Former Louisville officer Brett Hankinson guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A jury on Friday found former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights during a botched 2020 police raid in a retrial of the case. federal case against him.

Earlier in the evening, a jury acquitted Hankison of violating the civil rights of three of Taylor’s neighbors who lived in an adjacent apartment that also came under fire during the raid. However, the jury deadlocked on another count specifically involving Taylor and sent a note to the judge saying they were unable to reach a verdict. The judge ordered the jury to continue deliberations, and hours later the jury returned a guilty verdict, according to Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS.

Taylor was fatally shot during the March 2020 raid. Three officers fired dozens of shots after her boyfriend fired one at them, wounding one of the officers.

Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s sliding glass door and window, which were covered with blinds and curtains, prosecutors said. Several shells hit the apartment of Taylor’s neighbor, where three people were present at the time. None of the 10 shots hit anyone.

Prosecutors argued Hankison’s use of force was unjustified, put people in danger and violated the civil rights of Taylor and her three neighbors. The indictment alleged that Hankison deprived Taylor of her right to freedom from unreasonable arrest and deprived her neighbors of her right to freedom from incarceration without due process of law.

Several witnesses, including Louisville’s current police chief, testified during the trial that the former officer violated Louisville police policy requiring officers to identify a target before shooting, according to the Associated Press.

During the trial, the defense argued that Hankison joined the poorly planned raid and opened fire believing someone was approaching other officers, the AP reported.

If convicted, the charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Initial test ended in litigation last year when jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision after days of deliberation.

Plainclothes officers were serving a search warrant to find Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, who they said was a drug dealer, when they broke down the door to her apartment. He was not home, but her current boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, thought someone was breaking into the house and fired one shot from his pistol, hitting one of the officers in the leg. The three officers returned fire, firing 32 bullets into the apartment.

The original indictment alleged that Hankison also violated Walker’s civil rights, although Walker was cleared of the charge at the start of the retrial.

The retrial was Hankison’s third trial following an initial mistrial and a state trial in 2022 in which he was acquitted of multiple charges of wanton endangerment.

As in previous trials, Hankison testified during the retrial, becoming emotional at times during the two days of testimony, according to WHATABC affiliate in Louisville covering the courtroom case.

Hankison told jurors he was “trying to stay alive, (And) trying to keep my partners alive,” WHAS reported.

Hankison insisted that “the only person my bullet could have hit was the shooter,” saying there was “zero risk” of hitting anyone outside the threat, according to Hankison. WHAT.

That night was the first time he fired a gun in nearly 20 years as a police officer, according to the AP.

Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for violating department procedures when he “wantonly and blindly” opened fire into an apartment.

The other two officers involved in the raid have not been charged. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron called Taylor’s death a “tragedy” but said the two officers’ use of force was justified after they were fired upon by Walker.