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Mohammed Noor Guilty of Murder, Manslaughter in Death of Justine Damond
To the surprise of no one who followed the case, former Minneapolis police officer Mohammed Noor was found guilty yesterday in the killing of Justine Damond. Recall that in July 2017, Noor was one of two police officers to respond to Damond’s 911 call regarding a possible sexual assault in progress near her home. After the police car passed down the alley behind her home, Damond approached the officers as they sat in their car. Noor, startled by Damond’s sudden appearance, shot her.
As I wrote at the time on PJ Media, I could not imagine any jury entertaining the suggestion that Noor had a reasonable fear for his safety, the standard governing police use of deadly force established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor. As I anticipated, Noor’s defense relied on the testimony of a police use-of-force “expert” who tried to persuade the jury that Noor’s fatal response to Damond’s surprise approach was reasonable. A quote from my PJ Media piece:
Assuming that Noor does not present a defense that claims the shooting was accidental, his only hope to avoid a conviction is to find a police use-of-force expert who can persuade the jury that, from Noor’s perspective, Damond’s sudden appearance at the side of the police car, taken together with the loud noise reported by Officer Harrity, constituted a deadly threat. This is laughable, but one can find so-called “experts” to testify to almost anything, and we can expect this sort of testimony in the case should Noor not accept a plea deal and proceed to trial.
Lou Raguse, a reporter for KARE in Minneapolis, interviewed one of the jurors, who told him he (or she, as the case may be; the juror’s identity is protected) was unpersuaded by the testimony offered by Noor and the defense’s expert. “I felt like that case was lost (for the defense),” said the juror, “between the two experts witnesses on the prosecution side and Noor and [defense expert] Emanuel Kapelsohn.”
For anyone curious about the intricacies of the case, Powerline’s Scott Johnson, an attorney himself, attended court through the trial and posted thoughtful commentary on each day’s developments. The collected posts can be viewed here.
Now convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter, Noor will be sentenced on June 7.
Published in General
Question about how the law works in this case. Why is it both murder and man slaughter? If it was just one act shouldn’t it be one or the other?
I am happy to see justice done.
I was curious about that myself. You wouldn’t have such a verdict in California, where I work. In California, murder cases are presented to jurors, who, if the elements are proved, must decide if the defendant committed first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter. In any event, Noor will be sentenced for both charges, though the terms for third-degree murder and manslaughter will run concurrently.
I cannot understand why an officer, or officers would sit in their car in the immediate search area. It’s a good way to lose your own life, trapped in your own car.
It’s not enough for the Minneapolis PD to treat this as an anomaly. Their training division needs to offer in-service training to ensure that area searches are conducted on foot, and if officers are on a perimeter in a search area they take a position outside their vehicles.
Just my opinion based upon how I was trained, and my experiences on the street.
I agree completely. The call was poorly handled even before the disastrous outcome. I addressed these issues here:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/cant-defend-minneapolis-police-officer-mohamed-noor/
I totally Agree!
I’m glad to see you two talking about the tactical aspect. But it’s worse.
This whole pathetic affair started with granting Precious Officer Noor license to use force. (I’m going to pointedly not comment on what happens when a political statement meets reality.) It runs through the part where one-and-a-half dullards get ambushed by Sheila in a nightie, and ends with one more clash between modernity and left-witted children playing Pretend Garden. (Sheila and modernity lost, the verdict notwithstanding.)
Smells like there’s something strategic wrong with MPD.
From what I understand, these are different crimes under MN law, with different elements. The manslaughter crime is not merely a lesser included offense of the murder charge. Each element of each crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Still, from what I have read, the sentences will likely be served concurrently, as the crimes arose out of a single unbroken sequence of events.
I am sad that another police officer has been found guilty of wrong doing. Yes, it is tragic that an innocent civilian died & if a policeman breaks the law they deserve punishment.
However I am also willing to believe that a startled police officer can make a deadly mistake. And I know that training for police officers is very poor in many if not most jurisdictions. As long as pay for law enforcement is low they cannot hire the best and the brightest to protect and serve.
Here are the relevant secions of the statutes (courtesy Andrew Branca for Legalinsurrection.com)
(N.B. statute language includes other things; I just included the relevant portions. Full statute at links.)
If I had shot everyone who startled me in my career, the death toll would be in the dozens.
I want the police go get home safe. I really do.
However, there is a power differential. They have a duty to do better than the average citizen.
Everyone wants that. The question is “how much?” How important is it that they do so – is it more important than say, actively saving a life? This verdict at least tells us that its not so important they get to kill with carelessness and impunity.
Officer Noor went home that night.
There are questions about if Mr Noor was put through the same level of scrutiny that other officers were as part of his training. The MPD was determined to get an Islamic Police Officer…were corners cut? I don’t know, but a thorough review of this should include asking and answering that question to ensure that…IF, and its a big if, a policy to push Mr Noor though training happened that it doesn’t happen again with any officer.
So will Noor go to jail? How long before he is released in some sort of time served / parole deal? He is the pride of the Progressive government and a race of people. He can’t be jailed for long.
It’s not quite as bad as you describe, but it’s getting there, especially in some cities. Much of my my writing involves trying to explain controversial police shootings to people who have been influenced by inaccurate reporting. But in this case, there just was no reasonable explanation. The guilty verdict was the proper result.
These questions will be addressed in the civil suit, should it ever get that far. I’m guessing the city will want to avoid such discovery and settle.
And just like that:
http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-agrees-to-pay-20-million-in-fatal-police-shooting-of-justine-ruszczyk-damond/509438812/