LOUISVILLE, KY- So much for double jeopardy. Or triple jeopardy. A federal jury on Friday convicted former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson for using excessive force in connection with the botched 2020 drug raid that led to the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, CBS News reports.
The 12-person jury initially told the judge they were deadlocked on the excessive force charge for Taylor’s death after earlier clearing him of the same charge against Taylor’s neighbors. The jury agreed to continue deliberations on the other charge. At around 9:30 p.m. Friday, they told the judge they had reached a verdict and found Hankinson guilty—the jury, consisting of six men and six women, deliberated for over 20 hours spanning three days. Some members were in tears as the verdict was read.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, boasted that the verdict was just, saying, “It took a lot of time. It took a lot of patience. It was hard. The jurors took their time to really understand that Breonna deserved justice.”
The no-knock raid saw Hankinson fire ten shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid, but didn’t hit anyone; some shots went into an adjoining apartment. The conviction of Hankinson was another feather in the cap for anti-police Attorney General Merrick Garland, who celebrated the verdict in a statement.
“Today, Brett Hankinson was found guilty by a jury of his peers for willfully depriving Breonna Taylor of her constitutional rights, Garland wrote. “His use of deadly force was unlawful and put Ms. Taylor in harm’s way. This verdict is an important step toward accountability for the violation of Breonna Taylor’s civil rights, but justice for the loss of Ms. Taylor is a task that exceeds human capacity.”
Hankinson is facing a maximum of life in prison; his sentencing is scheduled for March 12, 2025.
This was Hankinson’s second persecution by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice, with the first ending in a mistrial last year when a jury was unable to reach a verdict.
Unlike the first trial, prosecutors removed Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, from the indictment, and he was not called a witness. Walker instigated the shooting when he shot at Louisville officers as they entered the apartment, claiming he didn’t know they were police officers.
In the two counts faced by Hankinson, feds alleged he unconstitutionally used excessive force while acting in his official capacity, the first count involving Taylor, alleging he fired shots through a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain and by so doing, violated her civil rights.
The second count, which was the same as the first trial, and alleged Hankinson violated the constitutional rights of three of Taylor’s neighbors by shooting through a sliding glass door covered by blinds and a curtain. Both counts alleged Hankinson used a dangerous weapon, and his conduct indicated an intent to kill on the night of the incident.
The incident took place on March 13, 2020, when seven officers entered Taylor’s apartment after midnight using a “no-knock” warrant as part of a drug investigation. Taylor was asleep with Walker, who heard the noise and fired a gun at the police officers, believing they were intruders. Police fired back, and Taylor was shot and killed. No narcotics were found inside the apartment.
Hankinson testified he believed he was doing the right thing by trying to protect his fellow officers.
Last week, he testified that he believed there was a gun battle going on between his fellow officers and suspects in the home and thought his colleagues were in danger, according to the Associated Press. Hankinson said it “sounded like a semiautomatic rifle making its way down the hallway and executing everybody in my (group).”
Hankinson and his lawyers used the same defense in the first federal trial and a 2022 state trial, where he was acquitted of all charges after a jury deliberated for three hours.
“This case is about Brett Hankinson’s ten shots that never hit anyone,” his attorney, Don Malarcik, said during his closing arguments, the AP reported. “Brett Hankinson is charged with violating the constitutional rights of people he never met and never knew existed.”
In sum, the Department of Justice filed charges of civil rights violations against Hankinson and three other Louisville police officers. The charges against the other three officers were based on allegations they falsified the affidavit used to obtain the no-knock warrant that authorized the March 13, 2020, raid on Taylor’s apartment.
After a federal judge tossed significant felony charges against two of the former officers, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against two former officers, Louisville Det. Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany.
Comments