The Latest: Lawyers disappointed for ex-cop sent to prison
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of a Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder (all times local):
2:25 p.m.
Lawyers for a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman say they're disappointed that a judge sentenced him to 12½ years in prison.
Attorneys Thomas Plunkett and Peter Wold say "the tragedy surrounding this case has only deepened."
Their statement didn't specifically say they plan to appeal. But they say they "have concerns with the process that will need to be addressed" and that they are "not done fighting for Mohamed Noor."
Noor now has 90 days to appeal his conviction for third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
After Noor was sentenced Friday, he was returned to Minnesota's maximum security prison at Oak Park Heights, where he has been held for his own safety since his conviction in April.
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11:30 a.m.
The fiance of an unarmed woman shot to death by a Minneapolis police officer says every time he sees the alley where she died walking toward the police car he relives the moment.
An emotional Don Damond made the comments at Friday's sentencing hearing for Mohamed Noor. Noor was convicted in April of murder and manslaughter in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. The judge sentenced Noor to 12½ years in prison.
Don Damond says his "heart aches every day" and when he sees where she died approaching the police car. "In my mind I begged you to turn around."
Justine's father, in a statement read in court, asked for Noor to receive the maximum sentence. He says her death has left him incomplete, "as if I have lost a limb or a leg."
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11:20 a.m.
A Minneapolis police officer convicted of shooting an unarmed woman to death as she walked toward his cruiser says he can't apologize enough "for taking the life of a perfect person."
Mohamed Noor was sentenced Friday to 12½ years in prison for the shooting.
An emotional Noor, his voice breaking, spoke in court about the shooting for the first time at his sentencing hearing.
He says he has lived with the shooting that he called a tragedy from the moment he pulled the trigger. He says he was horrified when he saw Justine Ruszczyk Damond's body on the ground.
Noor says "I knew in an instant I was wrong."
He says the shooting "leaves me numb, and feeling incredibly lonely. But none of that, none of those words capture what it truly feels like."
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11:10 a.m.
A Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder has been sentenced to a 12½-year prison term for the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman who had called 911.
A Minnesota jury convicted Mohamed Noor in April of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. Noor shot Damond when she approached his squad car in the alley behind her home.
Noor's lawyers had argued for a light sentence, saying sending him to prison would only compound the tragedy and leave him unable to make amends for killing Damond.
But Judge Kathryn Quaintance on Friday sentenced the 33-year-old Noor to the identical sentence recommended under state guidelines.
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12:05 a.m.
Attorneys for a Minneapolis police officer convicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman are asking a judge for a creative sentence that keeps him out of prison.
Mohamed Noor was found guilty in April of murder and manslaughter in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. He shot Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, when she approached his squad car just minutes after she had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home.
State guidelines call for 12½ years in prison on the murder charge, but Noor's attorneys argue that putting him in prison would make it impossible for him to make amends for Damond's death.
They've suggested Noor be given probation and be required to spend a week in jail each year on Damond's birthday and the anniversary of her death.
