Murder verdict in death of Australian woman Justine Damond overturned



Murder verdict in death of Australian woman Justine Damond overturned

By Matthew Knott

Minneapolis: Minnesota’s highest court has overturned the murder conviction of a former police officer who fatally shot Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond in Minneapolis in 2017.

In a shock decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court said the murder charge for Mohamed Noor did not fit the circumstances in the case.

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor.

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor.Credit:AP

Noor was the first police officer in the state’s history to be found guilty of murder for killing a civilian.

His conviction was followed by a 22-and-half year sentence for Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty of murdering black man George Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck for almost 10 minutes.

After a trial that captivated the midwestern state in 2019, Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for shooting Damond, a dual US-Australian citizen, after she called police to report a possible sexual assault behind her home.

He was sentenced to 12½ years on the murder count but was not sentenced for manslaughter.

Justine Damond died after an encounter with Minneapolis police outside her home.

Justine Damond died after an encounter with Minneapolis police outside her home.Credit:AP

The case of the black policeman convicted of murder in the death of a white woman stood in contrast to the initial treatment of Chauvin after the death of Floyd, when public pressure forced the Minneapolis police department to act on the white officer.

The ruling now means Noor’s murder conviction is overturned and the case will go back to the district court where he will be sentenced on the manslaughter count.



In their ruling, the justices said that for a third-degree murder charge, also known as “depraved-mind murder”, the person’s mental state must show a “generalised indifference to human life, which cannot exist when the defendant’s conduct is directed with particularity at the person who is killed”.

“We may very well agree that Noor’s decision to shoot a deadly weapon simply because he was startled was disproportionate and unreasonable,” the justices wrote in their opinion.

“Noor’s conduct is especially troubling given the trust that citizens should be able to place in our peace officers. But the tragic circumstances of this case do not change the fact that Noor’s conduct was directed with particularity toward Ruszczyk,” they said.

Caitlinrose Fisher, one of the lawyers who worked on Noor’s appeal, said she was grateful the court clarified what constitutes third-degree murder, and she hoped that would lead to greater equity and consistency in charging decisions.

“We’ve said from the beginning that this was a tragedy, but it wasn’t a murder, and now the Supreme Court agrees and recognises that,” she said.

- with AP



The article has been amended to clarify the issue around “directed with particularity”- the judges’ own writing was added.

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