Prosecutors want Noor trial jurors to hear earlier 911 call

Noor goes to court
Photo credit Entercom

Hennepin County prosecutors in the murder and manslaughter trial of a former MPD officer want jurors to hear a 911 call made before an Austrailian woman was shot in a south Minneapolis alley in 2017.

Trial for Mohammed Noor is scheduled to begin in Minneapolis on April 1 

He's charged in the shooting death of Justine Damond Ruszczyk, an Austrailian woman who called Minneapolis police on July 15th, 2017 about a possible assault near the home where she was staying.

When Ruszczyk left the house in south Minneapolis and approached an MPD squad car, Noor fired from the passenger's seat through the driver's side door, fatally wounding the woman.  

RELATED: Noor fired by MPD

According to documents from their pre-trial filings on Friday, prosecutors said they wanted jurors to hear a different 911 call that was a welfare check call of an elderly woman who appeared lost.  

Prosecutors say Noor and his partner never found that woman, showing a disregard for public safety.  

From the document, the conclusion by prosecutors:

The defendant's response to a similar 911 call in the same area as the shooting is admissible and relevant as intrinsic (essential) evidence. It shows that the defendant and his partner made no effort to help a woman or women who appeared to be in distress in the area. This demonstrates that the defendant acted recklessly when he decided to shoot the next, and first, person he encountered less than two hours later. The evidence completes and clarifies the story of the events leading up to Ms. Ruszczyk's death. It also tends to disprove the defendant's affirmative defense of reasonable use of force. Accordingly. the State respectfully requests the Court allow the State to introduce the evidence.

That earlier call came nearly two hours before Ruszczyk made her 911 call.

Defense attorneys say Noor acted reasonably when he shot Ruszczyk, whose attorneys argue the former officer acted reckless.