of them perhaps don t see it the way the prosecution thought they would. and of course we know that this is not a case where the prosecution is even having to prove intent, right? they can have the sympathy towards somebody for purportedly make a mistake and still meet the evidentiary burden of each element. and you mentioned second degree manslaughter, the idea of creating unreasonable risk and then acting in a way that does not essentially undermine it. you ve been critical of the defense that potter s team has actually put forth. what s your issue with their case? well, a couple of things. one, you know mistake is not a defense