LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jury selection began Tuesday for the trial of the only Louisville Metro Police officer charged with a crime that was on the raid at Breonna Taylor's apartment.
Former LMPD Officer Brett Hankison is charged with wanton endangerment, accused of firing "blindly" into Taylor's apartment with some of those bullets ending up in neighboring apartments.
The process began Tuesday with 19 potential jurors questioned by attorneys. Of those, 11 were identified as potential members and will move on to be questioned as a group.
The jury pool for the case is 250 people. The goal is to identify 48-50 people that could serve on the jury in the coming weeks. From there, attorneys will perform a group jury selection where they will try to identify 12 jurors who do not have scheduling conflicts. That portion of jury selection is expected to begin Feb. 22.
Below are some examples of questions attorneys asked jurors:
“Did you have an opinion about the protests regarding Breonna Taylor?”
“Do you have any opinion about the way police in Louisville treat different people?”
“Do you have personal beliefs that would make it difficult for you to remain objective?”
“Would you be able to set aside the death of Ms. Taylor?”
“Do you have any concerns about the way people would react to a verdict?”
“Do you blame Brett Hankison for what happened?”
You can see more details from the questioning of jurors in the Twitter thread below:
Brett Hankison jury selection has begun. Was supposed to start last week but we got delayed. Hankison's attorney has already renewed motion to change venue based on juror questionnaires. Judge Ann Bailey Smith denied.https://t.co/qbNhF0sBtG
— Travis Ragsdale (@TravisRagsdale) February 8, 2022
Cincinnati attorney Stew Mathews, who represents Hankison, tried to ban the public and media from covering the jury selection process, saying it could affect the candor of perspective jurors. The motion failed. Mathews once again made a motion Tuesday to move the trial out of Jefferson County, saying most of the jurors indicated on a questionnaire that they had "some opinion" about what happened to Taylor.
Judge Ann Bailey Smith denied the motion citing the need to question jurors first.
The city paid $12 million in 2020 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor's mother, but the two former officers who fired shots that struck Taylor were not charged. Those officers could be called to testify in this trial, according to a motion filed by Hankison's defense.
The selection process could take weeks, and the trial is scheduled to continue into March.
Related Stories:
- Judge won't ban media from jury questioning in Brett Hankison trial
- Hankison pleads not guilty to charges connected to Breonna Taylor raid
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