Ex-officer found guilty in Breonna Taylor’s death

A former police officer in the US state of Kentucky has been found guilty of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed in her own home during a botched raid four years ago.

Brett Hankison, 47, could face life in prison after being convicted of using excessive force against the 26-year-old emergency room technician.

But the jury also found him not guilty of another charge of violating the civil rights of one of Taylor’s neighbors. It was Hankison’s third trial in the case.

But the verdict marks the first time an officer has been convicted in the deadly March 13, 2020 raid, which saw Taylor’s name become a rallying cry during that year’s racial justice unrest.

Taylor’s family members in court broke down in tears after the verdict was returned Friday, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Prosecutors wanted Hankison taken into custody immediately, but their request was rejected by the judge, the local newspaper reported.

The jury of five white men, one black man and six white women began its deliberations Wednesday.

The indictment accused Hankison of depriving Taylor of her right to be free from unreasonable seizures and of depriving her neighbors of their right to be free from deprivation of liberty without due process.

Hankison fired 10 times into her apartment, which she said she did to protect fellow officers, while Taylor’s boyfriend opened fire when officers broke down the door.

The ex-cop took the stand after two days of testimony during the retrial, telling jurors he was “trying to stay alive, trying to keep my partners alive.”

Hankison was the first of the four officers charged in the case to face a jury.

Another former officer, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to forging a search warrant for Taylor’s home.

The other two officers had federal charges dismissed by a judge earlier this year. The US Department of Justice recently indicted the pair on new charges.

Taylor was killed after plainclothes officers executed a no-knock search warrant at her home. They burst into her apartment in the early hours of the morning while she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping.

Authorities believed Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was using her home to hide narcotics.

Mr Walker fired a single shot as they knocked down the door, hitting an officer, Sergeant John Mattingly, in the leg. Mr Walker said the officers did not announce themselves as police and he thought they were trespassers.

The three officers responded, firing 32 rounds into the apartment.

Another officer fired the shot that killed Taylor, but prosecutors said the use of deadly force was justified because Walker had opened fire first.

None of Hankison’s bullets hit anyone, but they did enter a neighboring property where a pregnant woman, a five-year-old child and a man were sleeping.

A later police report contained errors, including listing Taylor’s injuries as “none” and saying no force was used to gain entry, when a battering ram was used.

Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June 2020.

His previous federal case last year ended in a mistrial when the jury told the judge it could not reach a unanimous verdict.

He was previously tried by a Kentucky state jury in March 2022 and acquitted of three counts of murder and criminal endangerment.

Taylor and Walker’s family both received payments from the city for the incident.

A number of police reforms were also introduced in Louisville.

Hankison is due to be sentenced on March 12 next year.