MINNEAPOLIS _ The family of a Minneapolis woman fatally shot and killed a year ago filed suit Monday against the police officer who fired the shot and his partner that night, alleging that the two conspired to keep their body-worn cameras from collecting potentially incriminating evidence.
The civil rights complaint was filed in federal court in Minneapolis on behalf of Justine Damond's father, John Ruszczyk.
The suit, which refers to her as Justine Maia Ruszczyk, seeks more than $50 million in damages.
Robert Bennett, the family's attorney, said he would have more to say Monday afternoon during a news conference.
Officer Mohamed Noor was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 15, 2017, death of Damond, 40, who was shot in the alley behind her home after calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault.
Noor's attorneys say he will plead not guilty at his criminal trial and will argue that he used "reasonable force" that night. He was terminated after charges were filed.
Also named in the suit with Noor and the police leadership at the time is the police officer's partner that night, Matthew Harrity. The suit alleges that he carried out a "conspiracy to cover up the true facts surrounding the killing of Justine."
The conspiracy, the suit spells out, is seen in the officers' response. The two officers "failed to properly activate" their body-worn cameras "at several mandatory points in their call response."
The cameras would have contained "evidence that would incriminate Noor, evidence that would expose the false statements of Harrity, and evidence that would show the public and the jurors in both the criminal and civil trials the truth of the circumstances of Justine's death," the suit continued.
The court action further alleges that the officers' failure to activate their cameras was "commonplace to do so" in the department, "knowing that evidence needed to convict a police officer would be lost. ... Noor and Harrity did so to protect themselves _ to insulate any lies they might later tell."
Noor has not given an interview to investigators since the shooting.
Harrity, who has returned to duty on the force, has told investigators that he heard a loud noise and feared for his life in the moment leading up to Damond's shooting behind the home she had shared since March 2015 with fiance Don Damond, who is not a plaintiff in this suit. The two were to be wed in Hawaii in August 2017.
Harrity "perceived his life was in danger, reached for his gun, unholstered it and held it to his rib cage while pointing it downward," the charges filed against Noor read.
Along with Noor and Harrity, the defendants include Janee Harteau, police chief at the time of the shooting; Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, assistant chief when Damond was shot; and the city of Minneapolis.
A police spokesman said Monday that City Attorney Susan Segal would be responding publicly to the suit on behalf of the department and its leadership.
On Sunday night, Segal said in an email that "any matter involving a death is tragic. I cannot comment on the complaint in this case until I have received a copy of it."
