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25499
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Location
Daytona Beach, FL
US
I have to admit, I feel bad for Kim Potter, the officer who confused her taser for her gun.
I don't know what to do with her.
Clean, impeccable record. By all accounts, a model cop and citizen.
Lives shattered not due to any malice or intent, just a brain fart. A brain fart killed Daunte Wright and a brain fart that is sending this woman to prison. Glad it's not my decision.
I don't know what I'd do with her
I don't know what to do with her.
Clean, impeccable record. By all accounts, a model cop and citizen.
Lives shattered not due to any malice or intent, just a brain fart. A brain fart killed Daunte Wright and a brain fart that is sending this woman to prison. Glad it's not my decision.
I don't know what I'd do with her
I agree though; I wouldn't know what to do with her, either.
I don't believe there was premeditated malice involved on her part or in many other cases similar.
I think that really is the gold standard that should be applied, otherwise, you run the risk of people just standing around doing nothing. As in security that just watch smash and grab people and practically escort the thieves to their cars. Might as well just help them load up.
I worked in a field where plenty of people did as much of nothing as possible to avoid problems liability, turfing off any problems to someone else.
I think there is a civil case to be made monies, damages, suspensions loss of job , etc. But criminal? Not sure that is the right message to send to our police.
1/3 on supervised release
58 days credit time served
$1000 fine
Can never use or possess a firearm
I'm actually good with that. Time served, good behavior, she maybe out in maybe 9 months?
The Shop
Basically, I believe she knew what she was doing, Clinton inhaled, and Epstein didn’t hang himself.
Her brain was obviously tying to determine if she needed to use her taser or a gun and her muscle memory pulled the gun as her mouth was saying taser, taser, taser. As a motocrosser, I have and we do some totally amazing things in fractions of seconds due to muscle memory. We all here can relate to that probably more than most people. Maybe this happened from to much training to much practice as that is where her reaction led and her brain and mouth was saying something different. Her training, being a trainer, merits and record are pretty substantial. I don't know. Just the perspective I arrived at in trying to fathom how this could possibly happen.
But what was the victim going to do? Was he going to drag the cops down the street until they fell off the car, possibly to their death? Where did he think that was going to lead? Most likely to many others being in harm from the chase that would have most definitely ensued. I couldn't be a judge because I have the mind set that if you would hit a teacher you would hit a principal. If you would hit a principal you would hit a cop. If you would hit a cop you are willing to kill a cop. I just don't see it any other way.
According to the judge, the only criteria she met was restitution which sounds more like a settlement in a civil case rather than a criminal case. Which is odd with the sentencing because that means she was innocent of all other criteria in the eyes of the court. Which means the charges were on the harsh side because there had to be a punishment instituted for the public. Which means the media and coverage were influencers on the sentencing to appease the public. I wonder if there were not the media attention and the risk of public discourse on this case if the sentencing would have been the same. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe it is a bad thing. I don't know. But it existed.
Keep in mind, a pro SX rider trains to ride the whoops, by your logic there should be no down riders because they all train for it.
Training makes you better but you can never be perfect. And the standard # of training hours applies to all even though some need more? How do you deal with that?
TM
But in general, good people tend to do good things and sometimes make bad decisions. I just can't understand that we ask people to be cops and risk their lives, and if a mistake is made risking their life, they get no support. In this case, I think this officer felt true remorse because it was an accident. Maybe spending time in jail will let her heal so she doesn't spend the rest of her life feeling guilt, she can feel she was penalized and move on.
TM
That's it. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes.
But it was a brain fart.
We all have them. We all have those moments of "where's my keys?" (in your hand) "Where's the dog?" (Sitting next to you)
These are things we do every day....Right did what the brain told the left to do, she drew with her right thinking it was her left, yelling "taser, taser, taser" and as soon as click/boom, she knew she brain farted. She knew it, right then. She said "I shot him!" in complete panic and disbelief.
Pure brain fart.
I was surprised at the 1st degree manslaughter conviction based on a regular Joe’s reading of the statute, but the 2nd degree manslaughter seemed very reasonable.
I think that if anyone who posts here had an officer kill a loved one for anything other than actual self defense, they’d think that less than 2 years in prison wasn’t enough of a sentence.
Why it is a terrible case for everyone.
Do you think she woke up that day and decided she wanted to kill a black person?
What, just to see what it’s like?
No.
This is a lot like driving with two feet. The brain tells the leg to brake, but the message gets sent to the wrong leg and you hit the gas. This usually happens in sudden unexpected stops. Boom you crash.
She was in a struggle with a person resisting arrest. Her brain told her arm to reach for the taser. But the message went to the wrong hand and she accidentally pulled her gun.
But I guess the other theory is she just woke up that day and decided today would be a good day to kill a black person.
Nice theory.
I see it the same, hence "brain fart"
I don't know what else to call it, momentary lapse of reason?
Pit Row
You are being intentionally dishonest trying to link me to the ‘theory’ you describe. And you know it. Please point out ANYTHING that I’ve posted that points to the officer being responsible for premeditated murder, which is what you are falsely claiming. Your inference is disgusting at best.
The closest that any of her testimony got to addressing it was that she was yelling “taser, taser, taser” to get the other officers to disengage. She could easily have given testimony that she was yelling that to let Wright know that she intended to use her taser on him, but didn’t. Her own testimony was that she yelled that for the other officers to back away.
I believe that she testified that she had drawn her taser (in an on shift capacity) during her career a couple of times during her career, but not her firearm. So in theory she should have been more in tune with that than drawing her firearm.
She testified that drawing and activating the taser took not only a completely different, crossbody draw, it took a different method to remove it from its holster. It also required turning off the safety mechanism for it to actually be armed.
She testified that it was not routine for her to unclip the strap holding her firearm in her holster, yet she did that exact thing very early in this stop.
What did occur that likely convinced the jury of 1st Degree Manslaughter was that the prosecution was successful in showing that she didn’t take her training seriously and was dismissive of its importance.
My gut feeling (not representing any of this as fact, obviously!) is that for some reason she made a very early decision that this was a threat that may warrant more attention than most, hence she readied her firearm more accessible by unsnapping the strap. When things went sideways, she hoped that the threat of being tased would stop Wright from resisting AND get the other officers out of harm’s way from being dragged by Wright’s car.
And then, at the height of the encounter, adrenaline was at its absolute maximum and she did something that she really didn’t want to do, which was to discharge her firearm. I do believe that her shooting was an act of recklessness, as she thought that the threat of being tased was enough to stop things from going further, but when it didn’t and panic set in the only thing that she had to use was her firearm.
I’d encourage everyone to watch her testimony. It’s almost 2 hours but the second time through it’s easy to cut through her early years, who is in her family, etc.
https://youtu.be/tJJuBdVpQkA
Don't do some Bad stupid shit and some Bad stupid shit will not happen
I saw the last fight on this, so....here goes
Way I understand Hollywood procedure is that, unless otherwise agreed in advance, that the armorer cleans, preps, stows and loads the weapon. That ONLY the armorer or the 1st AD (#1 asst director) hands the gun to the actor, who should be in position, ready, set, action, *BANG* cut, armorer or 1st AD removes it.
Actor doesn't fiddle or check anything because by doing so, you messed with everything the armorer just did in preparing and securing the weapon.
The actor is not a firearms expert, but there are exceptions to every rule. You assume all actors are NOT firearms experts. You treat all actors as NOVICE or BEGINNER, equally.
Armorer does everything but point and shoot.
Actor does nothing but point and shoot.
Basically, you treat the actors like morans around guns to avoid exactly what happened.
Never pass up an opportunity to make something “political”, and that is all this is.
Is that what remorse looks like?
Smile for the camera!
I call bullshit....seriously....I have never seen that
That was after the conviction.
Who knows
Bottom line is that whoever pulls the trigger is responsible. We can argue all day on intent, who’s role it is to check weapon, and on and on and on.
Baldwin pulled the trigger. A woman is dead because of that action. You cannot dispute that.
1. Always assume a gun is loaded until you personally check it.
2. Never point gun at someone you don’t intend to shoot.
These are basics of gun safety taught even to actors.
Baldwin has been using firearms on set for 30+ years. He of all people should be an expert in firearm safety by now.
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