Judge rules there is probable cause to charge Mohamed Noor with third-degree murder

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Minneapolis prosecutors have won an early victory against the former police officer charged with murdering the Australian life coach Justine Damond Ruszczyk in a dark alley.

Why? The question that still hangs over Justine Damond's killing Read more

A district court judge, Kathryn Quaintance, on Thursday dismissed an attempt by former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor’s legal team to have the case tossed out before next year’s trial.

The judge ruled that there was probable cause to charge Noor with one count of murder in the third degree and manslaughter in the second degree.

“Defendant either saw and fired at what he believed was a person, or he fired into the darkness at an unknown target,” Quaintance told the court. “Under either scenario, the jury could find that his act was dangerous to human beings and was performed without regard for human life.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A photo of Justine Damond Ruszczyk at her memorial service. Photograph: Aaron Lavinsky/AP

Damond Ruszczyk, 40, formerly of Sydney, called police just before midnight on 15 July last year after hearing what she feared was a woman being raped near her Minneapolis home.

When Damond Ruszczyk approached Noor’s patrol car in an alley behind her house he shot across his partner and fatally struck the Australian in the stomach.

A trial date has been set for 1 April in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday in the United States, a court ruled that the lawsuit filed by the victim’s family has been put on hold while the criminal case against the officer proceeds.

US magistrate judge Tony Leung announced that the $50m civil rights lawsuit filed by the father of Damond Ruszczyk will be delayed until the state’s case against Noor is resolved through a dismissal, an acquittal or a sentencing.