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The shooting of Justine Ruszczyk and trial of former officer Mohamed Noor
Jon Collins and Riham Feshir
St. Paul

Citing moon phases, Noor's defense team requests access to squad car in Rusczcyk case

Mohamed Noor walks with his attorneys.
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor walks outside of the Hennepin County Government Center with his attorneys Peter Wold, left, and Thomas Plunkett, right, in Minneapolis in May.
Evan Frost | MPR News file

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Attorneys for former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor on Wednesday asked a judge to give them access to a squad car to conduct an independent examination — citing the phases of the moon.

Noor is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk near midnight on July 15, 2017.

The motion alleges that the state "failed to preserve the squad car," where Noor was a passenger when he shot Ruszczyk, also known with the surname Damond, through the open driver's side window. Reached by phone, Noor's attorney Peter Wold declined to comment except to say that the squad car wasn't preserved.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office and Minneapolis City Attorney's Office both declined to comment.

Noor's attorneys state in the motion that investigators "used more than one squad car for testing and analysis."

Justine Damond
Justine Ruszczyk, who is also known with the surname Damond.
Courtesy Stephen Govel

They asked for access to a squad car to "independently gather information, make measurements and allow testing and analysis."

Noor's attorneys are asking the judge to order that they be given access to a squad car on Dec. 28, when they say the moon will be in the same phase as it was on the night Ruszczyk was killed. Wold declined to comment about testing or the moon phase.

Noor's next scheduled court date is March 1. His jury trial is scheduled for April.