Los Angeles: A legal stoush has broken out in the US over whether police video of Australian yoga instructor Justine Ruszczyk Damond naked and "gasping for breath in the last moments of her life" should be shown to the media and members of the public.

Attendees at the Justine Damond memorial, held at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis on August 11, 2017. Credit:Paul McGeough

Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance ruled last week the police body camera video should only be viewed by the jury, lawyers and herself during Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor's murder trial.

A coalition of media organisations, led by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, challenged the judge's ruling at a hearing on Friday.

Jury selection for Noor's trial in Minneapolis began on Monday and will stretch into next week.