After Charges Filed, MPD Conducting Internal Probe Into Damond Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An internal probe by the Minneapolis Police Department into the shooting of Justine Damond is now in motion, according to a police representative.
At the request of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, the department held off on the internal investigation until the decision on criminal charges was made.
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor walked out of jail Wednesday night after posting bond.
It came a day after he was charged in the July 2017 death of Damond, an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her south Minneapolis home.
Bail was set at $400,000.
Now that Mohamed Noor is out of jail, the work begins for both the defense and the prosecution. And even the county's top attorney admits he has a daunting task ahead of him.
This is thought to be only the second time an on-duty officer has been charged in a shooting in Minnesota.
The only other was the recent case of former Saint Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who shot and killed cafeteria manager Philando Castille.
Yanez was found not guilty in his trial.
After looking at grand jury testimony, Defense Attorney Joe Friedberg -- who is not associated with the case -- says Noor does have one major detail on his side: Noor's partner also reached for his weapon and said he "spooked" when Damond approached their squad car.
Historically, the numbers are also stacked against the prosecution.
A study done by Bowling Green State University tracked 12,000 officer-involved shootings between 2005 and mid-2017. Eighty-two officers were charged with murder or manslaughter. Of those, only 29 were convicted and the majority of those convictions were for lesser manslaughter charges.
Noor will be back in front of a judge here in Minneapolis on May 8. Before being released from jail, Noor had to surrender his passport and any guns he had. He also was ordered not to contact his former partner, Matthew Harrity.
Harrity remains on active duty at the Minneapolis Police Department.
