Posted on Oct 31, 2023
Officer from Breonna Taylor raid faces another criminal trial, this time in federal court
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Former Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison is facing another criminal trial over his role in the deadly 2020 raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. Jury selection in the federal case against Hankison starts Monday.
Hankison was one of seven officers present at the middle-of-the-night raid, in which officers shot and killed the 26-year-old emergency room technician. One of the officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, was shot in the leg while trying to serve the search warrant. During the exchange of gunfire between officers and Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, Hankison shot through a covered window and sliding glass door. Some of his bullets landed in an occupied neighboring apartment.
LMPD fired him in June 2020, in the midst of widespread protests over Taylor’s killing and a lack of police accountability.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Hankison with two counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law. Prosecutors say Hankison fired blindly into the apartment, using deadly force when “there was no longer a lawful objective.”
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights with the DOJ, said when announcing the charges that Hankison wrongfully endangered people’s lives.
Hankison was one of seven officers present at the middle-of-the-night raid, in which officers shot and killed the 26-year-old emergency room technician. One of the officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, was shot in the leg while trying to serve the search warrant. During the exchange of gunfire between officers and Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, Hankison shot through a covered window and sliding glass door. Some of his bullets landed in an occupied neighboring apartment.
LMPD fired him in June 2020, in the midst of widespread protests over Taylor’s killing and a lack of police accountability.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Hankison with two counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law. Prosecutors say Hankison fired blindly into the apartment, using deadly force when “there was no longer a lawful objective.”
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights with the DOJ, said when announcing the charges that Hankison wrongfully endangered people’s lives.
Officer from Breonna Taylor raid faces another criminal trial, this time in federal court
Posted from lpm.org
Louisville
Police
Law Enforcement
Murder
Crime
Posted 7 mo ago
Responses: 4
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."What comes next?
Jury selection is set to begin Monday morning. Prospective jurors for the Hankison case will fill out questionnaires, the questions of which are sealed. The point of this stage is to weed out people with biases or conflicts of interest that would impair their ability to make a fair decision of guilt or innocence.
U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, who will preside over the trial, issued a set of rules last week for how the trial would proceed.
During jury selection, the judge and attorneys will ask potential jurors questions and decide who to send home. No one will be allowed in the courtroom gallery for that, including members of the public, media and friends and family members of the victims or the defendant.
Anyone will be allowed to observe the trial itself, with limited seating in the courtroom and two overflow courtrooms with live video and audio feeds. Members of the media and the public will not be allowed to record the trial or take photos.
There’s currently no timeline for how long jury selection will take or when the actual trial will begin.
Criminal trials in federal court are similar to state courts: They start with opening statements from prosecutors and the accused, then move on to witnesses and evidence. The trial will end with closing arguments from attorneys, followed by jury deliberation.
Jennings recently approved a request from Hankison’s attorneys that jurors be allowed to travel to Taylor’s apartment on Springfield Drive and view the “exterior portions” of the building. Jurors took a similar trip in the 2022 state case against Hankison.
Jennings has said during recent hearings that the trial could last two to four weeks."
..."What comes next?
Jury selection is set to begin Monday morning. Prospective jurors for the Hankison case will fill out questionnaires, the questions of which are sealed. The point of this stage is to weed out people with biases or conflicts of interest that would impair their ability to make a fair decision of guilt or innocence.
U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, who will preside over the trial, issued a set of rules last week for how the trial would proceed.
During jury selection, the judge and attorneys will ask potential jurors questions and decide who to send home. No one will be allowed in the courtroom gallery for that, including members of the public, media and friends and family members of the victims or the defendant.
Anyone will be allowed to observe the trial itself, with limited seating in the courtroom and two overflow courtrooms with live video and audio feeds. Members of the media and the public will not be allowed to record the trial or take photos.
There’s currently no timeline for how long jury selection will take or when the actual trial will begin.
Criminal trials in federal court are similar to state courts: They start with opening statements from prosecutors and the accused, then move on to witnesses and evidence. The trial will end with closing arguments from attorneys, followed by jury deliberation.
Jennings recently approved a request from Hankison’s attorneys that jurors be allowed to travel to Taylor’s apartment on Springfield Drive and view the “exterior portions” of the building. Jurors took a similar trip in the 2022 state case against Hankison.
Jennings has said during recent hearings that the trial could last two to four weeks."
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Words of wisdom from a LEO friend of mine... "You have 20 good officers and 5 bad officers. If the 20 good ones never speak up about the bad ones, what you have in reality is 25 bad officers".
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
Posted 2 h ago
Sometimes I wonder why anyone goes into police work. Not to say everything police do is right...
--- Except you're literally trying to find a way to excuse the abusive behavior of police. You know why people become cops 99.9% of the time? They love the power the badge gives them. They love the fact that they won't be held accountable. That they have qualified immunity. And the ones who do have good intentions - they find out quickly they can't change anything.
Posted 2 h ago
Sometimes I wonder why anyone goes into police work. Not to say everything police do is right...
--- Except you're literally trying to find a way to excuse the abusive behavior of police. You know why people become cops 99.9% of the time? They love the power the badge gives them. They love the fact that they won't be held accountable. That they have qualified immunity. And the ones who do have good intentions - they find out quickly they can't change anything.
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