The mental state of Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor when he shot dead Australian yoga instructor Justine Damond-Ruszczyk and a "ludicrous" statement by his partner have emerged as potential keys to the upcoming murder trial.
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Prosecutors and Noor's lawyers filed multiple duelling court documents to the Minnesota District Court on Friday ahead of Noor's April murder trial.
Noor, a Somali-American, requested potential jurors be shown a video developed to address potential jurors' unconscious biases in relation to race, sex, cultural, and religious differences.
"This case of course contains a number of these issues," Noor's lawyers wrote.
Noor was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department last March after he was charged with the second and third-degree murder of Ms Damond-Ruszczyk.
He faces up to 40 years' jail if convicted.
"The key issue in this trial is the defendant's mental state and intent at the time of the shooting," prosecutors wrote in one of their filings.
"The defendant will claim that he used force because he believed that he and his partner's lives were in danger."
Noor allegedly shot Ms Damond-Ruszczyk dead as she approached his police vehicle in an alley near her home just before midnight on July 15, 2017.
The 40-year-old, originally from Sydney, had called 911 after hearing a woman's screams near the alley.
Noor and his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, drove up the alley and were sitting in their squad car when unarmed Ms Damond-Ruszczyk, dressed in her pyjamas, approached.
Noor is accused of shooting across Officer Harrity and out the window, striking the Australian in the stomach.
Prosecutors believe if Noor elects not to testify at the trial his lawyers will "attempt to prove the defendant's alleged fear primarily through the testimony of his partner, Officer Harrity".
"Even if the defendant does testify, the defendant's affirmative defence of reasonable force is going to centre around Officer Harrity, specifically Officer Harrity's ludicrous statement that being approached by someone in the lowest crime area of the city was somehow the scariest moment of his life," prosecutors wrote.
Noor's lawyers have requested prosecutors be blocked from mentioning during the trial a traffic stop of a male driver where Noor pulled his gun from his holster.
The incident occurred two months before Ms Damond-Ruszczyk was shot but his lawyers say it is not relevant, confusing and when prosecutors interviewed the driver to prepare for the Noor case "the driver notes that it was defendant's partner who was yelling".
Prosecutors argue the traffic stop will help prove the defendant's "escalating force, his intent and state of mind at the time of the crime, and that he committed the crime without justifiable accident or mistake".
"Simply put, the likelihood that, within two months, the defendant twice made an innocent mistake in assessing the need to confront an unarmed citizen with a loaded handgun is low," prosecutors wrote.
Australian Associated Press