Quote for the day…
Never regret a day in your life: good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories. – Unknown
Today’s independent commentary deals with these issues:
- The Western Word Poll
- Kimberly Potter Verdict
- One More Thing
THE WESTERN WORD POLL:
A jury on Thursday convicted a former suburban Minneapolis police officer, Kimberly Potter, of first and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during an April traffic stop. (WaPo)
This week’s poll question asks, “Do you agree with the verdict in the Kimberly Potter trial?”
The results will be posted later this week.
KIMBERLY POTTER VERDICT:
I followed the Potter trial closely. She was found guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during an April traffic stop.
According to the Associated Press (AP):
Under Minnesota statutes, Potter will be sentenced only on the most serious charge of first-degree manslaughter. That’s because both of the charges against her stem from one act, with one victim.
The max for that charge is 15 years. But state sentencing guidelines call for much less. For someone with no criminal history, like Potter, the guidelines range from just more than six years to about 8 1/2 years, with the presumptive sentence being slightly over seven years.
Prosecutors have said they’d seek a sentence above the guideline range, while the defense said they would seek no prison time. In order for Judge Regina Chu to issue a sentence that’s outside the guideline range, she would first have to find either mitigating or aggravating factors. Both sides are expected to file written arguments.
The AP reports that no matter what sentence Potter gets, in Minnesota it’s presumed that a defendant with good behavior will serve two-thirds of their penalty in prison and the rest on supervised release, commonly known as parole. That means if Potter is sentenced to the presumptive seven years, she would likely serve about four years and nine months behind bars, and the rest on supervised release.
Read the complete story from the AP HERE.
I do believe that Potter deserves to be punished. This was a big mistake, and she took a life.
The thing that bothers me in many of these cases is that if the person who died would have done one thing they would probably be alive. That one thing was to obey the police officer.
Now you can say that I am not black and don’t know what it’s like, and you would be right, although I have been on both sides. I was once a police officer, and I was once a teen getting into trouble.
I do know that there is a lack of respect these days for people in authority. Of course, there are people in authority who don’t use their authority correctly.
Kimberly Potter will do time in prison and probably spend it in solitary because she will be in danger from other inmates. Daunte Wright is dead.
The bottom line is it did not have to be this way.
Prayers for Daunte Wright’s family and friends, and for Kimberly Potter and her family and friends.
ONE MORE THING:
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!
Please remember to have a designated driver this holiday season and don’t drink and drive.
Stay warm!
The Western Word 
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Who could belong to a party that condones this hate? Although I’m not the practicing conservative Christian I was raised, I find this to be blasphemy. And it offends me deeply.
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/12/don-trump-jr-promotes-christian-violence
You commented, “The thing that bothers me in many of these cases is that if the person who died would have done one thing they would probably be alive. That one thing was to obey the police officer.” I don’t think you intended that to read the way it does. I had two reactions when I read that: First – ….”probably” Really? Just “probably?” Second – Does disobeying a clearly biased police demand merit a non-judicial death penalty?
Fred – Thanks. It says exactly what I meant to say.
At the time he disobeyed the order, I doubt he had any indication if or if not the officer was biased. I don’t think there were any indication of bias in officer Potter’s past.
It led to a slippery slope. He disobeyed, the situation escalated, a mistake was made, he died. Sad deal.
Thanks, JmB
Watched Don’t Look Up on Netflix last night. Best political satire I’ve seen in a long time. And has much to say about our current state of affairs in this country. I highly recommend it. Satire is an excellent medium to explain things. The MAGAs will be too stupid to understand it. But that’s OK.