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

[WhiskeyGrinder]

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

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the third-degree murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, meaning the officer will likely see about eight years shaved off his prison sentence.

The decision stunningly rejected a February ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that upheld the murder conviction against Noor, who is serving a 12 1/2 year term for fatally shooting 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. Wednesday's decision vacates the murder conviction and sends Noor back to court to be resentenced on the manslaughter count. Legal scholars said Noor is likely to receive about four years in prison on the lower count since he has no criminal history.

Noor entered prison on May 2, 2019 and has since served 28 ½ months. Under state sentencing guidelines, prisoners must serve two thirds of their sentence before they are eligible for supervised release. If Noor is resentenced to four years, he could be released in as soon as 3 ½ months.

[orwell]

1. Nice to see that we got rid of "activist judges"... n/t

[Jim__]

2. Any opinions from DU lawyers?

I couldn't read the article in the Star Tribune, but found this at CBS News:

...

In the ruling, the Supreme Court said that for a third-degree murder charge, also known as "depraved-mind murder," the person's mental state must show a "generalized indifference to human life, which cannot exist when the defendant's conduct is directed with particularity at the person who is killed."

The justices said that the only reasonable inference that can be drawn in Noor's case is that his conduct was directed with particularity at Damond, "and the evidence is therefore insufficient to sustain his conviction ... for depraved-mind murder."

...

And this here:

609.195 MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE.

(a) Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years.

(b) Whoever, without intent to cause death, proximately causes the death of a human being by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in Schedule I or II, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years or to payment of a fine of not more than $40,000, or both.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Not A Legal Opinion...

...but shooting the wrong person seems pretty depraved.

[SoCalDavidS]

4. Not When You're A Cop In America nt

[StarfishSaver]

5. The right wing is going to go nuts about this

A brown officer (especially one named Mohamed Noor) killing an unarmed white woman is very different than a white officer killing an unarmed Black man.

This reduction in sentence is really going to piss them off.