A jury could not reach a verdict in the case of the former Louisville police detective, Brett Hankison, who was charged with violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor during a raid that resulted in her fatal shooting by police in March 2020.
After a two-week trial and three-day deliberation period, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings declared a mistrial Thursday (November 16) for Hankison as a result of the jury’s deadlock state. He would have faced up to a maximum sentence of life in prison had he been convicted.
As previously reported, Hankison was charged with endangering Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker as well as three people in a neighboring apartment when he fired 10 shots through a window and door. Brett testified at trial that he only fired his weapon because he feared fellow officers were about to be killed.
Federal authorities will now have to decide whether to retry him in what would ultimately be his third prosecution (he was acquitted last year on three state felony counts of endangering Taylor’s neighbors).
While he is the only law enforcement official directly involved in the raid to have been charged in state or federal courts, another official – Kelly Goodlett – pleaded guilty last year to federal charges that she falsified information on a warrant and provided false reports to investigators after the shooting.
Two other former officers, Kyle Meany and Joshua Jaynes, will stand trial in 2024.
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