Mohamed Noor shot a resident who had called 911 seeking help. His conviction was seen as a rare example of an officer facing serious consequences for an unjustified shooting.
Mohamed Noor, a former Minneapolis police officer who in 2017 killed a woman who had called for help, was resentenced on Thursday to four years and nine months in prison for manslaughter, a reduction of more than seven years from his earlier sentence after the state’s highest court vacated his murder conviction.
When jurors convicted Mr. Noor of third-degree murder in Justine Ruszczyk’s death, it was held up as a rare example of an American police officer facing significant consequences for an unjustified shooting. A judge sentenced him to more than 12 years in prison.
But when the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out that murder conviction last month, while leaving in place a second-degree manslaughter conviction, the case underscored the challenges in prosecuting officers.
In announcing the new prison term for Mr. Noor — which was below the 10-year maximum but at the high end of state sentencing guidelines — Judge Kathryn L. Quaintance alluded to the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the continuing distrust between many residents and officers.
Since we last met, another person has died at the hands of the police,” said Judge Quaintance of State District Court. “The community exploded. Another police officer has been on trial for murder.”
Ms. Ruszczyk, 40, a yoga instructor who had moved to Minneapolis from Australia, called 911 twice on a summer night four years ago asking for help after hearing a strange noise behind her home. She thought it was possibly a woman screaming or being sexually assaulted, and she wanted the police to investigate.
Mr. Noor and his partner were sent to the area. Testimony at Mr. Noor’s trial suggested that Ms. Ruszczyk, who was unarmed and wearing pajamas, went outside in the darkened alley to talk to the officers, and startled them. Mr. Noor, seated in his police cruiser, fired a single, fatal shot into her chest.
Mr. Noor’s defense lawyers asked for a sentence of just under three and a half years, at the low end of state guidelines, and described how their client had joined the police force seeking to build trust with fellow Somali Americans in the city.
Prosecutors requested a term of almost five years, which the judge issued. Mr. Noor has already spent about two and a half years in custody and will receive credit for that time.
Source: nytimes
