Medical examiner testifies that Daunte Wright had only 'seconds to minutes' to live after ex-cop Kim Potter shot him

• Former police officer Kim Potter is on trial for manslaughter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright.
• Assistant Hennepin County Medical Examiner Lorren Jackson testified on Monday.

A medical examiner testified Monday that Daunte Wright would've had only "seconds to minutes" to live after former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter shot him at a traffic stop.

Potter is being tried on first- and second-degree manslaughter charges for the shooting death of Wright in April. Potter has pleaded not guilty to both charges and claimed she intended to grab her Taser, not her gun, which was holstered on the opposite side of her body.

Assistant Hennepin County Medical Examiner Lorren Jackson performed the autopsy on Wright's body. He testified Monday that he observed damage to the front of Wright's heart and lungs caused by a bullet.

The injuries to Wright's lungs were mostly "superficial," and the majority of the damage that the bullet caused went to Wright's heart, Jackson said. The medical examiner testified that a person shot through the lungs and heart in this manner would normally have "seconds to minutes" to live after sustaining the injury.

"One can lose consciousness within 10 to 15 seconds after blood supply is cut off to the brain," Jackson said.

Officers had pulled Wright over for driving with an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. After stopping Wright's car, police determined that his license plate was expired and that he had an active warrant out for his arrest.

Potter shot Wright after he sat down in the seat of his car and tried to drive away, while Potter's partner tried to place him in handcuffs. Body camera footage of the shooting shows Potter shouting, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" before shooting Wright in the chest.

In opening statements, Potter's defense said that the former officer had to tase Wright to keep him from driving away because former Sgt. Mychal Johnson was leaning into the car. Johnson testified that he would've been "probably dragged" and injured if Wright had successfully fled the traffic stop in his car.

Wright's girlfriend, Alayna Albrecht-Payton, was in the passenger seat when Wright was shot. She testified earlier in the trial that Wright never had control of his car after Potter shot him. The car had traveled down the street and collided with another vehicle after Potter fired.

Defense attorney Earl Gray asked the medical examiner on cross-examination if it's possible that Wright could have sustained consciousness long enough to drive down the street. Jackson testified that he believed it was possible.

Jackson also testified that when he performed the autopsy on Wright, he observed a high THC level consistent with someone who uses marijuana regularly. Albrecht-Payton previously testified that she and Wright shared a joint on the morning of the shooting, but said she didn't think it had any effect on Wright's mental state.