Tag Archives: Australian woman

Minnesota ex-policeman faces prison for fatal shooting of Australian woman

FILE PHOTO: Mohamed Noor, center, former Minnesota policeman on trial for fatally shooting an Australian woman, walks into the courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Craig Lassig/File Photo - RC1DDA04DCD0

By Joey Peters

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – A former Minneapolis police officer faces the possibility of stiff prison time when he is sentenced on Friday for the fatal shooting of an Australian woman nearly two years ago after she had called police to report a possible sexual assault.

In April, Mohamed Noor, 33, was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing 40-year-old Justine Ruszczyk Damond outside her home near Minneapolis.

Australia’s then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the incident “shocking.”

After the jury verdict, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he expected Noor to face 12-1/2 years in prison for the murder charge and four years for the manslaughter charge.

A sentencing hearing before Minnesota District Judge Kathryn Quaintance began on Friday morning.

Noor, who was acquitted of a more serious charge of second-degree intentional murder, has asked the judge to impose probation during which time he would report to a halfway house-type correctional facility for a week on the anniversaries of Damond’s death and birth.

Citing Noor’s community service, his clean record and his cooperation with the investigation, Noor’s attorneys asked that he be sentenced to at most a year and a day.

“There is no benefit to Mr. Noor or the community that will come from a lengthy prison sentence,” Attorneys Thomas Plunkett and Peter Wold said in a memorandum submitted on Wednesday.

Noor – the first Minnesota police officer to be convicted of murder – and his partner drove to Damond’s home the night of July 15, 2017, to respond to a report she had made of a possible sexual assault. When Damond approached the patrol car, Noor fired through the car window, killing her.

Noor had testified that he shot her in self-defense after he and his partner heard a loud noise.

Minneapolis city officials last month agreed to pay $20 million to settle a civil suit brought by Damond’s family.

(Writing by Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Bill Tarrant, G Crosse and Susan Thomas)

Minnesota probing Australian woman’s fatal shooting by police

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel

By Todd Melby

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Minnesota officials were investigating on Monday how an Australian woman who called police for help over the weekend ended up shot and killed by one of the officers who responded in an alley near her house.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called for a probe of why officers were not using the body cameras they are equipped with during the incident that led to the death of Justine Damond, from Sydney, around midnight Saturday.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was investigating the shooting, in keeping with a new policy adopted in 2014, to avoid having the Minneapolis police department investigate itself, said Hodges, who described herself as “heartsick and deeply disturbed” by the shooting.

“We don’t want to jeopardize the BCA investigation, or compromise its independence,” the mayor said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Hundreds of people took to the streets Sunday to decry the killing. The BCA said the officers’ body cameras were not turned on and their patrol car camera did not capture the incident. It was attempting to determine whether any video of the shooting exists.

“I have a lot of questions about why the body cameras weren’t on, questions that I hope and anticipate will be answered in the next few days,” Hodges told reporters late Sunday.

Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, had taken the name of her American fiance Don. She had originally studied to be a veterinarian but owned a meditation and life-coaching company in Minneapolis, according to her personal website. U.S. and Australian media gave her age as 40.

In a statement given to media in Sydney, family friend Julie Reed said the couple had been due to marry.

Zach Damond, who had already taken to calling his father’s future bride “mom,” told the Minneapolis Star Tribune she called the police because she heard a sound in the alley outside her house.

“Basically, my mom’s dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don’t know,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I demand answers.”

The Star Tribune quoted three sources it did not name as saying Damond was in her pajamas when the police car responding to her 911 call pulled into the alley.

She approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and was shot through the door, the newspaper said.

Both officers who responded to the 911 call have been placed on administrative leave, the Star Tribune quoted police as saying.

Minneapolis police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

(Additional reporting by Chris Michaud in New York; Writing by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Scott Malone and Tom Brown)