Case against ex-officer involved in fatal Breonna Taylor raid ends in mistrial
On Thursday (Nov. 16), a Louisville judge declared a mistrial against Brett Hankison, one of the ex-officers in a 2020 raid that ended in Breonna Taylor‘s death. The U.S. Department of Justice previously indicted him on civil rights violations. As WLKY News reported, the jurors, who had been deliberating since Monday (Nov. 13), informed the judge that they were unable to make a unanimous verdict.
This marked the second time that Hankison avoided a conviction for charges related to the raid. In 2022, he was acquitted on three counts of wanton endangerment, which was handed down by a state grand jury months after the deadly incident took place.
As previously reported by REVOLT, Hankison, along with Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, forcibly entered into Taylor’s apartment on a narcotics investigation. Thinking that they were being robbed, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired at the plainclothes officers, striking Mattingly in the leg.
The authorities then returned 32 shots in response; six of those bullets found Taylor, one of which proved fatal. While he did not hit the 26-year-old emergency room technician, Hankison was charged with two counts of deprivation of rights for firing 10 rounds through Taylor’s bedroom window and sliding glass door, both of which were covered with blinds and a blackout curtain. Multiple bullets also entered a neighbor’s apartment.
“Just couldn’t get to that unanimous verdict. Of course the family is disappointed, this is not the outcome they wanted,” said Taylor family attorney Lonita Baker in a press conference. “We are here for the long game. Just as the prosecutors intend to retry Brett Hankison, we intend to be here when that retrial takes place… [Taylor’s mother] Ms. Palmer was disappointed, but still encouraged. A mistrial is not an acquittal, and so we live another day to fight for justice for Breonna.”
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