MINNEAPOLIS (CN) – Graphic footage to be shown to jurors in the upcoming trial of a former Minnesota police officer charged with killing an Australian woman will not be played for the public and the media, a state judge ruled Friday.
Details of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor’s trial, which begins Monday, were laid out to lawyers and reporters in a pretrial hearing Friday morning.
Justine Ruszczyk Damond was fatally shot on July 15, 2017, when she approached Noor’s squad car after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home 13 minutes before her death.
Noor, 33, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges of second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder, claiming self-defense.
At the time of her death, Damond, 40, was working as a life coach and was recently engaged to a Minnesotan. She had been living in the U.S. for more than two years.
In recent weeks, Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance has decided on tight restrictions for the public and media to access to case, including banning cellphones, laptops and any recording devices on the 19th floor of the Minneapolis courtroom where the trial will take place. A second security check will also be performed before anyone can enter the courtroom.
The restrictions, as Quaintance wrote in an order, are an attempt to “safeguard the parties’ right to fair public proceedings” in a highly publicized case.
During Friday’s hearing, Quaintance also addressed footage of the incident and said there are “privacy issues involved and it’s inflammatory. It’s emotional and shows the deceased in compromising situations.”
She said the body camera video recorded by Noor and his partner will be played at the back of the courtroom so that only the judge, jury and attorneys can see it. The judge decided on the same arrangement for video from two other officers and photos provided by the medical examiner’s office.
Quaintance also ruled that any identifying information about the jurors will be kept confidential and they would be referred to by numbers.
The hearing began at 9 a.m. and was held inside a small courtroom with 30 seats — with eight seats being reserved for media, 11 seats for the public and eight seats for Damond’s and Noor’s family members.
Noor entered the courtroom in a dark navy suit with a calm demeanor and sat between his two attorneys, Thomas Plunkett and Peter Wold with Wold Morrison.
Other unresolved issues that were addressed during the hearing included the prosecution’s request to vet the defense’s expert witness, Emanuel Kapelsohn, a use-of-force and force science expert, and the defense’s vetting of prosecutors’ experts, Lieutenant Derrick Hacker of the nearby Crystal Police Department and Timothy Longo, a 25-year law enforcement veteran known for his expertise in police ethics and professional standards.
Hennepin County Assistant Attorney Amy Sweasy grilled Kapelsohn on his lack of experience working as a full-time police officer and his lack of formal education in the medical field, stating that she was concerned with his “application of improper standards.”
Jury selection begins on Monday and the court has approved the 17-page questionnaire for prospective jurors to complete.
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