In a March 2020 police attack that left her dead, a previous Kentucky police officer was found guilty on Friday of breaching Breonna Taylor’s civil rights.
After a partial ruling on a separate matter of violating Taylor’s companions ‘ right, a jury returned the ruling late on Friday in the prosecution of former Louisville Metro police inspector Brett Hankison. Hankison has had his second federal trial heard by the judge in the last two weeks, hearing testimony from more than a few witnesses.
Federal prosecutors intended to persuade the jury that Hankison had obliterated the police department’s regulations and had put many people at risk inside the house advanced.
However, Hankison’s protection claimed that the original detective had reason to believe that he was saving the lives of other officers at the time. His lawyers also introduced an 11th-hour protection during closing arguments that sparked a contentious debate among the judges as to whether Taylor was still intact when Hankison fired his sessions.
Despite the defence, the judge — made up of five white men, one Black male and six white people — returned the innocent ruling after three days of discussion.
After the ruling, people of Taylor’s home collapsed into grief and embraced soon after they left the court. The judge declined to take Hankison into captivity despite their requests, but the prosecution made a second arrest.
The killing of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, sparked decades of presentations, prompted policy across the country and led to a$ 12 million civil lawsuit with her family.
Breonna Taylor killing: What happened that night
Taylor, an emergency room specialist, was inside her room when she was tragically shot by police officers around 12: 40 a. m. on March 13, 2020 during a sabotaged cocaine research.
The officers were attempting to execute a seek warrant, according to the report that they repeatedly knocked and announced themselves before their forced entry. Neither Taylor nor her sweetheart, Kenneth Walker, who was in the house at the time, were the target of the investigation, and no medication were found in the home. Additionally, Walker and a number of relatives claim they did not hear the soldiers formally state their intentions.
As officials made access, Walker fired one shot from a gun that struck an agent, then-Sgt. John Mattingly, in the foot. Eventually, Walker asserted that he thought the officers were burglars.
At the time of the attack, Hankison, one of three officers who had discharged their weapons that evening, fired ten rounds into Taylor’s house through a window and covered crystal door. Hankison had been with Louisville Metro Police for about 17 years.
A man, a pregnant woman, and a 5-year-old child were among those who entered the adjacent apartment after three rounds. Taylor or any of the neighbors were neither struck by any of the rounds that Hankson fired.
Taylor and three of the neighbors who live next to the apartment complex were charged with violating Hankison’s civil rights. In November of that year, the jury’s initial trial on those charges ended in a mistrial.
On March 12, Hankison will be sentenced. He could spend the entire life in prison.
Amid deliberations, jury asks: Was Breonna Taylor a’ living victim’?
The jury questioned the judge and attorneys about whether they “needed to know if Breonna Taylor was a living victim when Hankison fired ( his weapon ) about five hours into the course of discussion.
According to the prosecution and defense, Hankison is accused of depriving Taylor of her rights after the jury’s recommendations.
Attorney Don Malarcik argued in the defense’s closing argument that no evidence was presented that Taylor was alive when Hankison fired his “buzzed over” shots at Taylor. In his rebuttal, prosecutor Michael Songer argued that Taylor was still alive when Hankison fired after being struck by other officers ‘ gunfire, and that he had used “your common sense.”
Lawyers agreed to advise the jurors to rely on their own judgment when responding to their questions.
Following 10 further hours of deliberations, the jury sent to a note to the judge Friday afternoon, saying they believed they were unable to come to a unanimous verdict. Jurors were urged to reach a verdict by Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, who brought an Allen charge to the courtroom.
The jury returned a note informing them that they” continue to disagree on one count” after further five hours of discussion. After bringing them back inside, Jennings explained that they had the option of bringing the case before the bench to decide whether to return a partial verdict on one count, which involved either Taylor or the three neighbors, Cody Etherton, Chelsey Napper, and their young child, or to continue deliberating on the other.
Around 7 p.m., they returned a not-guilty verdict on the neighbor-related charges to the courtroom, and they entered a guilty verdict on the Taylor charge shortly after that.
What other law enforcement officials have been charged with the Breonna Taylor case?
In connection with the raid on Taylor’s apartment, Hankison was one of four people facing federal charges. The others are former officers Joshua Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett and Kyle Meany.
In connection with creating and approving a false search warrant, Meany and Jaynes are facing federal civil rights and obstruction charges.
One count of Goodlett and Jaynes conspired to obstruct the search warrant for Taylor’s home and conceal their deeds was brought against them. In August 2022, she pleaded guilty to that charge. At Jaynes and Meany’s trial, she is anticipated to be a prominent witness.
