LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jury deliberations continued for a second day Thursday in the federal retrial of former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison.

What You Need To Know

  •  The jury is deliberating for a second day in the federal retrial of Brett Hankison

  •  Hankison is accused of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor and her neighbors for firing into her apartment in March 2020

  •  The defense argued in order for Taylor's civil rights to have been violated, she needed to be alive when the shots were fired. They say the prosecution didn't prove she was

  •  The two counts against Hankison carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted

Hankison is charged with two counts of violating the Fourth Amendment rights of Breonna Taylor and three others living in an adjacent apartment. Hankison is accused of using unreasonable force when shooting blindly into Taylor’s apartment during a botched police raid in 2020. Taylor was killed by police gunfire. However, none of the ten rounds fired by Hankison hit anyone. 

Federal prosecutors assert Hankison broke LMPD use of force policy by firing into a covered window and door after Sgt. Jonathon Mattingly was shot by Taylor’s then boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Federal charges accuse Hankison of depriving Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights protecting citizens from unlawful search and seizures. Prosecutors argued Hankison fired five errant shots passing over Taylor’s head, depriving her of free movement within her home.

Several other shots fired by Hankison passed through Taylor’s home and into an adjacent apartment where three other people were living. Hankison’s charges carry a “color of law,” qualifier because Hankison was performing police duties at the time he fired. This qualifier increases the length of sentence Hankison faces.

The defense argued Hankison was acting in defense of his fellow officers after Walker shot Mattingly. The defense argued LMPD’s use of force policy does not explicitly prohibit officers from shooting through covered windows while engaging a deadly threat.

A contentious point was made by the defense during closing arguments when Attorney Don Malarcik questioned whether Taylor was alive at the moment Hankison fired into her home. The defense argued for her civil rights to be violated, Taylor had to be alive. They also argued the prosecution did not prove Taylor was alive at that moment beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hankison was one of four officers who were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 with violating Taylor’s civil rights. The two counts against him carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted. The three other former officers charged were involved in crafting the search warrant.

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