LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) 鈥� A jury began deliberations Monday afternoon at the federal trial of a former Louisville police detective accused of violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights by opening fire on her apartment the night she was killed during a botched raid.
The jury received the case on a day when the former officer, Brett Hankison, was grilled by a federal prosecutor over his actions at the time the 26-year-old Black woman was killed. Taylor was shot to death by police after they knocked down the door of her apartment on March 13, 2020.
Federal prosecutors are attempting to do what Kentucky prosecutors couldn鈥檛 鈥� convict Hankison for his actions on the night Taylor was fatally shot. Last year, the former officer was at a state trial of wanton endangerment charges.
A federal prosecutor said in closing arguments Monday that Hankison 鈥渟ent bullets flying鈥� into Taylor鈥檚 apartment and an adjoining apartment. Jurors heard earlier that none of the shots he fired struck anyone, despite rounds straying into another apartment where a couple with a child lived.
Prosecutor Michael Songer said that Hankison鈥檚 actions 鈥渄ishonored鈥� other police officers, adding that the role of police is to protect human life and that Hankison knew that 鈥渇iring blindly was wrong.鈥�
Hankison was one of four officers who were last year with violating Taylor鈥檚 civil rights, accused of endangering Taylor, her boyfriend and Taylor's neighbors, who shared a wall with her apartment.
The two counts of civil rights violations against him carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted.
Defense attorney Stewart Mathews, in his closing arguments, urged jurors to consider what Hankison encountered 鈥� the 鈥渃haos he was surrounded with.鈥�
鈥淗e reacted by trying to protect the lives of his fellow officers and himself,鈥� Mathews said.
Hankison鈥檚 response to 鈥渨hat he perceived was reasonable, not criminal,鈥� Mathews added.
Earlier, under questioning from his attorney, Hankison said he posed by the shooter in Taylor鈥檚 apartment. He did so, he said, to 鈥渄efend my life鈥� and the lives of his fellow officers. His comments wrapped up testimony in the trial.
Taylor was shot to death by officers who were executing a drug search warrant, which was later found to be flawed. Taylor鈥檚 boyfriend fired a single shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door of the apartment, and officers returned fire, striking Taylor in the apartment hallway multiple times. The other 32 bullets fired in the raid came from police, investigators determined.
When gunfire erupted, Hankison ran to the side of the apartment and sprayed bullets through Taylor鈥檚 windows. Officers found no drugs or long guns in Taylor鈥檚 apartment.
Earlier, under questioning from a federal prosecutor Monday, Hankison testified he did not see a shooter when he fired through Taylor鈥檚 covered window and sliding door, and said he did not know exactly where the shooter was inside the apartment, but saw muzzle flashes from gunfire. Hankison said in earlier testimony that he could see a shooter in the hallway before he rounded the corner of the apartment and fired into the glass door and windows.
Taylor鈥檚 killing along with at the hands of Minnesota police in 2020 ignited protests that summer around the country over racial injustice and police brutality. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the federal indictments in the Taylor case in August 2022, remarking that Taylor 鈥渟hould be alive today.鈥�
Bruce Schreiner And Dylan Lovan, The Associated Press
