Damond shooter to face justice
FORMER policeman Mohamed Noor was expected late last night to plead not guilty over the murder of former Sydney life coach Justine Damond Ruszczyk.
The killer cop’s lawyers were to outline their evidence in a pre-trial hearing that Noor was acting in self-defence when he shot Ms Damond after she called 911 for help last July.
Noor (pictured) has been living with his parents on $US500,000 bail, charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He faces a maximum 25-year jail sentence if convicted of the murder charge.
The then-rookie officer was in the passenger seat of a patrol car when he and Officer Matthew Harrity responded to Ms Damond’s call late on a Saturday night.
The 40-year-old yoga instructor, who was to be married to US businessman Don Damond, reported hearing a woman screaming for help.
After driving down the lane behind Ms Damond’s southern Minneapolis home and finding no evidence of anyone being attacked, the officers stopped at a driveway 100m away.
Wearing pyjamas, Ms Damond approached the back of their car at the same time they heard a loud bang. Noor fired his service revolver once across his partner’s chest, shooting Ms Damond in the stomach. She died just minutes later.
Her death drew international headlines, sparked protests in the city against police brutality and also led to accusations of racism in the prosecution of Noor, who supporters argue is being targeted because he is a black Muslim.
County Attorney Mike Freeman said he brought the murder charge because he was confident of a conviction.
“Officer Noor reached across his partner inside a police squad car and shot out the open window ... at an object or an entity that he had not recognised,” he said.
“Officer Harrity … heard something, had seen vision of a strange shadow of a person, couldn’t tell if it was a male or a female, couldn’t tell if it was an adult or a child and most importantly, couldn’t see the hands.
“Police officers are only allowed to use deadly force if there is a threat and ... we believe the evidence shows there is no way that Officer Noor perceived or had a threat to himself or others that justified him using this deadly force.”