Social Justice

Louisville Cop Will Face a Third Trial In Breonna Taylor Case

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday said they will retry a former Louisville, Kentucky, police officer accused of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in a botched 2020 raid at her apartment that led to her death.

Published

2 years ago

December 16, 2023

UVM Staff

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Federal prosecutors announced former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison will face a third trial to secure a conviction in the civil rights case for botched raid that led to Breonna Taylor‘s death.

Brett Hankison trial

This comes after a judge declared a mistrial on Nov. 16th when the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

In Hankison’s first trial in 2022, he was acquitted of felony wanton endangerment for firing shots that went into a neighboring apartment where three people, including a 3-year-old child, were present. None of those neighbors was hurt. The Justice Department then brought federal charges against him, as well as the other officers involved. Federal prosecutors said Hankison violated the Constitution and used excessive force.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings set a tentative trial date for October 2024 but noted that could change as prosecutors were interested in retrying Hankison in the summer.

Botched raid

Taylor, 26, was fatally shot when Louisville Metro Police opened fired while executing a no-warrant at her apartment for a drug investigation on her ex-boyfriend, who did not live there.

The Louisville Police Department fired Hankison after Taylor’s killing.

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