Mohamed Noor trial: Matthew Harrity takes stand in Justine Damond case in Minneapolis
Killer cop Mohamed Noor’s partner has revealed his version of events that led to the shooting death of unarmed Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
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Killer cop Mohamed Noor’s partner feared the pair was being ambushed and had a “weird feeling” seconds before the Minneapolis policeman shot dead unarmed Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a court has heard.
Officer Matthew Harrity’s testimony has become a focal point of the much watched trial, with the court hearing competing explanations in recent days.
Noor, 33, has never explained his actions to investigators and it is not known if he will take the stand at his murder trial or continue to exercise his right to silence.
Harrity told Henepin Local Court on Thursday local time of the moments leading up to Ms Damond’s death. The pair was responding to a 911 call made by Ms Damond, and he drove their squad car down a dark lane behind the middle-class Minneapolis home Ms Damond shared with her American fiance, Don Damond.
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Harrity said he had started to unholster his gun and was treating the call as he did every job, as potentially serious, “until it isn’t a threat anymore”.
“It’s kind of a scary way of thinking. It’s a safety measure. I just want to be ready,” Harrity told the court.
Ms Damond called police twice shortly before midnight on July 15, 2017, after hearing what sounded like a woman possibly being raped out the back of her home.
The uniformed Harrity, who returned to the force several months after the shooting of Ms Damond, was composed as he testified for close to five hours.
He said the pair used torches to try to see what was happening outside the car and pulled to a stop at the end of Ms Damond’s lane, finding no evidence of a woman in distress.
“At this time I hear something hit the car and I also hear some sort of murmur,” Harrity said.
He said the sound combined with a silhouette appearing at his window “scared me enough to make me want to pull my gun out.”
In cross examination, he was asked if he thought his life was at risk.
“You thought your life was on the line at the moment, sir?” defence lawyer Peter Wold said.
“Yes,” Harrity said.
Wold: “If that figure had a gun and had time to fire it, you wouldn’t have had time to, would you sir?”
“No, I don’t believe so,” Harrity replied.
“Mohamed Noor saw you — he saw a very scared partner, didn’t he?” Wold asked.
“I believe so,” Harrity said.
Noor, 33, has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges, with his lawyers arguing he fired because he believed he was in the middle of a “cop ambush”, in part because there had been spate of them in the US in the months before.
The defence is arguing Ms Damond slapped the back of the squad car, frightening the pair, however the trial has heard there is no evidence this happened and police appeared to develop the “slap” theory in the hours and days after Ms Damond was shot.
In court Harrity said he clearly recalled a “slap” like sound, spurring him to draw his gun.
“In this situation, with the thump and being startled, I went straight to, ‘This could be an ambush,’” Harrity said.
“My first thought is, I’m going to make sure whatever it was is not a threat to me.”
There was then a pop like sound, and Harrity looked over and realised Noor had fired across his body, out the driver side door.
Much has been made at the trial, now in its third week, of Noor and Harrity’s decision not to enable their body-worn video cameras during the call-out. Earlier testimony from other officers has shown that policy was not clear on when they should be used and there was confusion among even the highest ranks of the Minneapolis police department about when the cameras should have been used.
In court, Harrity said he was worried someone could “jump out” at him so didn’t “mess with” his body camera.
Both officers turned on their cameras after the shooting, capturing the last moments of Ms Damond’s life, which have repeatedly been played to the court.
The jury trial, before Judge Kathryn Quaintance, continues.
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