Sgt. Shannon Barnette, who managed the scene after the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, took center stage in testimony Tuesday at the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. Here are some of the day's noteworthy developments:
- Barnette testified that she didn't tell a grand jury about her continued "casual" conversations with officer Matthew Harrity, Noor's partner and a key witness.
- According to a transcript of an interview with the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Barnette recalled Harrity telling her that Justine Damond had a "stunned look on her face and then he heard a noise and then Noor shot her."
- But Barnette said Tuesday that Harrity did not tell her about a slap on the squad car, that it was something other officers had surmised in trying to figure out what startled Harrity and Noor.
- Deputy Chief Kathy Waite, Minneapolis' Fifth Precinct inspector at the time, testified that she was frustrated with the initial investigative efforts by the BCA in the hours after Damond was shot.
- Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance reversed part of a previous ruling and said prosecutors can ask about Noor's apparent refusal to take some police calls while he was a field training officer because defense attorneys had asked Waite about Noor's performance as an officer.
