Mohamed Noor to stand trial over Justine Damond Ruszczyk shooting
Unarmed and in her pyjamas, Justine Damond was shot dead after reporting a possible assault near her home. Photo: Linkedin
Former US police officer Mohamed Noor will stand trial on murder and manslaughter charges for the 2017 shooting of Australian woman Justine Damond Ruszczyk.
A judge on Thursday found probable cause for a criminal case to proceed against Mr Noor.
He is charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Ms Ruszczyk.
Ms Ruszczyk had called 911 to alert police to a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home in Minneapolis. She was shot when she approached Mr Noor’s squad car.
Mr Noor was fired by the city following the July 2017 shooting.
Mr Noor’s attorneys argue he acted reasonably, while prosecutors say he was reckless.
Mohamed Noor with his legal team at court on Thursday. Photo: Star Tribune/AAP
In the courthouse, Ms Ruszczyk’s fiancé Don Damond was seated in the front row, a few feet from the man who shot and killed his fiancée weeks before they were to marry.
The former police officer maintained his silence as he arrived in court.
What we know about the shooting
He made a number of petitions with the court trying to have the charges thrown out on the grounds that he was following police procedure when he shot and killed Ms Ruszczyk.
The judge Kathryn Quaintance ran through those motions and dismissed each one of them fairly quickly.
At the end of the hearing, she set a trial date of April 1 and the defendant will face a jury in April next year.
Judge Quaintance also declined to suppress Mr Noor’s psychological records from his police training.
There was no visible reaction from Mr Damond and a number of supporters who were in the courthouse.
There were 15 members of the American-Somali community in Minneapolis also present to support Mr Noor.
He spoke to quite a few of them before the hearing began, but again maintained his silence as he left the court.
