Former raid officer Breonna Taylor convicted of excessive force

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of excessive force Breonna Taylor during a botched drug raid in 2020 that left her dead.

The 12-member jury returned the verdict late at night after clearing Brett Hankison earlier in the evening of a charge of using excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors.

It was the first conviction of a Louisville police officer involved in the deadly raid.

“Breonna Taylor’s life mattered,” the assistant attorney said. Gen. Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We hope the jury’s verdict recognizing this violation of Ms. Taylor’s civil and constitutional rights brings some small measure of comfort to her family and loved ones who have suffered so deeply from the tragic events of March 2020.”

Some members of the jury wept when the verdict was read around 9:30 p.m. They had earlier indicated to the judge in two separate messages that they were deadlocked on the excessive force charge against Taylor, but chose to continue deliberations. The jury of six men and six women deliberated more than 20 hours over three days.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, celebrated the verdict with friends outside the federal courthouse, saying: “It’s been a long time coming. It took a lot of patience. It was hard. The jurors took the time to truly understand that Breonna deserves justice.”

Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid, but did not hit anyone. Some shots flew into the adjoining apartment of a next-door neighbor.

The death of the 26-year-old black woman, along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, sparked nationwide protests over racial injustice.

Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., called the verdict “a long overdue moment of accountability.”

“While it cannot return Breonna to her family, it is a crucial step in the pursuit of justice and a reminder that no one should be above the law,” King said in a social media post Friday night.

A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison last year, and he was acquitted of state charges of reckless endangerment in 2022.

The conviction against Hankison carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He will be sentenced on March 12 by US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings.

Hankison, 48, maintained throughout the trial that he was acting to protect his fellow officers after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired on them when they broke down Taylor’s door with a battering ram. Walker said he only fired at the police because he feared they were trespassing.

An FBI investigation found that other senior officers had drawn up a botched drug warrant that contained false information about Taylor.

That jury sent a note Thursday to the judge asking if they needed to know if Taylor was alive while Hankison fired his shots.

That was a point of contention during closing arguments, when Hankison’s attorney, Don Malarcik, told the jury that prosecutors must “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Taylor was alive” when Hankison fired.

After the jury submitted the question, Jennings urged them to continue deliberating.

Walker shot and wounded one of the officers. Hankison testified that when Walker fired, he pulled away, went around the corner of the apartment and fired at Taylor’s glass door and a window.

Meanwhile, officers at the door returned fire on Walker, striking and killing Taylor, who was in a hallway.

Hankison’s attorneys argued during closing statements Wednesday that Hankison was acting appropriately “in a very tense, very chaotic environment,” which lasted about 12 seconds. They pointed out that Hankison’s shots did not hit anyone.

Hankison was one of four officers indicted by the US Department of Justice in 2022 for violating Taylor’s civil rights. Hankison’s verdict is the second conviction in those cases. The first was a plea deal from a former officer who wasn’t on the raid and became a cooperating witness in another case.

Malarcik, Hankison’s attorney, spoke at length during closing arguments about the role of Taylor’s boyfriend, who fired the shot that struck the former sergeant. John Mattingly at the door. He said Walker never tried to come to the door or turn on the lights while police knocked and instead armed himself and hid in the dark.

“Brett Hankison was 12 inches from being shot by Kenneth Walker,” Malarcik said.

Prosecutors said Hankison acted recklessly, firing 10 shots into doors and a window where he couldn’t see a target.

They said in closing arguments that Hankison “violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force: If I can’t see the person I’m shooting at, I can’t pull the trigger.”

None of the officers who shot Taylor — Mattingly and former Det. Myles Cosgrove — were charged in Taylor’s death. Federal and state prosecutors said those officers were justified in returning fire because Taylor’s boyfriend shot them first.

Lovan writes for the Associated Press. Los Angeles Times staff contributed to this report.