A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during the botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead.
This was the second attempt to convict Brett Hankison on two charges alleging the shots he fired during the raid violated the civil rights of 26-year-old Taylor and her neighbors. A federal judge declared a mistrial last year when jurors failed to reach a decision on the charges.
During the retrial, Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend, was removed from the indictment, and not called to the stand, according to the Louisville Courier.
The 12-member jury cleared Hankison on a charge that he used excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors, but elected to continue to deliberate on the second charge.
Earlier in the night, jurors indicated to the judge that they were deadlocked on the charge of using excessive force on Taylor but chose to continue deliberating. The six man, six woman jury deliberated for more than 20 hours over three days.
Hankison was part of a 7 team unit that was executing a warrant on Taylor’s home. The media, politicians and activists consistently lied to the public about the event. While the warrant was signed as a “no knock” warrant, the team did not execute it as a “no knock” warrant and knocked and announced longer than other warrants. This was corroborated by witnesses at the scene.
Once officers entered the residence, they were met with Kenneth Walker in the hallway shooting at them. While the narrative was that Taylor was killed in her bed, she was standing next to Walker as he was shooting. Sgt. John Mattingly was shot during the exchange of gunfire.
Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows but didn’t hit anyone. Some shots flew into a next-door neighbor’s adjoining apartment.
Hankison testified that he believed there was a back-and-forth gun battle happening and his fellow officers were in danger, the Associated Press reported, quoting Hankison as saying it “sounded like a semiautomatic rifle making its way down the hallway and executing everybody in my (group).”
Despite a suspect shooting at police officers and a fellow officer being shot immediately upon entry, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the “use of deadly force was unlawful and put Ms. Taylor in harm’s way. This verdict is an important step toward accountability for the violation of Breonna Taylor’s civil rights, but justice for the loss of Ms. Taylor is a task that exceeds human capacity.”
The conviction against Hankison carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 12.
“This case is about Brett Hankison’s 10 shots that never hit anyone,” his attorney, Don Malarcik, said during his closing arguments, the Associated Press reported. “Brett Hankison is charged with violating the constitutional rights of people he never met and never knew existed.”
