Jury convicts former Kentucky officer of using excessive force against Breonna Taylor during deadly attack

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force against Breonna Taylor during a botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead.

The 12-person jury returned its verdict late at night after acquitting Brett Hankison earlier in the evening of charges that he used excessive force against Taylor’s neighbors.

It was the first conviction of a Louisville police officer involved in the deadly raid.

Some jurors were in tears as the verdict was read around 9:30 p.m. They had previously indicated to the judge in two separate messages that they were deadlocked on the charge of using excessive force against Taylor, but opted to deliberate further. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for more than 20 hours over three days.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, celebrated the verdict with friends outside the federal courthouse, saying, “It took a lot of time.” It took a lot of patience. It was difficult. The jurors took the time to truly understand that Breonna deserved justice.”

Hankison fired ten shots at Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid, but did not hit anyone. Some shots flew into a neighbor’s adjacent apartment.

The death of the 26-year-old black woman and the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked nationwide protests against racial injustice.

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., called the verdict “a long-awaited moment of responsibility.”

“While it cannot return Breonna to her family, it represents a crucial step in the pursuit of justice and a reminder that no one should be above the law,” King said in a social media post Friday evening.

A separate jury deadlocked on the federal charges against Hankison last year, and he was acquitted in 2022 on state charges of wanton endangerment.

The conviction against Hankison carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He will be sentenced on March 12 by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings.

Hankison, 48, has argued that throughout the trial he acted to protect his fellow officers after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at them as they broke down Taylor’s door with a battering ram.

This jury sent a note to the judge on Thursday asking whether they needed to know whether Taylor was alive when Hankison fired his shots.

That was a point of contention during closing arguments, when Hankison’s attorney Don Malarcik told the jury that prosecutors had to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Taylor was alive” when Hankison shot.

After the jury sent the question, Jennings urged them to deliberate further.

Walker shot and wounded one of the officers. Hankison testified that when Walker fired, he walked away, turned the corner of the apartment and shot at Taylor’s glass door and a window.

Meanwhile, officers at the door returned fire from Walker, striking and killing Taylor, who was in a hallway.

Hankison’s attorneys argued during closing statements Wednesday that Hankison acted appropriately “in a very tense, very chaotic environment” that lasted about 12 seconds. They emphasized that Hankison’s shots did not hit anyone.

Hankison was one of them four officers charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 with violating Taylor’s civil rights. Hankison’s sentence is the second conviction in these cases. The first was a plea deal from a former officer who was not at the raid and became a cooperating witness in another case.

Malarcik, Hankison’s attorney, spoke at length during closing arguments about the role of Taylor’s friend, who fired the shot that killed former Sgt. John Mattingly at the door. He said Walker never tried to come to the door or turn on the lights while police were knocking, but instead armed himself and hid in the dark.

“Brett Hankison was just a foot away from being shot by Kenneth Walker,” Malarcik said.

Prosecutors say Hankison acted recklesslyfiring ten shots at doors and a window where he could see no target.

They said in closing that Hankison “violated one of the most basic rules of deadly force: If they can’t see the person they’re shooting at, they can’t pull the trigger.”

Neither of the officers who shot Taylor — Mattingly and former Detective Myles Cosgrove — were charged in Taylor’s death. Federal and state prosecutors have said the officers were justified in returning fire because Taylor’s boyfriend shot at them first.