Mpls. cop won't face Ruszczyk shooting questions in unrelated suit
A federal judge has ruled Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor can't be questioned about shooting Justine Ruszczyk during his deposition in an unrelated lawsuit.
The lawsuit, which names Noor and two other Minneapolis police officers as defendants, stems from an incident that occurred about two months before Noor shot Ruszczyk, who was known professionally as Justine Damond.
Minneapolis resident Teresa Graham claims the officers violated her constitutional rights on May 25, 2017 when they took her to Fairview Southdale Medical Center against her will for a mental health evaluation.
She was released from the hospital after less than two hours.
Magistrate Judge Steven Rau ruled that the Ruszczyk shooting wasn't relevant to the case and could be "unduly prejudicial." He also noted that it was Sgt. Shannon Barnette, not Noor, who made the decision to place an emergency mental health hold on Graham.
"Mr. Noor was a bit player in this incident," Rau said, issuing his ruling from the bench.
Graham's lawyer Jordan Kushner said the ruling is not a major setback for his case and he expects to schedule a deposition with Noor in the coming weeks.
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