Jury acquitted former Kentucky officer of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor’s neighbors during a deadly raid

A federal jury on Friday acquitted a former Kentucky police officer of violating Kentucky’s civil rights Breona Taylor‘s neighbors in a deadly 2020 raid, but remained in custody following a second federal indictment against Brett Hankison.

The jury decided to continue deliberating on the charges Friday evening, the Associated Press reported, which alleges Hankison violated Taylor’s civil rights. The jury indicated in two separate messages to the judge that they are deadlocked on that point, according to the Associated Press.

This is the second attempt to convict Hankison on two charges, alleging that the shots he fired during the raid violated the civil rights of 26-year-old Taylor and her neighbors. Last year, a federal judge arrived declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a decision on charges against the former Louisville police detective.

During the retrial, prosecutors narrowed the scope; in the indictment, Hankison faced two civil rights charges alleging the former officer intentionally used unconstitutional excessive force while acting in his official capacity. According to the first count, the officer deprived Taylor and her boyfriend of their constitutional rights by firing shots through a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain. In the retrial, Kenneth Walker, the friend, was removed from the indictment and not called to trial. reported the Louisville Courier.

The second count, which remained the same, said Hankison deprived three of Taylor’s neighbors of their constitutional rights by shooting through a sliding glass door covered with blinds and a curtain.

Both allegations alleged Hankison used a dangerous weapon and his behavior showed that he intended to kill that night.

Seven officers entered Taylor’s apartment after midnight on March 13, 2020, using a no-knock warrant as part of a drug investigation. She slept with Walker, who heard the noise and fired a shot from a handgun at what he believed were intruders. Police opened fire and Taylor, an EMT, was shot and killed. Police found no narcotics in the apartment.

Hankison fired 10 bullets — which investigators said did not hit anyone — through a window and a sliding glass door into Taylor’s apartment. Hankison said he thought he did the right thing to protect his fellow officers.

On Monday, he testified that he believed there was a back-and-forth gun battle and that his fellow officers were in danger, the Associated Press reported, quoting Hankison as saying it “sounded like a semi-automatic rifle moving into a makes his way through the corridor and carries out executions. everyone in my (group).”

Hankison and his lawyers used this defense during his first federal trial and a state trial in 2022, for which he was acquitted of all charges after a jury deliberated for three hours.

“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 accused of violating the constitutional rights of people he never met and never knew existed.”

The Ministry of Justice filed charges of civil rights violations four former Louisville police officers, including Hankison. The charges against three of the other officers stemmed from alleged forgery of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant that authorized the early morning raid on Taylor’s apartment, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment weeks afterward threw out a federal judge felony charges against two of the former officers, Louisville Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany.

If convicted of the federal charges, Hankison faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

In response to the Taylor case, Kentucky passed a law in 2021, this limits the extent to which police can use a no-knock warrant.

Robert Legare

contributed to this report.