Officer to plead not guilty to murder of Justine Damond

A former US police officer who shot Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond will plead not guilty to murder charges and claim self-defence, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Mohamed Noor shot and killed the former Sydney resident last July in the mid-western US city of Minneapolis after she called police to report a possible rape.

Noor has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, which respectively carry sentences of up to 25 years and up to 10 years in prison.

In a court filing Wednesday, Noor’s attorneys disclosed that he would plead not guilty and claim self-defence and the use of reasonable force. A court hearing is scheduled for May 8.

Authorities allege Noor shot Ms Ruszczyk Damond in the abdomen from the passenger seat of a police cruiser as she approached the driver’s side window when the car neared the end of a dark alley behind her home.

The two officers in the car had been startled moments before by a sudden sound.

Ms Ruszczyk Damond, who had twice called police with concerns of a potential sexual assault in the alley, died at the scene.

When charging Noor in March, prosecutor Mike Freeman said: “there is no evidence that Officer Noor encountered a threat… that justified his decision to use deadly force”.

Noor’s attorney Tom Plunkett released a statement at the time claiming his client had “acted as he has been trained and consistent with established departmental policy”.

The shooting provoked outrage in the United States and in Ms Ruszczyk Damond’s native Sydney where her family last year farewelled the 40-year-old at waterside vigil at Freshwater Beach.

The Aussie had moved to the US to marry her American fiancée, Don Damond, whose name she had already legally adopted.