case. it s very consistent with what we re seeing in courtrooms across the country. we have a group of americans that are not listening to these half-witted politicians that are deciding the cases based on the facts. this case was based on the facts and the law as presented to them. however, they could have based made a different decision given what she said before she even shot him, which was taser, taser, taser. she was obviously nervous and inexperienced no matter how many years she had under her belt. gillian: now that we know which way the chips have fallen in the case, do you think in hindsight it was a mistake maybe for the defense to bring her to the stand? like if you were advising them and we were going back in time, maybe you d keep her off the stand? no, no. no. she was an incredible witness.
standard procedure for cases, but it also ignores that there was a loss of life on the other side. there is an empty chair during the holidays. the court did not want to appear that it had a special standard for officers. that is a difficult decision. the real question here going forward is how we handle these weapon confusion cases. i ve been writing about these cases for almost two decades. they leave more questions than they answer. many of these cases, it is undeniable that the officers thought that they were using a taser. the question that i think the public in minnesota and other states have to grapple with, do we feel this should be handled in the criminal justice system as 0 posed through the civil
accountability offer that son, brother and friend. this community that has been anxiously awaiting this verdict, a crowd of a couple dozen folks gathered here outside the courthouse. as that verdict came in erupted into cheers. they ve been celebrating ever since that decision came down. they found kim potter guilty of first degree and second degree manslaughter. it s still going on behind us now. gillian? garrett tenney in minneapolis. i want to bring in mercedes colwin. fox news legal analyst. joined by ted williams, former d.c. homicide detective and a criminal and civil trial attorney. he s represented police officers, judges and politicians over the course of his career. thanks to you both. ted, let s start with you. give me your thoughts on this verdict. well, i got to tell you, the first thing i believe is that an officer of the court, lawyer, that we always should respect the decision of a jury.
manslaughter. guess what? the jury sent a message to the entire country that they felt i looked back at the language in the first degree manslaughter. gillian, it says the jury found that mrs. potter used such force and violence that death was reasonably foreseeable. that s what this jury found. that is a massive message to the country and to police practices across this country. that if you make a mistake in a nonsplit second decision, you re going to have to suffer criminal consequences. this jury really didn t believe that there was confusion involved. they felt like what kim potter did was so grossly dangerous to duante wright remember a young man like the prosecution did a good job with this, this is a young man that gets pulled over for expired tags. he s not armed. he s not making any threats. he s not assaulting anybody.
act on a highly ambiguous standard. the judge tried. i think she did a great job in explaining to the jury how it had to reach a decision. but in the end, it was just cloaked in ambiguity. the jury was originally a hung injury. they went to the court because they didn t feel that they could reach a conclusion. they only reached a conclusion with the prodding of the court. the question that follows this case is whether the law itself needs to be examined. i have an opinion i m sorry. a column coming on usa today on that. minnesota needs to look at whether this whether these types of weapon confusion cases should be held handled as criminal matters or whether this standard should be clarified. if it is changed, by the way, there could be a request for clemency from the governor if that change would have benefitted officer potter.