Jurors hear 911 calls woman made before officer killed her
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, center, is accompanied by his attorneys Peter Wold, not pictured, and Thomas Plunkett, right, as he walks towards the Hennepin County Government Center for opening arguments of his trial Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn. Opening arguments scheduled to begin in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)
This courtroom sketch provided by Cedric Hohnstadt depicts the opening argument by Hennepin County prosecutor Patrick Lofton, standing, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, during the murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Mohamed Noor, second from right, who fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman, Justine Ruszczyk Damond, in July 2017, after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. Also depicted are Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance, left; Amy Sweasy, assistant Hennepin County attorney, bottom left; and Noor’s defense team of Peter Wold, right, and Thomas Plunkett. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP)
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, center, is accompanied by his attorneys Peter Wold, not pictured, and Thomas Plunkett, right, as he walks towards the Hennepin County Government Center for opening arguments of his trial Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis Opening arguments scheduled to begin in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)
CORRECTS THAT DON DAMOND WAS JUSTINE RUSZCZYK’S FIANCE, NOT HUSBAND AND THAT ZACH DAMOND IS NOT RUSZCZYK’S SON - Media members approach Don Damond, the fiance of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, second from right, and Zach Damond, right, Don Damond’s son, as they arrive for the opening arguments in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor at the Hennepin County Government Center for Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, back left, is shielded by his attorneys Peter Wold, left, and Thomas Plunkett, right, as he walks towards the Hennepin County Government Center for opening arguments of his trial Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)
FILE - In this July 23, 2018, file photo, posters of Justine Ruszczyk Damond are displayed at a news conference by attorneys for her family in Minneapolis. The judge overseeing the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor who fatally shot the unarmed Australian Ruszczyk Damond, is restricting media and public access. Thirty-three-year-old Noor goes on trial Monday in the July 2017 death of Ruszcyzyk Damond. Judge Kathryn Quaintance ruled Friday, March 29, 2019, that potentially graphic evidence would be seen only by the jury, not the public or media. One media attorney says her ruling could be unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Amy Forliti, File)
This courtroom sketch provided by Cedric Hohnstadt depicts the opening argument by defense attorney Peter Wold, right, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, during the murder trial of his client, former Minneapolis police Officer Mohamed Noor. Noor fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman, Justine Ruszczyk Damond, in July 2017, after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. Also depicted is Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP)
This courtroom sketch provided by Cedric Hohnstadt depicts prosecution witness Don Damond, Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s fiance, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, during the murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Mohamed Noor, who fatally shot an unarmed Ruszczyk Damond, in July 2017, after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP)
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Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, back left, is shielded by his attorneys Peter Wold, left, and Thomas Plunkett, right, as he walks towards the Hennepin County Government Center for opening arguments of his trial Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)
This courtroom sketch depicts jury selection Monday, April 1, 2019, in Minneapolis in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, second from right, who fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. Noor is charged in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond in a case that drew international attention, cost the police chief her job and forced major revisions to the Police Department’s policy on body cameras. (Cedric Hohnstadt via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jurors in on Wednesday heard the 911 calls a woman made to report a possible sexual assault before she was shot by Minneapolis officer now on trial for murder in her death.
The recordings of Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s voice drew an emotional response from her family members in the Hennepin County courtroom where Mohammed Noor is on trial.
Noor shot Damond in an alley behind her home in July 2017 when the unarmed woman, barefoot and wearing pajamas, approached the police SUV where he and his partner were seated. Noor’s attorneys say he was protecting his partner and himself from what he perceived to be a possible ambush.
Defense attorney Tom Plunkett said Noor and his partner, Matthew Harrity, would haven’t know they were responding to a possible sexual assault because they didn’t hear her 911 calls and were told by dispatchers only that there was a report of a woman screaming behind a building.
Noor, 33, is charged with murder and manslaughter. He fired a single shot at Damond, whose death rocked both countries and led to changes in the Minneapolis Police Department.
Attorneys for Noor, who was fired after being charged in the case and has never talked to investigators about what happened, argued that he used reasonable force to defend himself and his partner from a perceived threat. But prosecutors say there is no evidence he faced a threat that justified deadly force.
Prosecutors could introduce body camera video later Wednesday, allowing jurors to see footage that didn’t capture the shooting but shows attempts to save the woman.
Noor and Harrity did not have their body cameras turned on when Noor shot Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. The officers switched on the cameras after the shooting.
The judge hearing the trial initially ruled that the footage would be shown only to the jury, citing Damond’s privacy and the fact that the footage shows her partially unclothed as the officers try to resuscitate her. The judge relented Monday after a challenge led by media outlets.
In opening statements Tuesday, defense attorney Peter Wold said Noor was reacting to a loud noise and feared an ambush, calling the shooting “a perfect storm with tragic consequences.” The shooting came just two weeks after an officer in New York was ambushed and killed in a parked vehicle.
Noor and his partner were rolling down a dark alley in response to the 911 call from Damond when a bicyclist appeared in front of them and they heard “a bang,” Wold said.
“It is the next split second that this case is all about,” Wold said.
Prosecutor Patrick Lofton, in his opening remarks, questioned a statement from Harrity that he heard a thump right before the shooting. Lofton said Harrity never said anything at the scene about such a noise, instead mentioning it for the first time some days later in an interview with investigators.
Investigators found no forensic evidence to show that Damond had touched the squad car before she was shot, raising the possibility that she had not slapped or hit it upon approaching the officers, Lofton said.
Damond, 40, was a life coach who was engaged to be married in a month. Noor is a Somali American whose arrival on the force just a couple of years earlier had been trumpeted by city leaders working to diversify the police force.
Noor’s attorneys have not said whether he will testify. If he does, prosecutors may be able to introduce some evidence that the defense wanted to keep out of the state’s case, including that he has refused to talk to investigators. They also could bring up a 2015 psychological test that showed Noor disliked being around people and had difficulty confronting others. Despite that test, a psychiatrist found him fit to be a cadet officer.
The shooting raised questions about Noor’s training. The police chief defended Noor’s training, but the chief was forced to resign days later. The shooting also led to changes in the department’s policy on use of body cameras.
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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti
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Check out the AP’s complete coverage of Mohamed Noor’s trial.
