Justine Ruszczyk’s killer, Mohamed Noor, wins bail

The US policeman who shot the Australian woman dead has walked free from jail despite a judge setting bail at $US400,000.

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. Picture: Reuters.

The US policeman who shot dead Australian Justine Ruszczyk walked free from jail despite a judge setting bail at $US400,000 ($516,000) amid prosecution claims that he may seek to escape the country if granted release.

In his first appearance in a Minneapolis court since being charged with murder, former ­policeman Mohamed Noor stood silently in a crowded courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit.

The 33-year-old was told bail was conditional upon giving up his passport to prevent any ­attempt to flee the country. He was also ordered to surrender any guns and avoid contact with his police partner at the shooting, Matthew Harrity.

A Muslim woman who attended the court said the system had failed the former officer because of his religion and ethnicity.

“Mohamed Noor is an immigrant African-American Muslim,” she said.

“He’s got so many strikes. He killed a white woman, that’s why he is there today. The system failed Mohamed Noor.”

During his appearance Mr Noor did not speak except to spell his name and confirm his address.

Mr Noor was this week ­arrested and charged with third-­degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over the killing of the 40-year-old Ms Ruszczyk. If convicted he could face up to 25 years in jail.

The Australian was shot by the policeman at point-blank range in her pyjamas after she ­approached his police car, having called 911 to report a suspected sexual assault in her back alleyway on July 15 last year.

Hennepin County Assistant Attorney Amy Sweasy argued for a high bail amount because she said Mr Noor posed “a risk of non-appearance”.

She said investigators feared he had fled the country in the months after Ms Ruszczyk’s death.

“There were concerns in the fall that Mr Noor had left the country or the jurisdiction,” she said, adding that she had spoken to a witness who “offered to hide him out”.

But the claims were contested by Mr Noor’s lawyer, Thomas Plunkett. He said that the allegations were based on “bad information” and that his client, who came to the US from Somalia when he was five, would never seek to escape the US.

Justine Ruszczyk. Picture: Stephen Govel.

“He has no connection to any other place,” Mr Plunkett said. “Your Honour, Mr Noor is an American.”

He said the setting of bail at such a large amount was “unfair” and “punitive”.

Judge Kathryn Quaintance said: “Officer Noor, like any other person charged with a crime in America, is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If he has a trial it will be in a court of law, not in the media or in the streets.”

Mr Harrity told investigators that Mr Noor shot Ms Ruszczyk after they were startled by a loud noise immediately before she ­appeared next to the car.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who chose to lay the charges, this week released a “second-by-second” sequence of events that led to Ms Ruszczyk’s death. He said the evidence showed “clearly” that Mr Noor “recklessly and intentionally” shot Ms Ruszczyk.

“There is no evidence that officer Noor encountered a threat,­ ­appreciated a threat, investigated a threat and confirmed a threat that justified his decision to use deadly force,” he said.

“Instead officer Noor recklessly and intentionally fired his handgun from the passenger seat in disregard for human life.”

Mr Noor’s next court appearance will be in May.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia.