Justine Damond’s killer Mohamed Noor gets 12 years prison sentence
The US cop who killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in jail as her family gave heartbreaking statements in court.
Killer cop Mohamed Noor has been sentenced to 150 months, or 12 and a half years jail, for the murder of Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
Judge Kathryn Quaintance said Noor would be eligible for release after serving two thirds of his jail term, which fell around the middle of Minnesota state guidelines.
Noor apologised to Damond’s loved ones before he was sentenced in a Minneapolis court, which also heard emotional victims impact statements from her fiance and Australian family members.
RELATED: NOOR MAKES BIZARRE SENTENCING REQUEST
Judge Quaintance said that although Noor was clearly extremely saddened that he had killed Damond, his testimony at trial showed that he still believed his actions were justified and that he “does not take personal responsibility”.
“He has not acknowledged that he could have handled the situation any other way,” she said.
Noor was sentenced after the Minneapolis court heard emotional victims impact statements from her American fiance, Don Damond, and Australian family members.
Mr Damond read a heartwrenching letter he had penned to his late fiance, talking of their dreams of building a family together. The pair had planned to marry in August 2017, just weeks after she was shot.
“Dear Justine, I miss you so much every day,” Mr Damond read from his letter.
“Every moment. I don’t understand how such a thing could happen to you and us.
“How can I provide the court the impact of a lost future and what would have potentially been 30 or 40 years filled with love, with family, with joy, with laughter?” Mr Damond read.
“I cannot, except to say: The day of July 15, 2017, was the last time I felt happiness, a sense of trust and that everything could be OK.”
Ms Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk said that he wanted Noor to serve a lengthy prison term in a letter to the court which was read by a family representative.
“I will never be whole. I ask that this convicted murderer be given the maximum sentence for the crime of killing my daughter,” he said.
Noor shot dead Damond shortly before midnight on a warm summer Saturday in a driveway near the home she shared with Mr Damond.
While Noor never disputed firing his service revolver and killing Damond as she approached the squad car being driven by his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, he claimed he was acting in self defence.
Ahead of sentencing, Noor apologised in court, and said he would like to speak in person to Mr Damond to make peace with him.
“I caused this tragedy and it is my burden,” he said.
Noor also described his horror as he realised what he had done after firing at Damond.
“Seeing her there, I knew I was wrong,” he said.
“Working to save her life and watching her life slip away is a feeling I can’t explain.”
Damond, 40, who was barefoot and in her pyjamas, had called 911 to help a woman she believed was being sexually assaulted in the alley behind her home on July 15, 2017.
She was carrying a sparkly mobile phone as she approached the pair’s police vehicle, the court hearing that she had just hung up the phone from Mr Damond and was going to ask the police - who had just driven past the couple’s home - for assistance.
Mr Damond spoke in court of his regret that he urged his fiance, a life coach and former vet, to call police when she heard noises coming through the couple’s window that sounded like a woman being attacked. Investigations after her death failed to uncover the source of the sounds.
“I’m sorry I told you to call police that night. I thought they would have helped you and helped that woman,” he said in the letter he had written her.
Noor’s lawyers Thomas Plunkett and Peter Wold argued at trial that the rookie officer believed they were in a “classic cop ambush” situation and heard a loud bang, which they claimed was Damond hitting the back of their squad car, before seeing a figure with a raised arm walking out of the darkness towards them.
Father of one Noor, 33, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and third degree manslaughter after a month long trial that ended on April 30.
Officer Harrity was among several Noor supporters in court for his sentencing, and Judge Quaintance said he had written a letter asking for a lesser sentence because of Noor’s service to the community.
“The law does not allow lenience if someone is a good person,” Judge Quaintance said.
“Good people sometimes do bad things.”
His crime carried a presumptive term of 12 to 15 years and maximum of 25, according to Minnesota law, however his lawyers this week applied for a far lighter sentence, in pre-sentencing applications to the court.
Noor’s legal team requested probation, with Noor to turn himself in at a minimum security workhouse for a week each a year during the terms of his probation, on the anniversaries of Damond’s birth and death.
“This sentence honours the memory of Ms Rusczcyk and allows Mr Noor to continue to serve the city,” his lawyers wrote.
“Just as importantly, it mandates that Mr Noor will continue to consider his action and the great loss they caused.”
Alternatively, they suggested a sentence of a year and a day.
During the trial, Noor’s defence attempted several times to shift the responsibility for Damond’s death to her and also towards Officer Harrity, who had yelled words similar to “Oh Jesus” and looked terrified in the split seconds before the shooting.
Noor was acquitted of second degree murder, the jury finding he acted without an intention to kill and without pre meditation. This means prosecutors proved to the jury of 10 men and two women that he committed an eminently dangerous and reckless act that showed “a depraved mind” and caused the death of Damond.
He has appealed his conviction.
Damond’s Australian family sued the city of Minneapolis over her death, settling the case shortly after Noor’s trial for a record $29 million.
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