Shock ruling for Justine Damond’s killer
The killer of Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond is set to leave prison early after a US court overturned his third-degree murder conviction.
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The killer of Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond is set to leave prison early after a US court overturned his third-degree murder conviction.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Mohamed Noor was not guilty of murder due to a technicality in the language of law.
The decision leaves Noor to serve out the conviction of second-degree manslaughter, which would likely shave eight years off his 12 ½-year sentence.
Having already served 28 months, he could be eligible for release by the end of this year under the presumptive four-year sentence for manslaughter.
The Minnesota Supreme Court unanimous ruling from Chief Justice Lorie Gildea found the language in the third-degree murder statute states that it applies when a defendant kills someone “by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind.”
Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Ruszczyk Damond in 2019, a dual US Australian citizen who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home on July 15, 2017.
Noor, 33, testified that he opened fire because he feared he and his partner were being ambushed.
Ms Damond, 40, a yoga instructor from Sydney, was engaged and was due to marry her partner Don Damond a month after the shooting.
The death drew international criticism and Australia’s prime minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, said it was “inexplicable”.
The case sparked protests where thousands of supporters rallied in the streets of Minnesota, calling for “Justice for Justine”.
Noor was sentenced to jail on the murder count but was not sentenced for manslaughter.
The ruling means his murder conviction is overturned and the case will now go back to the district court, where he will be sentenced on the manslaughter count.
In the ruling, the Supreme Court 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.”
The justices said that in Noor’s case, his conduct was directed with particularity at Damond, “and the evidence is therefore insufficient to sustain his conviction ... for depraved-mind murder.”
The Supreme Court ruling could give former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin grounds to contest his own third-degree murder conviction in George Floyd’s death in May 2020.
The ruling in Noor’s case was also closely watched for its possible impact on three other former Minneapolis officers awaiting trial in Floyd’s death.
In 2019 after Noor was sentenced to jail, the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay a record $US20 million to the Damond family in a settlement just three days after a jury convicted him.
Her family have previously held vigils for her on Sydney’s northern beaches at Freshwater.
Noor and his partner Matthew Harrity were driving down the alley in a police SUV when they say they were startled by a loud noise impacting their car.
Noor testified that he fired to protect them from a perceived threat.
Damond was wearing her pyjamas at the time. It was a Saturday night and her fiance was in Las Vegas for business that weekend.
Jurors took almost 12 hours to reach a verdict after hearing three weeks of testimony.
At 10.04pm, she texted her fiancé, saying: “Night!”
“Night!! XO!!” Mr Damond replied.
The pair then traded emojis including an angel, upside down smiley face and kissing faces.
At 11.24pm, Mr Damond looked at his phone during a meeting in a Vegas club and saw he had missed two phonecalls from Ms Damond, prompting him to text: “Hi baby, everything ok? Oily (their code for Oh I love You)”.
Five minutes later, Ms Damond called her fiancé tell him she was worried about what she could hear outside.
“I stepped out from this meeting we were having and wanted to find out what was going on. She expressed that she was hearing some noises,” Mr Damond said.
Ms Damond said: “It’s really weird but it sounds like she could be enjoying it, but it also sounds like she could be distressed.”
Mr Damond said the pair spoke for close to a minute, before he urged her to call the police for help.
“I asked her to call the police at that time, just to have them come take a look at it,” he said.
“I said I think you should call police, and I think you should stay put.”
Five minutes later, Ms Damond texted: “Called 911 they on the way.”
“Ok, keep me updated,” Mr Damond said at 11.31pm.
Six minutes later, as she was waiting for officers to arrive, the pair spoke for another minute and 41 seconds, at the end of which she said “Ok, the police are here”.
They didn’t speak again, and the transcript showed in court revealed Mr Damond repeatedly messaging and calling to find out what was going one, saying: “Hello?” in one message, and “Let me know what is happening”, in another.
It wasn’t until about 2am that Mr Damond said he received another call, from a Minneapolis police officer telling him Ms Damond had been killed.
Mr Damond again broke down in court as he recalled the conversation, him expressing his disbelief and shock while walking around the casino foyer trying to get strong enough reception to hear what the officer was saying.
“I didn’t believe it, I was like what do mean? What are you talking about,” Mr Damond said.
JUSTINE’S FINAL TEXTS
This is a transcript from Justine’s gold iPhone, detailing the last interaction she had with fiance Don Damond on the night she was killed on July 15, 2017. All times in are in Minneapolis local time.
10.04pm: Text from Justine to Don “Night!”
10.04.33: Text from Don to Justine “Night!! XO!!”
10.04: Justine sends two texts with emojis of a face blowing kisses,
an upside down smile and angels
10.06: Text from Justine to Don “I love you”.
11.23: Two missed calls from Justine to Don.
11.24.02: Text from Don to Justine: “Hi baby, everything ok? OILY
(their code for Oh I love You)”.
11.24.25: Call from Justine to Don for 58 seconds.
11.29.01: Text from Justine to Don “Called 911 they on the way”.
11.31.20: Text from Don to Justine “Ok, keep me updated”.
11.37.29: Call from Justine to Don for one minute, 41 seconds which
she ended saying, “Ok, the police are here”.
11.47pm: Text from Don to Justine “Let me know what is happening”.
1.01am: Don calls Justine from a colleague’s phone several times to
check on her and tell her his phone is temporarily out of charge.
Leaves a message when she doesn’t answer.
1.53: Don calls Justine from his own phone, now recharged, leaves a
message when she doesn’t answer.
2.26: Text from Don to Justine “Hello?”
3.22: Call from Don to Justine, no answer.
Originally published as Shock ruling for Justine Damond’s killer
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