Daunte Wright shooting: Kim Potter’s mugshot released as ex-police officer faces manslaughter charges

George Floyd’s girlfriend once taught Daunte Wright while he was in high school, the 20-year-old’s family and Mr Floyd’s partner have said.

CBS News reported that Mr Wright’s aunt, Naisha Wright, revealed the connection between the two families alongside their attorney, Ben Crump, on Tuesday.

Both Mr Floyd and Mr Wright died while in the custody of police in the Minneapolis area and ongoing tension in the city comes as the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-officer charged with killing Mr Floyd, continues.

"The craziest thing is to find out today that my family has connections to this man, to this family,” Ms Wright said. “His girlfriend was a teacher for my nephew. My nephew was a lovable young man. His smile, oh lord, the most beautiful smile. Ya'll took that."

Courteney Ross, Mr Floyd’s girlfriend, said she knew Mr Wright, who was fatally shot by police on Sunday, The Washington Post confirmed.

Ms Ross is reported to have said Mr Wright was a student while she was a dean at Edison High School and was “a silly boy, as goofy as can be,” who required extra attention because he “needed a lot of love.”

A review by The New York Times of 15 cases of “weapon confusion” over the past 20 years has shown that only three, including the only two cases in which people were killed, were eventually found guilty.

In 15 cases reviewed by The Times, two incidents in which people were killed resulted in manslaughter convictions by juries, the newspaper said. A third case in which someone was injured led to a third officer pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

“When you’re talking about cases where the excuse is it’s an accident, they’re just not easy to prove,” Geoffrey P Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who studies the use of force, told the newspaper.

Two other cases are pending.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has described the police killing of Daunte Wright as no “accident”, and once again led calls for the abolition of the police.

Gino Spocchia reports:

A GoFundMe campaign for a memorial fund for Daunte Wright has raised over half a million dollars towards covering funeral and burial expenses, mental health, and grief counseling, providing support for Mr Wright’s infant son.

The campaign, which was started two days ago, has already surpassed its $500,000 goal, having currently raised $572,778.

The GoFundMe page, which is being managed by Ben Crump Law reads: “Our family is distraught as we struggle to understand why our loved one was taken away from us in such a senseless manner.”

“The road to justice is very long, and the Wright family will not let what happened to Daunte be forgotten.”

The first witness of the day is David Fowler, a forensic pathologist called by the defence.

A friend who was in George Floyd’s car moments before he was arrested, and who allegedly sold Mr Floyd drugs in the past, will not be forced to testify in the Derek Chauvin trial. Judge Peter Cahill ruled on Wednesday that calling Morries Hall to testify, as the defence had demanded via a subpoena, would violate his 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination. “If he puts himself in that car, he exposes himself to possession charges,” Adrienne Cousins, Mr Hall’s lawyer, testified during a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.

At the time of Mr Floyd’s fatal arrest, Mr Hall had outstanding warrants for arrest on felony firearms, assault, and drug possession charges, and reportedly gave a false name to police.

A police search later found drugs inside the car both men were sitting in prior to Mr Floyd’s arrest. I’ve got more details here.

David Fowler, the forensic pathologist currently testifying for the defence, is also the target of a civil rights filed in December. It accuses him and others of having “covered up and obscured police responsibility” for the death of Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died as multiple officers were on top of him during a police restraint.

The Intercept has more background on that one.

George Floyd was primarily killed by heart problems, fentanyl in his system, police kneeling on top of him, inhaling car exhaust while he was on the ground, and a tumor in his hip, a forensic pathologist testified on Wednesday. “Ass of those combined to cause Mr Floyd’s death,” said Dr David Fowler, an expert witness for the defence.

Most medical experts in the trial so far have pinned the cause of death on police restraints to Mr Floyd, with other factors Mr Fowler mentioned playing a secondary role. I’ve got more details here.

Police were not George Floyd’s primary cause of death, pathologist Dr David Fowler is not testifying.

That goes against what many of the past medical experts have said in the trial so far. Here’s some of our coverage on this contentious issue in the Derek Chauvin trial.

Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, will face manslaughter charges, authorities say.

Graeme Massie is following that one. Read more here.