As of 3:36 this afternoon we received notice that the jury has reached a verdict in the case against Mohamed Noor. Having returned so soon — following ten hours of deliberation — in a case with three charges, I thought the jury was likely to have arrived at a verdict of acquittal. On the contrary, however, while Noor was acquitted of the second-degree murder charge, the jury convicted Noor of the third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Noor was taken into custody and removed from the courtroom in handcuffs following the rendition of the verdict. The Star Tribune’s story is here, MPR’s here.
I think the jury was highly sympathetic to Noor, but the facts of the case represent a citizen’s nightmare that never received anything like a genuine explanation (other than Harrity’s “we were spooked”) at trial. I will have some concluding thoughts and reflections on the case in the next 24 hours or so, but let us take in the news of the day with the sobriety it deserves.
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