Cop cover-up claims
Sergeant slammed for role in unarmed Aussie murder case
THE first commander in charge of the scene where unarmed Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond was killed has been slammed in court by prosecutors for not recording her conversations with Mohamed Noor, the officer who shot her.
In heated testimony on Tuesday local time, Minneapolis Sgt Shannon Barnette was accused of trying to cover up evidence and of inventing excuses for Noor’s actions. Noor, 33, is arguing self-defence at his murder trial, now in its third week, with his lawyers claiming he was startled by Ms Damond “slapping” or making a loud noise on the back of his squad car, leading him to think he was in a “classic ambush”.
Prosecutors said Sgt Barnette, who was in charge of the crime scene for several hours after Ms Damond was killed in July 2017, selectively turned her body camera off and on, possibly to protect Noor and his then partner, Officer Matthew Harrity.
In one of several clips showed to the court, Mr Harrity can be heard telling Barnette: “She just came out of nowhere, on the side of the thing and we both got spooked. I had my gun out. I didn’t fire.”
Under questioning, Sgt Barnette admitted that the issue of a “slap” was not initially raised by Noor or Mr Harrity. “So that was something you assumed and threw into this investigation somehow?” asked prosecutor Amy Sweasey. “Is it wrong to pass along assumptions?”
Sgt Barnette replied: “Not necessarily.”
There was no audio recording of Sgt Barnette’s conversations with the rookie officers and she kept limited written records of what they discussed.
Ms Sweasey read from Sgt Barnette’s statement to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state agency that took over the investigation in the early hours of the morning after Ms Damond, 40, was killed, which recounted a conversation with Mr Harrity.
“Sarge is she going to be OK?,” Mr Harrity had asked Sgt Barnette several times. She replied: “I’m not going to be worried about that right now. I’m worried about you.”