No question. The outcome of the criminal trial involving former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor — found guilty Tuesday of both third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — is a big deal. This is why it’s a big deal. An unarmed, 5-foot-7, 125 pound, pajama-clad woman was fatally shot after calling 911 to report what she thought might have been a sexual assault taking place behind her home in a middle-class section of Minneapolis. Her killer? A three-year police veteran who testified that he thought that Justine Maia Ruszczyk Damond posed a “threat” to his life and that of his partner when she approached their patrol squad car that summer night in 2017 from the driver’s side and, arguably, smacked the side of the vehicle so loud that it spooked both cops into thinking it was an ambush. I can tell you that not one cop I know believes they would have been spooked enough to have shot at a shadowy figure under those circumstances. But I digress. There will be post-verdict navel-gazing from many quarters and perhaps protests of one kind or another. An appeal of both guilty verdicts is automatic. Race will be injected, as it already has been in this case, when it really shouldn’t: the victim this time was white, the shooter a police officer of Somali heritage. But I argue it’s Act II of this immense tragedy that will have a costlier and longer-term public impact than the criminal trial itself. I’m talking here about the federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit filed nearly a year ago on behalf of John Ruszczyk, Justine’s father, and next of kin. A refresher is in order. The suit, which names as principal defendants the city, Noor, his partner that night, Matthew Harrity, and the former and current police chiefs, is seeking at least $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages. It alleges that Noor and Harrity, both described as inexperienced cops in the suit, “conspired to cover up the true facts surrounding the killing of Justine.” It notes that both cops had their body-worn cameras off at the time of the shooting in violation of then-existing police policy, and then turned them on only after the incident. Had the officers followed body-worn camera procedures, “there would be audio and video of the fatal shooting of Justine, and Harrity and Noor would not be free to concoct a story in a vain attempt to insulate Noor from criminal and civil liability,” the suit contends. The suit also takes aim at the so-called “blue wall of silence” that it alleges created a “massive cover-up to protect one of its own.” It notes that Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman was forced to subpoena 40 cops, something he had never done in 19 years as a chief prosecutor, and blames the stonewalling on the police union “empowering” rank-and-file cops to change stories or not to cooperate with the ongoing shooting probe. The suit also tries to humanize the victim. It describes Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an Australia native with dual citizenship, as a well-liked woman and beloved aunt who at one time worked at her father’s bookstore in her home country. She trained as a veterinary surgeon and lost her mother, Margaret, to cancer while she was in veterinary school. A yoga and meditation instructor, she was the type of person who stopped to save a family of ducklings in danger on a road and was a month away from marrying her longtime fiance, Don Damond, when she was killed on July 17, 2017. Lawsuit proceedings were ordered shelved last fall by senior federal Judge Paul Magnuson until the outcome of the criminal prosecution. He also directed both parties not to publicly disclose behind-the-scenes discussions. One pending issue raised in case filings is whether the city will seek to not indemnify Noor. If it does seek to not indemnify him, then Noor, not the city, would be liable for paying any punitive damages out of his own pocket. But that’s a hard sell, if not a pre-trial negotiation tactic. Attorney Robert Bennett, whose firm filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of Ruszczyk Damond’s family, declined to comment on the case this week. However, a recent study by a UCLA professor and police-misconduct expert found that officers are virtually always indemnified: “During the study period, governments paid approximately 99.98 percent of the dollars that plaintiffs recovered in lawsuits alleging civil rights violations by law enforcement,” the researcher, Joanna Schwartz, noted. “Law enforcement officers in my study never satisfied a punitive-damages award entered against them and almost never contributed anything to settlements or judgments — even when indemnification was prohibited by law or policy, and even when officers were disciplined, terminated or prosecuted for their conduct.” It also bears mention that Magnuson, the judge presiding over the civil litigation, ruled against the city of Minneapolis in a similar attempt 25 years ago to lift indemnification in a police-misconduct case after the officer pleaded guilty to felony assault. In his decision, Magnuson noted that to grant the city’s motion, it had to prove the officer, as its employee, was “guilty of malfeasance in office, willful neglect of duty and bad faith.” As tragic as the Noor case is, those elements do not seem to apply. I do know this: This case has already led to a fine-tuning of a policy that requires Minneapolis police officers to turn their body-worn cameras on and keep them on when they respond to a call. It might also lead to a review of training procedures and a more stringent evaluation of psychological testing of police recruits. The city will no doubt resist going to trial on this. It’s not in its best interest. The guilty verdicts will further convince the city that it is in its best interest to push this tragic episode from the headlines as quickly as possible. It will likely shell out astronomical big bucks. I predict the settlement will become the largest payout of its kind in state history. But we should not forget the human toll of this event has no price tag. It’s a sad case all around.<doc-sep>(CNN) — A jury began deliberations Monday in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer accused of fatally shooting a woman while responding to her 911 call. The panel is charged with deciding if Mohamed Noor was justified in using deadly force when he shot Justine Ruszczyk in a dark alley outside her home. The 10 men and two women, who are sequestered for the trial’s duration, concluded their first day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict. Noor, 33, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 2017 shooting, which led to protests and the resignation of Minneapolis’ police chief. Testifying in his defense, Noor said he made a “split-second decision” based on threats he perceived from Ruszczyk as she approached his squad car. Hennepin County prosecutors contend Noor acted recklessly and then changed his account to suit his defense. In no event should the appearance of a woman in the alley have surprised Noor and his partner, prosecutor Amy Sweasy said in her closing. “The only thing Ms. Ruszczyk did was walk up to the police car,” she said. Shooting victim Justine Ruszczyk had planned to marry fiancé Don Damond in August 2017. Ruszczyk had relocated from her native Australia to Minneapolis to live with her fiancé. She was killed a month before her planned wedding. What happened that night? Authorities said Ruszczyk called 911 the night of July 15, 2017, to report a possible sexual assault in an alley behind her house. Officers Matthew Harrity and Noor were dispatched to the scene and arrived at 11:37 p.m., according to a criminal complaint. At 11:40 p.m., Ruszczyk was shot in the abdomen and died minutes later at the scene. Cedric Hohnstadt/AP Minneapolis police officer Matthew Harrity testifies in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. Prosecutors said Noor, sitting in the passenger seat, pulled out his gun and shot across the vehicle to hit Ruszczyk, who was outside the driver’s side door. Harrity testified that he heard a noise on the rear driver’s side door, according to CNN affiliate WCCO. Under cross-examination, he said he did not raise his gun in response to the noise because he was taught to not shoot at something until identifying a threat. Noor testified that Harrity’s terrified expression and the sight of Ruszczyk with her hand raised jolted him into action. Under cross-examination from Sweasy, Noor conceded that Ruszczyk did not appear to have anything in her hands. Two neighbors testified they heard a sound that the defense argued could have been Ruszczyk slapping the squad car. But the prosecution argued the slap did not happen. Cedric Hohnstadt/AP Mohamed Noor testifies in his defense on Thursday. An expert testified that “none of the 51 fingerprints found on the squad car” matched Ruszczyk’s. In her closing, Sweasy argued that none of the neighbors who claimed to have heard noises describe them in the same way. “Whatever it was, nobody described it as harm,” she said. Reasonable or not? Dueling experts differed on whether Noor’s use of force was reasonable and therefore justified. Testifying for the prosecution, Lt. Derrick Hacker of the Crystal Police Department in Minnesota said that Noor’s use of deadly force was “excessive and objectively unreasonable.” Being “startled” is different than “fearing death or great bodily harm,” Hacker said. Lawyer and use of force expert Emanuel Kapelsohn, who works part time as a deputy sheriff in Allentown, Pennsylvania, testified for the defense. Courtesy Cedric Hohnstadt Lawyers delivered closing arguments Monday in Mohamed Noor's trial. He said Noor’s conduct was an “objectively reasonable” response to the situation. “It’s late at night. It’s dark in the alley,” Kapelsohn said, noting Noor heard his partner say “Oh Jesus” and detected a “look of terror.” Kapelsohn resisted the prosecutor’s suggestion that Noor should have ordered Ruszczyk to show her hands before he shot her. “It takes a quarter of a second” for someone to raise their hand and fire. Much less time than needed for Noor to even say commands like ‘let me see your hands.’” ’There was nothing at the scene that could explain that’ Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, began his closing argument Monday by banging his fist on the table and shouting “pow pow” to illustrate the shock his client must have felt. Courtesy Cedric Hohnstadt Defense lawyer Tom Plunkett delivers his closing Monday in Mohamed Noor's trial. He urged the jury to consider the circumstances in the moment, not as a “Monday morning quarterback.” “An officer may use deadly force to protect themselves or others from apparent danger,” Plunkett said in his closing argument Monday. He emphasized Noor’s humble roots as a Somali immigrant who came to the country at a young age and worked his way through college. He wanted to serve the community by becoming a police officer, Plunkett said. He became the first Somali American assigned to the Fifth Precinct, which covers Southwest Minneapolis. He joined the Minneapolis Police Department in March 2015. The officers were wearing body cameras but did not turn them on before the shooting, and the squad car camera did not capture the incident. The Minneapolis Police Department has since updated its body camera policy to direct officers to turn on their body cameras upon being dispatched to a scene. Sweasy argued that officers who responded to the scene could not understand what happened. “There was nothing at the scene that could explain that.” CNN’s Bill Kirkos reported from Minneapolis and Emanuella Grinberg reported and wrote this article in Atlanta. Joe Sterling contributed to this report.<doc-sep>MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A former Minneapolis police officer on Tuesday was found guilty of murder for fatally shooting an Australian woman from his patrol car while responding to her 2017 report of a possible sex assault near her home. 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. The incident drew international criticism, including from Australia’s prime minister, who called the incident “shocking.” He was acquitted of second-degree intentional murder. Noor sat silently through the reading of the verdict with his hands cupped, breathing heavily. The packed courtroom remained silent. Noor was handcuffed and taken into custody after the jury’s decision. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told a news conference he expected Noor to face 12-1/2 years in prison for the murder charge and four years for the manslaughter charge when he is sentenced on June 7. “This was a tragic shooting that did not have to happen and should not have happened,” Freeman said. “It does not give us pleasure to call out police wrongdoing.” Slideshow ( 4 images ) Freeman said it marks the first time a police officer in Minnesota was convicted of murder. A wave of killings of black men and teens by U.S. police prompted street protests but in this case Damond was white and Noor is a black Somali immigrant. “SAD AND TRAGIC INCIDENT” Noor and his partner drove to Damond’s home the night of July 15, 2017, to respond to her report of a possible sexual assault outside her house. When Damond approached the patrol car, Noor fired a shot across his partner through the passenger-side window to kill her. Noor testified in court that he shot Damond in an act of self-defense after he and his partner Matthew Harrity, who was driving, heard a loud noise. The shooting led to the resignation of Minneapolis’ police chief and the creation of stricter police body camera policies, after Noor and his partner failed to turn on their body cameras and provide video evidence to investigators. Slideshow ( 4 images ) Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo apologized to Damond’s friends and family in a statement released after the verdict. “This was indeed a sad and tragic incident that has affected family, friends, neighbors, the City of Minneapolis and people around the world, most significantly in her home country of Australia,” Arradondo said. Damond was engaged to be married that summer and owned a life-coaching company, according to her personal website. “That night there was a tragic lapse of care and complete disregard for the sanctity of life,” her fiance Don Damond said after the verdict was read. Damond’s father John Ruszczyk said the decision reflected the community’s commitment to the rule of the law, sanctity of life and the obligation of the police to serve and protect. The verdict “strengthens those pillars,” he said.<doc-sep>MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The guilty verdict in Mohamed Noor’s trial means something different to everyone rallying in downtown Minneapolis Wednesday afternoon. But the Justice for Justine leaders say all voices matter, and they want everyone who has been touched by police violence to have their voices heard. They say there a lot more in common with these cases than there is different. It’s been nearly two years and the memorial for Justine Ruszczyk Damond is still evolving. The Justice for Justine activist group is doing the same. Todd Schuman, a representative of the group, lives around the corner from where Justine was shot and killed. “For us this trial has always been bigger than just one person, one trial. This case has spoken to a broader problem of police violence and police training in our society that needs to be addressed,” he said. Schuman says the group wants to see policing culture change, for there to be less adversarial training, and for there to be transparent investigations. “When these instances do happen there needs to be someone held accountable for it, but it can’t just be the one officer, it has to be the entire system,” Schuman said. Justice for Justine now joins groups such as Justice 4 Jamar, Justice Occupation for Philando and Black Lives Matter Minnesota. They’re all groups that want fair and equal treatment for all people affected by police violence. Schuman says the group is comforted by the guilty verdict but knows that this is only the start of the work that lies ahead. “We’re proud to stand with them today and to continue to lend our voice to the movement that they’ve been working on for decades,” Schuman said. “We’ll be there to support those communities and to make sure that they receive the same measure of justice that Justine did in this case.”<doc-sep>
The former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor has been found guilty of third-degree murder for the shooting death of the Australian life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who approached his squad car minutes after calling 911 to report a possible rape behind her home. Mohamed Noor was convicted of third-degree murder as well as manslaughter for the July 2017 death of Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the US and Australia. He wasn’t convicted of the most serious charge of intentional second-degree murder. Jurors deliberated about five hours Monday and six on Tuesday before reaching a decision. Noor and his partner were rolling down the alley behind Damond’s home and checking out the 911 call just before the shooting. Noor testified that a loud bang on the squad car had scared his partner and that he had seen a woman raising her arm appear at his partner’s window. He said he had fired to protect his partner’s life. Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor walks to court. Photograph: Leila Navidi/AP Prosecutors attacked Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Damond’s hands. They also questioned whether the loud bang was real. Neither Noor nor his partner, Matthew Harrity, had mentioned it to investigators at the scene, with Harrity first mentioning it three days later in an interview with state investigators. Noor refused to talk to investigators. Justine Damond’s father said he was satisfied with the murder guilty verdict. “We are satisfied with the outcome,” John Ruszczyk, who lives in Sydney and attended the trial, told reporters in Minneapolis. The death of Damond, a life coach from Sydney who was engaged to be married a month after the shooting, sparked outrage in the US and Australia. It also cost Minneapolis’ police chief her job and contributed to the electoral defeat of the city’s mayor a few months later. Damond was white. Noor, 33, is a Somali American who became a police officer with a mid-career switch from jobs in the business world. He testified that he had become a police officer because he “wanted to serve”, and his hiring two years before the shooting was celebrated by Minneapolis leaders eager for a more diversified police force in a city with a large population of Somali immigrants. He was fired after being charged. Neither officer had a body camera running when Damond was shot, something Harrity blamed on what he called a vague policy that didn’t require it. Both men switched on their cameras in time to capture the aftermath, which included their attempts to save Damond with CPR. But Noor’s bullet hit her in a key abdominal artery, and a medical examiner testified she had lost so much blood so quickly that even faster medical care might not have saved her. Prosecutors sought to raise questions about the way police and state investigators handled the aftermath. They played excerpts from body cameras worn by responding officers that revealed many officers turning them on and off at will. One officer could be heard on his camera at one point telling Noor to “keep your mouth shut until you have to say anything to anybody”. They also highlighted the lack of forensic evidence proving that Damond touched the squad car. But the case still came down to jurors’ assessment of whether Noor was justified in shooting, and they had only the officers’ testimony for a picture of the key moments. During his closing argument on Monday, the defence attorney Thomas Plunkett told jurors all that mattered was the “precise moment” in which Noor fired his gun and that they needed to consider whether Noor had acted as a reasonable officer would act in the same circumstances. The prosecutor Amy Sweasy argued that the shooting was not justified. In his only public statement about the shooting, Noor testified that after he heard the loud noise, he saw fear in Harrity’s eyes and heard his partner yell, “Oh Jesus!” as he went for his weapon. Noor said Harrity had been having difficulty pulling his gun from his holster. Noor said he then had seen a woman in a pink shirt with blond hair appear at Harrity’s window and raise her right arm. Damond was dressed in a pink T-shirt with koalas on it, pyjama pants, no shoes and was carrying a glittery gold iPhone. “I fired one shot,” he said, later adding: “My intent was to stop the threat and save my partner’s life.” Harrity was pressed by prosecutors about why he didn’t fire.