US police officer facing 12 years prison for murdering Australian woman Justine Damond offers to spend just TWO WEEKS in jail per year instead
- U.S. police officer guilty of murder of Australian woman to be sentenced Friday
- Justine Damond, 40, was shot by Mohamed Noor in July 2017 after calling 911
- The 33-year-old Minneapolis police officer is facing a 12.5 year prison sentence
The former Minneapolis police officer who shot dead Australian life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond has proposed an unusual sentence involving one week stints in a prison workhouse to ‘honour’ her birthday and date of death.
Mohamed Noor, 33, faces a maximum 12.5-year prison sentence when he stands before Judge Kathryn Quantance in Minneapolis on Saturday after a jury convicted him in April of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Noor suggests in a pre-sentence filing to the judge he turn himself in to a low-security correctional facility workhouse for a week on the date of Ms Damond’s death and the date of Ms Damond’s birth for the duration of his probation.
He also asks for community service.
The former Minneapolis police officer who shot dead Australian life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond (pictured) has suggested an unusual sentence involving one week stints in jail
‘This sentence honours the memory of Ms Rusczcyk and allows Mr Noor to continue to serve the city,’ Noor’s lawyers, Thomas Plunkett and Peter Wold, wrote in their memorandum to the judge.
‘Just as importantly, it mandates that Mr Noor will continue to consider his action and the great loss they caused.’
If Judge Quantance does not agree Noor suggests he be sentenced to a prison term of one year and one day.
Prosecutors are yet to announce their suggested sentence.
Noor shot Ms Damond, 40, dead after she called 911 to report a possible rape in an alley behind her Minneapolis home just before midnight on July 15, 2017.
Ms Damond, originally from Sydney’s northern beaches, was barefoot and dressed in pyjama pants and a pink shirt adorned with ‘Koala Australia’ and a picture of a koala mum and baby when she approached Noor’s police vehicle.
Noor, sitting in the front passenger seat, shot across his partner Officer Matthew Harrity, who was in the front driver’s seat, and out the car window striking Ms Damond in the stomach.
Mohamed Noor (centre) , 33, faces a maximum 12.5-year prison sentence when he stands before Judge Kathryn Quantance in Minneapolis on Saturday
Noor and Officer Harrity testified they were startled by Ms Damond.
Ms Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk, and brother, Jason, filed a $US50 million lawsuit against Minneapolis and just day’s after the jury’s guilty verdicts the city agreed to pay $US20 million.
Noor’s filing also included 44 letters from family, friends and former colleagues talking up Noor’s contributions to the community.