Hennepin County prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Mohammed Noor murder trial completed jury selection Monday morning, with opening statements scheduled to begin Tuesday at 9:00 in downtown Minneapolis.
Noor is the former Minneapolis police officer on trial for murder and manslaughter in the July 15, 2017 shooting death of an unarmed woman.
Justine Ruszczyk Damon, a 40-year-old native of Australia, was shot and killed in the alleyway behind the south Minneapolis home where she was living.
The jury that was picked over the last week includes ten men and two women, of which six are people of color, along with two men and two women who are serving as alternates.
The six people of color who were selected will be in the jury box in the Hennepin County government center on Tuesday morning.
Defense attorneys claim Noor was acting in self defense when he fired his weapon from the police cruiser passenger seat and through the driver's side door, killing Damon with the one shot.
Noor was fired by the Minneapolis police department shortly after he was charged in March of 2018.
While announcing the filing of charges, Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman said there was no threat, and that Noor abused his authority as an officer to use deadly force.
The charges against Noor are second and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Judge Catherine Quaintance has not ruled on a request by media organizations to make public police body camera football and autopsy photos, claiming they are too grusome to be shown during the trial.