(MN) Supreme Court overturns third-degree murder conviction against Mohamed Noor

[question everything]

Cross posting from LBN https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142800413

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the third-degree murder conviction against former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. The decision stunningly rejected a February ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that upheld the count against Noor, who is serving 12 1/2 years in prison for fatally shooting Justine Ruszczyk Damond in 2017. Jurors convicted Noor in 2019 of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for shooting Damond while responding to her 911 call about a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home.

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Plunkett asked the state Supreme Court to make sense of language in the state's third-degree murder statute, which has perplexed attorneys for years and came into play earlier this year when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was tried for the unrelated killing of George Floyd. Jurors convicted Chauvin on April 20 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Plunkett asked the state Supreme Court to address two questions: Can a person be convicted of third-degree murder if the deadly act is aimed at a single person, and can the reckless nature of an act alone establish the necessary depraved mind-set?

According to state statute, third-degree murder applies when a defendant kills someone "by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind." The word "others" has led many attorneys to interpret that the statute applies when multiple people are endangered and someone is killed. Veteran attorneys have said it would apply, for instance, to someone shooting indiscriminately into a moving train. The "depraved mind" element has been difficult to define, some attorneys have said.


Read more: https://www.startribune.com/supreme-court-overturns-third-degree-murder-conviction-against-ex-minneapolis-police-officer-mohamed/600097386/

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Full headline:

Supreme Court overturns third-degree murder conviction against ex-Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor

This is a breaking news, no further details are available as of... what next

[Ocelot II]

1. Most likely Noor will be re-sentenced on the manslaughter charge

and will be credited with time already served.