US trial of Justine Damond's shooter set to begin

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At 11.37pm on July 15, 2017, a squad car containing two Minneapolis police officers slowly made its way up a darkened alley in one of the US Mid-West city’s safest suburbs.

Out of the darkness, Justine Damond Ruszczyk, a 40-year-old Australian life coach and yoga instructor who was dressed in her pyjamas, approached the police Ford Explorer SUV.

Ms Damond lived in a house near the alley and had called 911 after hearing a woman’s screams.

The officer in the front passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, pointed his gun across his partner, Matthew Harrity, who was driving the vehicle.

Noor fired his revolver out the open driver’s side window, with the bullet hitting Ms Damond on the left side of her stomach.

“I’m dying,” Ms Damond said as she put her hands on the bullet wound.

It was a horrifying couple of seconds that sent shockwaves from Minneapolis to Australia.

Why did Noor fire his weapon across his partner at the unarmed Australian woman renowned for her saint-like demeanour and love for others?

Did Ms Damond scare the officers?

What was Noor’s state of mind?

The answers are set to be revealed over the coming weeks when Noor goes on trial for Ms Damond’s murder.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) in Minneapolis’ Hennepin County District Court.

The twin-cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have been marred by controversial police shootings in recent years and the judge overseeing Noor’s murder trial and city officials are taking special precautions.

Cameras have been banned from inside the courtroom, the judge has blocked the media and public from observing some of the graphic evidence, and just eight seats have been reserved for local, national and Australian media members in the small 28-seat public gallery in the courtroom.

A lawyer representing media organisations has described the limitations on the press and public for such a case with worldwide interest as “woefully inadequate”.

The jury pool is so big potential jurors will receive their initial instructions and questionnaires in the larger Hennepin County Commissioners Board Room, rather than Judge Kathryn Quaintance’s courtroom.

The stakes are high.

Noor, a 33-year-old Somali-American who had only been a police officer for 21 months, was fired from the police force last year when he was charged.

He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years’ prison if found guilty of the second-degree murder count.

Noor is also charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Ms Damond’s family has filed a separate $US50 million ($A71 million) civil lawsuit against Noor, Officer Harrity, and the city of Minneapolis.

Noor and Officer Harrity were equipped with police body cameras but prosecutors say the cameras were only turned on after the shooting and when they were out of the vehicle and standing over Ms Damond.

Officer Harrity’s testimony will likely be crucial.

Noor is not expected to testify, making Officer Harrity, just 25 years old and with a year’s experience as a policeman at the time of the shooting, the only other eyewitness to describe how the incident unfolded.

Prosecutors, in their complaint, described how just before the shooting Officer Harrity heard a “muffled voice or whisper” and thump on the squad car when Ms Damond suddenly appeared.

“Officer Harrity said he was startled and said, ‘Oh s***’ or ‘Oh Jesus’,” prosecutors wrote.

“He said he perceived that his life was in danger, reached for his gun, unholstered it, and held it to his ribcage while pointing it downward.

“He said that from the driver’s seat he had a better vantage point to determine a threat than Officer Noor would have had from the passenger seat.

“Officer Harrity then heard a sound that sounded like a light bulb dropping on the floor and saw a flash.

“After first checking to see if he had been shot, he looked to his right and saw Officer Noor with his right arm extended in the direction of Officer Harrity.”

Article source: http://smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/wattle-day-could-a-new-golden-australia-day-bloom-in-the-springtime-20170831-gy7qnk.html