Mohamed Noor, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted for fatally shooting Justine Ruszczyk Damond in 2017 in the alley behind her home, is scheduled to be released from incarceration next week.
Noor, 36, received a new sentence in October 2021 of nearly five years in prison, and that set Monday as his release date, instead of several years later under a previous sentence vacated by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance imposed Noor's ultimate prison sentence of four years and nine months for second-degree manslaughter after the high court overturned his third-degree murder conviction for killing Damond, who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home in southwest Minneapolis.
The court's decision vacated Noor's initial prison sentence of 12 ½ years.
After leaving custody, Noor will serve the balance of his sentence on supervised release, according to state Department of Corrections records. His sentence runs until Jan. 24, 2024.
Noor originally began serving his sentence at Oak Park Heights prison but was transferred to a facility in North Dakota in July 2019 for his own safety, authorities said.
State officials have not said where Noor was being held until his release Monday. Corrections department records say he is not at one of its facilities.
"For safety reasons, we aren't able to provide more detail," department spokesman Nicholas Kimball said Friday.
"Everyone who is released from prison to supervised release goes through a release planning process that includes setting of various conditions, some of which are standard and potentially some that are specific to the individual."
Defendants in Minnesota are routinely moved to supervised release after serving two-thirds of their prison sentences. Under his first sentence, Noor would have had to serve an additional more than five years before becoming eligible for supervised release.
Jurors convicted Noor in April 2019 of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His attorneys appealed the murder count, which was upheld in February 2021 by the state Court of Appeals. They then asked the Supreme Court to review that decision.
The high court agreed with Noor's attorneys that because of how the statute is written, the murder count cannot apply when a defendant's actions are directed at a specific person. Justices vacated Noor's conviction and sentence and sent his case back to district court for resentencing.
