The charge: Manslaughter

Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY
·6 min read
1

Kim Potter, the police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, was arrested on manslaughter charges. The biggest scammer of all time, Bernie Madoff, died in prison. And the Earth, like all of us, contains multitudes. And we just found a new layer.

👋 It's Laura! I've got your Wednesday news.

But first, an exceedingly long rabbit named Darius is missing. 🐰 Y'all, the authorities in England don't think this rabbit just hopped away from home either. They suspect Darius, a 4-foot, 3-inch-long Continental Giant rabbit, was stolen. 😨 Somebunny must know where he is.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe here!

Officer who shot Daunte Wright arrested

The Minnesota police officer who shot Daunte Wright could face up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if she is convicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter. Kim Potter, a 26-year-veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was arrested Wednesday and is being held without bail in the Hennepin County jail. Former police chief Tim Gannon, who resigned Tuesday, said he believed Potter mistakenly reached for her firearm instead of her Taser when she shot Wright, 20, a Black man, who fled after struggling with police during a traffic stop Sunday. Potter, who is white, also resigned Tuesday. Wright's family called for Potter to be held accountable and said they could not accept the police's account of the incident as "an accident."

Kim Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota.
Kim Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota.

Bernie Madoff dies in prison

The crimes committed by financier Bernie Madoff, who died Wednesday, have faded from the headlines, but his Ponzi scheme, the largest in history, was one of the biggest financial stories of the past decade. Madoff, 82, was once deemed a Wall Street wizard. The former Nasdaq stock market chairman was known for investments that gave his clients large, unusually steady returns. In 2009, he admitted to swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades. They reportedly included baseball legend Sandy Koufax, Hollywood titan Jeffrey Katzenberg and actors Kevin Bacon and John Malkovich. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, a true lifetime term more typical of the sentences imposed on the worst mobsters and violent criminals.

What everybody's talking about

Defense medical expert: George Floyd died from 'sudden cardiac arrhythmia'

In the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the death of George Floyd has been labeled as a homicide. On Wednesday, however, a medical expert testifying for the defense told jurors the manner of the death was "undetermined." David Fowler, former head of the medical examiner's office in Maryland, said he believes that Floyd, because of his underlying heart issues, had a "sudden cardiac arrhythmia" while being restrained and subdued by police. Judge Peter Cahill quashed a subpoena for testimony from Morries Hall, a man who was in a car with George Floyd before the fateful struggle with police. Cahill ruled that Hall has a Fifth Amendment right not to testify because answering even narrowly tailored questions could expose him to criminal charges.

David Fowler, former head of the medical examiner's office in Maryland, testifies about George Floyd's heart trouble April 14 in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse.
David Fowler, former head of the medical examiner's office in Maryland, testifies about George Floyd's heart trouble April 14 in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse.

Real quick

Vaccine shortage? Never heard of her

We've got enough vaccine to make up for the pause. 🙌 Daily doses across the nation could be affected by the pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccinations but should have little long-term effect on the drive to end the pandemic, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator said. There are plenty of doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to make up any shortfall of the single-shot J&J vaccine. The United States is on track to acquire 600 million of double-shot doses from those companies by the end of July. Presidential medical adviser Anthony Fauci took an optimistic approach, saying the pause showed dedication to safety. A panel of experts begins scrutinizing the J&J vaccine today after six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot linked to the one-shot inoculation.

🌎 Earth contains multitudes

Just when we thought we knew what was going on (ha ha), scientists discovered yet another layer deep inside the core of the Earth. Not sure whether they asked Earth for her ideas on what to name the new layer, but researchers call it Earth's "innermost inner core." Great name. The existence of this new layer is difficult to observe but could point to an unknown, dramatic event in Earth's history, according to a study that really just makes it sound like Earth was keeping it a secret for a reason. Researchers will keep researching to see what else they can find.

A break from the news

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bernie Madoff, Derek Chauvin, Kim Potter, Earth, COVID-19 vaccines: It's Wednesday's news