The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the sentence and ordered that he be sentenced for secondary murder.
Mary Moriarty, the former chief Hennepin County public defender, did not believe the decision would affect Chavez’s case because her secondary death sentence had not been changed. According to state sentencing guidelines, Chav was sentenced to death only on the most serious charge of secondary murder.
Noor was sentenced in June 2019 to 120 years in prison.
The 33-year-old Somali American was charged with third-degree murder in April of that year and murder in the death of Rassik, who died in 2017. He moved with his fiance from his native Australia to Minneapolis.
CNN is seeking comments from Mohammed Noor and the Russick family of lawyers and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
During Noor’s interrogation, he argued that “mysterious storm” events led him to a shooting on the night of July 15, 2017, when he called 911 in an alley behind a Masnapolis house.
Noor testified that he feared for the life of his partner as Russick approached their group car into a dark, empty alley. But Hennepin County prosecutors said Noor exaggerated and failed to properly assess the situation before the shooting in Rassick’s abdomen.
Russick’s death has attracted widespread attention in the United States and his hometown of Australia.
It is a growing story and will be updated.
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