Mohamed Noor, former police officer that shot an Australian woman was convicted for murder and manslaughter.

Mohamed Noor walks into the courthouse. Reuters. 

Mohamed Noor, a former police officer in Minnesota, has been convicted for 3rd degree murder and manslaughter for the shooting and killing of an Australian woman. Reuters. Justine Ruszczyk Damond had called 911 to report a suspected rape. As she approached the police vehicle Noor fired a shot across his partner, killing Damond. Noor claimed he was acting in self defense because he heard a loud noise. The case drew international attention and was condemned by the government of Australia. Noor faces up to 12 and 1/2 years for the murder charge and 4 years for the manslaughter charge. He was acquitted on the more serious 2nd degree murder charge. This is the first time a police officer has been convicted of murder in Minnesota. 

My Comment:

When I first heard of this case it was clear to me that it was one of the few police shootings that were completely unjustified. Most cases are legally and morally justified, a few are morally justified but not legally and some fail on both counts. This was one of the clear cases where the cop was in the wrong. He had zero reason to do what he did. 

Noor violated not only police procedure but also the most basic rules of gun safety. You never shoot at something without knowing what your target is and what is behind it. Shooting randomly into the dark is not something that is acceptable for anyone, let alone a cop. This incident is a pretty good example why as Noor's actions caused the death of a totally innocent person. 

He also put his partner at risk as well. Reaching over his partner to shoot Damond put him at risk. Not only could he have shot him, he probably damaged his hearing firing in a enclosed car like that. Once again, Noor failed to follow basic gun safety rules. 

The big question in the trial was weather Noor was trying to kill someone when he fired his gun. It is the difference between 2nd degree murder and 3rd degree "depraved heart" murder. I am guessing the jury believed that Noor wasn't trying to kill someone when he shot but that he knew or should have known that firing at a loud noise was likely to end with someone dying. 

Without following the trial closely, I can't be sure if the jury made the right descion. With my understanding of the Minnesota law, it seems like the correct descion. The 2nd degree murder charge seemed hard to prove but I think the case that this was 3rd degree murder was very strong. 

It seems pretty clear that Noor was completely incompetent and had no business being a cop. There has been a lot of noise about Noor being a diversity hire who wasn't qualified to be a cop. He was Minnesota's first Somali cop and he failed miserably. Those things may not be related but it's pretty clear that he shouldn't have been a cop and if his superiors realized that he wasn't going to work out but failed to fire them, then they have a lot of blame here.