LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On the third day of the retrial of former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison, District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings confirmed members of the jury visited Breonna Taylor’s former apartment at 3003 Springfield Drive in Louisville on Wednesday morning.
Judge Jennings explained to jurors, “What you observed outside the courtroom was not evidence.” Jennings continued, “The only purpose was to help you understand the evidence that was presented to you in the courtroom.”
The prosecution’s first witness was Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey, who joined the department 18 years ago.
Chief Humphrey was asked extensively about how LMPD officers are trained and the department’s use of deadly force policy.
Regarding “Target Identification,” Chief Humphrey testified, “You have to identify the threat is there. You don’t have to know the person’s name…you have to know they are the threat.” When asked if officers must be able to see a threat in order to use deadly force, Humphrey replied, “You have to see the threat, yes.”
Humphrey was asked by the prosecution, “If an officer cannot identify a target themselves, are they allowed to shoot? Chief Humphrey answered, ‘No.’”
During cross examination, lead defense attorney Jack Byrd focused again on the exact language of LMPD’s use of force policy asking Chief Humphrey to read this portion of the policy out loud in court.
Humphrey read, “Justification for the use of deadly force must be limited to what reasonably appears to be the facts known, or perceived, by an officer under the circumstances. Facts not known to an officer, no matter how compelling, cannot be considered in later determining whether the use of deadly force was justified.”
Byrd asked, “Nowhere does it say you can’t shoot through a covered window, if you can’t identify the target? Chief Humphrey replied, “It doesn’t.” Adding that, “verbiage is not in the policy.”
During redirect questioning from prosecutor Michael Songer, Humphrey said the use of force policy is a “guideline,” to influence an officer’s actions in the field.
Songer asked Humphrey, “Based on the totality of circumstances known to that officer…if that officer admits he doesn’t have target identified, is he allowed to shoot?”
Humphrey answered, “I would say no.”
Songer asked, is the rule that officers must have target identification before using deadly force trained repeatedly?
Chief Humphrey responded. “Yes.”