Potter's prosecutors oppose media efforts to release names of jurors

Prosecutors have filed a motion objecting to a news media coalition's efforts to seek public release of the names of the jurors who in December convicted former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter of two counts of manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, who led the prosecution of Potter in Hennepin County District Court, wrote in his motion Friday that the Feb. 18 sentencing "will reignite public interest in the case and the larger issues of use-of-force cases. The media coverage of the sentencing will inflame this interest more. Thus, the need to protect jurors from potential harassment because of this atmosphere is still present."

Presiding Judge Regina Chu ordered in August that the jurors' identities be withheldfor an undetermined amount of time in order to shield them from anyone attempting to influence them while they served and for their safety after rendering their verdicts in late December.

Frank said that pushing Chu to release the jurors' names "is premature as the court has not even held sentencing in this case yet."

"This court assured jurors that the parties and the court would keep their identities confidential for a period of time to help them feel safe and to help assure them they could be impartial," Frank wrote. "The court should keep this promise to them for a sufficient period of time [to allow] for the intense interest in the current police use-of-force cases to moderate. Now is certainly not the time."

Potter's defense team has not weighed in on the matter.

Potter's prosecution is one of several in Minneapolis involving officers killing civilians that have generated intense interest. Frank pointed to the sometimes violent unrest following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 by fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in April and is serving a 22½-year sentence.

Frank also noted that the three officers with Chauvin on that day are in the midst of being tried in federal court for their role in Floyd's detention and death at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, and they have a state trial pending in June.

"Releasing juror identities from [the Potter] trial now could place the facts and issues of police use-of-force cases ... in the public eye in much greater detail, making it more difficult to get a fair and impartial jury," Frank continued. "The release of juror identities now could dissuade other jurors from being willing to serve … out of a fear of harassment and negative publicity."

The media coalition's motion, filed on Jan. 21 by attorney Leita Walker, noted that the Potter jury was the third in three years to be seated anonymously by a Hennepin County district judge in a high-profile Minneapolis police brutality case, despite the legal presumption that juries are public information.

The same was done in the trials and convictions of former Minneapolis police officers Mohamed Noor and Chauvin.

In those two cases, a similar coalition filed motions to release the identities. Judge Peter Cahill unsealed the names of the Chauvin jurors in November, six months after the verdict. Judge Kathryn Quaintance unsealed the Noor jurors' names in August 2020, 18 months after the trial.

Since the names have been released, no reports of juror harassment have surfaced.

"There is no basis in the law for treating a certain type of defendant categorically different (and with more secrecy) than all other defendants," Walker wrote, "certainly not when the category is comprised of former police officers whose prosecutions are of utmost public interest and concern."

Potter was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Wright, 20, during a traffic stop on April 11, 2021, after he tried to flee while being arrested. She is in prison awaiting sentencing.

The Star Tribune is part of the media coalition seeking release of the names, along with the American Public Media Group, Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations, the Associated Press, CNN, CBS, Court TV, KMSP-TV, Gannett Satellite Information Network, Hubbard Broadcasting, the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, NBC, Sahan Journal, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law and the Washington Post.

Star Tribune staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this report.