LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Monday marked the fifth day of testimony in the federal retrial of former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison.
Hankison is accused of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor and three others when he fired his service weapon into Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020. If convicted, Hankison faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Hankison’s initial federal trial ended in a mistrial.
Hankison took the stand 3 p.m. Monday, the defense's final witness of the day after retired Louisville police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and former Nevada police officer Jamie Borden spoke.
Hankison testified when police broke through Taylor's apartment door, he saw a figure in a rifle-shooting stance and a muzzle flash. He testified the muzzle flashes continued after moving to the side of Taylor's apartment.
"I saw those windows and doors lighting up ... it looked like a strobe light from a dance club," he said.
Hankison testified he throught "everyone was being executed in my stack," referring to the other officers serving the warrant. He said he believed a shooter inside the apartment was moving toward the front door and executing his colleagues, so he opened fire through a covered patio door.
"It sounded like he was moving up," Hankison testified. "We are trained to shoot until we stop the threat."
Hankison said he then fired five shots through a bedroom window.
"Those five rounds appeared to be effective," Hankison said why he stopped firing.
Hankison’s defense team first called Mattingly Monday morning, who was shot and injured during the botched police raid. Mattingly testified to knocking on the apartment door and announcing, “Police! Search warrant!” for longer than what is usual. “We were there, total, about a minute,” Mattingly testified. Mattingly stated he had worked “approximately 1000” search warrants prior to that night.
As police began breaching the apartment Mattingly testified, “Everyone is yelling police search warrant.” Mattingly testified he looked down the hallway after entering the apartment and saw “the tip of a gun,” and then a pop and muzzle flash. After being shot Mattingly stated, “I returned four shots as he dove out of the way.” “Chaos for seven seconds,” Mattingly later testified.
Mattingly testified he first learned about Brett Hankison firing into the side of Taylor’s apartment the next day while he was in the hospital. Mattingly testified he was “Shocked. I was concerned and confused, and I wanted to know why.”
Mattingly stated his first conversation with Hankison was two months after the shooting and after what Hankison told him about why he fired, Mattingly testified, “I agree. I would do the same thing.” Defense attorney Donald Malarcik asked, “Did you have any problem with what he did? Mattingly answered, “Not after I had knowledge.”
During cross examination from the prosecution, Mattingly testified he didn’t hear any voices or movement from inside Taylor’s apartment or from any apartment prior to breaching the door. Mattingly stated, “Personally, I did not.”
Mattingly testified if he had not been shot, he may have fired back in the same manner Hankison did. He said “Absolutely, I would have.”
Mattingly retired from LMPD in June 2021.
Hankinson's defense also called Jamie Borden to the stand. Borden, a former Nevada police officer, is considered an expert consultant in police use of force investigations. He said as an officer, he was consulted in approximately 1,000 use of force cases and as a private consultant has worked on approximately 250 use of force cases. The defense team hired him to provide his analysis of the event.
The defense asked Borden if it was against LMPD's use of force policy, as written, for an officer to fire at a muzzle flash and where he believed a target to be.
"I believe it would be appropriate in that policy," Borden testified.
Borden said upon reviewing LMPD's use of force policy, he concluded, "There's nothing that says an officer cannot shoot through a window covered with no curtains."
Borden also testified, "I found nothing in the policy that was directly violated (by Hankison)" at the time he fired into Taylor's apartment. He said he came to that conclusion after reviewing Hankison's statements about the events, statements from other officers involved, ballistics and physical evidence, facts known to Hankison at the time the search warrant was concluded and the language of LMPD policy.
The prosecution pointed out and Borden confirmed he did not consider any of the sworn testimony entered in the federal grand jury proceedings. The prosecution asked if all the materials he reviewed in conducting his analysis was provided by the defense. Borden stated, "Yes, through discovery." During questioning by the prosecution, Borden stated, "I would never take a statement at face value."