US policeman jailed over killing of Australian woman

A Minnesota judge has sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor to 12.5 years in prison for the July 2017 killing of Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman.

Defense attorneys had asked for a lenient sentence for Noor, a 33-year-old Somali-American, saying no one would benefit from a long sentence, adding it would rob the defendant of the opportunity to repay his debt to society by doing community work.

Prosecutors, however, argued: "The law is not concerned necessarily with what's good for the community. The court must give a sentence proportional in severity to the crime committed."

During his trial, Noor's attorneys argued that the defendant was a good man who had mistakenly assumed that Damond posed a threat to his partner.

'Good people sometimes do bad things'

Judge Kathryn Quaintance said: "The act may have been based on a miscalculation, but it was an intentional act. Good people sometimes do bad things."  

Noor was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder on April 30. Minnesota sentencing guidelines stipulate between 120-180 months in prison, with a presumptive sentence of 150 months, for second-degree manslaughter; and 150 months for third-degree murder.

The judge did not impose a sentence for the third-degree murder charge.

'I caused this tragedy'

Noor, who spoke publicly about the incident for the first time, begged forgiveness from the victim's family.

Addressing the court, he said: "I have lived with this and will continue to live with this. I caused this tragedy and it is my burden. I wish though that I could relieve the burden others feel from the loss that I caused. I cannot, and that is a troubling reality for me."

International outcry

The case caused outcry in the US and Australia, with many asking how an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a potential rape could end up dead at the hands of police.

Noor argued that he feared an ambush in the alley where Damond was killed. He said he shot through the window of his cruiser after he heard a loud bang and saw the woman standing at his partner's window. 

During his trial, jurors were not convinced that Noor had acted according to department guidelines.

With the high number of acquittals for white police officers involved in the killing of unarmed blacks in the US, some, however, have questioned whether race was a determining factor in Noor's conviction — He being a black officer and Damond a white woman.

js/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)

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