MINNEAPOLIS — Jury selection in the Mohamed Noor trial was slogging along Friday, and the is jury will not get seated Friday, which pushes the selection to a second week.
Mohamed Noor is charged with murder in the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Noor shot the dual Australian-U.S. citizen when she approached his squad car minutes after calling 911 to report a possible assault near her home.
Attorney Thomas Plunkett continued the group questioning. Plunkett started focusing on experiences jurors they've had with stressful situations.
The prosecution objected when Plunkett asked whether any of them read articles about cases of officers being ambushed. When the jury left, the judge asked him to instead ask about articles of "officer safety."
The tone of questioning changed when Plunkett discussed what they will be seeing during the trial, which includes a body camera video of Justine Damond dying. Several jurors indicated it would be extremely difficult to watch that. However, none of them said the graphic images would make them unable to be objective in the trial.
Plunkett shifted to questions about handling stressful situations. The defense asked whether some conflicts couldn't be de-escalated.
When the subject changed to guns, two of the 24 potential jurors said they carry a gun with them for personal safety reasons. They have conceal and carry licenses and have been trained. Some others have hunting guns. No one was entirely opposed to the idea of guns.
The defense also went over topics of who thinks police are more credible than other witnesses, and who in their jobs work with a partner. Officer Matthew Harrity, Noor's partner, will be critical witness in the trial.