Brett Hankison walks outside federal courthouse in Louisville, Ky.

Hankison told jurors he had no doubt officers were in danger as he had already seen former Sgt. John Mattingly shot when police burst through Taylor’s door to serve a warrant and he saw a “large muzzle flash” he believed was coming from an assault rifle.

Last month, Hankison's attorneys asked a judge for a new trial in the Breonna Taylor case. Prosecutors have called their arguments a “desperate” attempt using “baseless” claims.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled a local order finds “no person, party or attorney, nor any representative of a party or attorney, may contact, interview, or communicate with any juror before, during or after trial.”