Thursday, March 28

Brett Hankison to testify in his own trial on charges stemming from raid that killed Breonna Taylor | News


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison will take the stand to testify on his own behalf in the trial stemming from the raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

During final jury selection Tuesday, Hankison’s attorney, Stew Matthews, said he plans to put Hankison on the stand. The witness list, which contains 30 names, includes Myles Cosgrove and Jon Mattingly — two other LMPD officers on scene that night in 2020 — as well as former LMPD Police Chief Steve Conrad.

Mattingly has already filed a motion saying he will plead the Fifth Amendment if he’s called to the stand.

Lawyers returned to the courtroom Tuesday primarily to finish an extended jury selection process.

The attorneys are attempting to winnow down a pool of 48 people to 12 jurors and three alternates. Hankison is charged with wanton endangerment for shooting into the apartment of one of Taylor’s neighbors on the night of the March 2020 raid. He was fired a few months later. Hankison, whose shots did not hit Taylor, is the only officer charged in the case. None have been charged in connection to Taylor’s death of him.

Mathews tried to ban the public and media from covering the jury selection process, saying it could affect the candor of perspective jurors. The motion failed.

Court officials initially gathered an expanded pool of 250 potential jurors, to account for the widespread publicity in Taylor’s death, which sparked months of marches and protests in downtown Louisville in the summer of 2020. After four days of questioning potential jurors on their knowledge and beliefs about Hankison’s case, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed on a pool of 48 to choose the final jury from.

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Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who worked as an emergency medical technician, was shot multiple times during a botched narcotics raid on March 13, 2020. Louisville officers kicked in her door using a narcotics warrant, and drew fire from Taylor’s boyfriend , who thought an intruder was breaking in. Two officers at the door returned fire, killing Taylor.

The city paid $12 million in 2020 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor’s mother, but the two former officers who fired shots that struck Taylor were not charged. Those officers could be called to testify in this trial, according to a motion filed by Hankison’s defense.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said a man, pregnant woman and child were inside that apartment when Hankison fired into it.

Hankison later pleaded not guilty to the charges, each of which carries a prison sentence of one to five years if he is convicted.

The trial is expected to begin on Wednesday and will last about two weeks.

This story will be updated.

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Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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