The nature and relevance of the charges have been the subjects of intense debate and false rumors since Wright's death. Insider reviewed court documents that named Wright, one of which was a warrant for his arrest:
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After Wright's death, the police did not discuss details of the warrant that had prompted the officers to try to detain him.
Nonetheless, the issue has taken on a life of its own. One widely circulated claim held that Wright had likely been unaware of the warrant because of a clerical error related to court appearances.
Elsewhere, right-wing news outlets prominently featured Wright's legal history, an approach critics said amounted to downplaying the injustice of his killing by the police.
Arthur Martinez, a public defender who represented Wright, told The Daily Beast that neither he nor Wright had ever seen that document. "He obviously didn't get it, and no one notified me," Martinez said.
The last document, submitted on Tuesday, said the case was being dismissed because of Wright's death.
Second case: Wright was charged with aggravated robbery.
Documents in the case are filed under 27-CR-19-29850.
In December 2019, Wright and another man were charged with first-degree aggravated robbery. They were accused of forcing their way into a woman's home and trying to steal $820 from her at gunpoint.
Wright was accused of breaking his bail conditions last July. Documents alleged that Wright was in possession of a gun and had failed to contact his bail officer.
The records said Wright was again detained but was released on bail in September.
Documents showed that he was due to appear in court this August. There is no evidence of outstanding warrants related to this case, meaning the police would have no reason to arrest him because of it.
Documents also showed cases that have concluded.
Wright was charged in August 2019 with a petty misdemeanor for disorderly conduct and fined. He also pleaded guilty to a petty-misdemeanor charge related to marijuana in August 2019.
In an emotional call to CNN's Don Lemon this week, Wright's aunt, Naisha Wright, hit back at people seeking to damage her nephew's reputation.
"People are trying to drag my nephew's name through the dirt," she said, adding: "It don't mean nothing. He didn't deserve to die. My nephew was a damn good kid."
Watters also misreported some contents of the documents, dating the aggravated-robbery charge to "about six weeks ago" instead of to December 2019.
People also used the documents to defend Wright, albeit based on a misunderstanding.
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Popular posts on social media, including a widely shared TikTok by the comedian Walter Masterson, claimed that Wright had been unaware of a warrant for his arrest in the aggravated-robbery case, citing a document that had been sent to the wrong address.
But that claim does not hold because there was no outstanding warrant in that case - though Wright's lawyer had separately made a similar claim about the other case.
As of Wednesday morning, Masterson's posts had been removed from TikTok and YouTube after widespread pushback, including a fact-checking article by The Daily Dot.
Wright was killed not far from where George Floyd was killed last year and where the trial of the police officer charged with murder in Floyd's death is underway.
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