Jury begins deliberations on whether Brett Hankison broke law during Breonna Taylor raid

LOUISIVLLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Several Louisville Metro Police officers testified that their former co-worker Brett Hankison's actions on the night of the Breonna Taylor raid were "shocking," unfathomably dangerous" and "stomach churning," according to a prosecutor in closing arguments.

He fired "blindly, spraying bullets through two covered windows, ripping through walls into a neighboring apartment" where a family and a child were sleeping on March 13, 2020, said prosecutor Michael Songer, with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hankison failed to isolate a target and acknowledged not being able to see who he was firing at or where exactly the person was, putting multiple lives in danger, Songer said Monday, the 10th day of Hankison's violation of civil rights trial.

"He didn't care, because he was angry that someone was firing at the police," Songer said. "He assumed his fellow officers would cover for him, but he was wrong."

Several officers testified that shooting blindly into covered windows goes against their training and violates the oath they took to protect human life, Songer said.

"No reasonable officer would have fired (those shots) because no other officer did," he said. "It goes against what they stand for."

Defense attorney Stew Mathews told jurors they have to put themselves in Hankison's shoes at the time, think about what he was seeing and experiencing as an officer was shot and dozens of bullets were fired after they burst into Taylor's home.

"If someone fires at the police, the police are going to fire back at you and that's exactly what happened here," Mathews said. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker fired one shot from a pistol, striking former Sgt. John Mattingly. Walker has said he thought the couple were being robbed.

Officers were "met by immediate gunfire" with Mattingly being shot in the leg, and Hankison, after moving out of the line of fire, "returned fire to what he saw was muzzle flashes."

Mathews acknowledged that Hankison did not see the person he was shooting at, but "he fired at those muzzle flashed thinking his fellow officers were being executed. ... He took action trying to help save his brother officers."

And even if he did make a mistake — the muzzle flashes were coming from fellow officers — his actions weren't criminal, Mathews said.

"The government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that Hankison broke the law.

Hankison is charged with violating the civil rights of Taylor, Walker, and her neighbors next door. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The jury began deliberation at 5 p.m. and finished for the day around 6 p.m. They will resume deliberations Tuesday morning.

If they find Hankison guilty, the judge will determine the sentence.

The charges stem from the raid of Taylor's home in the middle of the night in which police officers busted down her door to serve a search warrant related to a drug dealer who lived 10 miles away.

When police burst in, Walker fired a shot that hit Mattingly in the leg. Walker has said he believed the couple were being robbed.

Multiple LMPD officers returned fire, killing Taylor, 26. No drugs were found in her home.

In a similar case, a jury in a state criminal case found Hankison not guilty in March 2022 on three counts of wanton endangerment stemming from the shots fired into the neighboring apartment during the raid.

The city of Louisville paid $12 million to Taylor's family and implemented numerous reforms in the police department to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.

And the Department of Justice began a wide-ranging civil rights review in Louisville that began nearly two years ago in the wake of Taylor's death.

Federal investigators strongly rebuked the actions of Louisville police, saying they believe the department and Metro Government for years engaged in practices that violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law, including excessive use of force and searches based on invalid search warrants.

Earlier on Monday, Hankison testified he did not see a shooter when he fired 10 times through Taylor’s covered window and sliding door on the night police raided her home.

On the last day of testimony, Hankison also testified he did not know exactly where the shooter was inside the apartment or if any of his fellow officers may have been in the line of his fire.

Hankison told jurors he initially saw muzzle flashes coming from the hallway but never shot at a fixed target, instead shooting toward where he believed a person in the apartment was firing at officers with what he erroneously thought was an AR-15.

During his testimony, Hankison admitted he was mistaken, and the muzzle flashes were actually coming from Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove, and that Walker only fired one shot from a handgun at police.

“The flashes were from the officers’ guns, yes sir,” he said. But he was adamant that he believed Walker was “executing” officers.

“Was I wrong that Mr. Walker shot more than one shot? I know that now,” Hankison said. “I fired to stop the threat, sir.”

Prosecutors also argued Hankison's shots were not all directed toward where he said he initially saw a shooter.

Hankison acknowledged he fired where he thought the shooter would be, as he believed the person was advancing up the hallway toward officers with a rifle.

In addition, the prosecution pointed out that had officers walked further into the apartment, they could have been struck by Hankison's shots.

Hankison said he believed officers were evacuating the apartment, and dragging Mattingly out, but "wasn't sure" if there may have been an officer, such as Cosgrove, who shot 16 times, still in the hallway.

"You bet his life on whether he wasn't going to take one or two more steps when you couldn't see him?" the prosecutor said.

The former detective fired five shots into Taylor's living room from outside through blinded windows, according to the prosecution. He fired five more shots through a bedroom window that was covered by curtains. Three of the bullets flew into an adjacent apartment where Cody Etherton, Chelsey Napper and her 5-year-old child lived.

On Thursday, Hankison testified that when officers burst into the apartment, he saw "a large muzzle flash" from what he believed was rifle and a "large figure in a shooting stance."

The former detective said it was difficult to "explain the feeling of helplessness I had," believing officers were outgunned and trapped.

Hankison teared up when testifying about hearing Mattingly say he had been "hit" and another officer shouting that Mattingly was down.

"It's a tragedy for a lot of people and a lot of families and I feel bad about it," Hankison said of the shooting, adding that he believed officers should never have been serving a warrant at Taylor's home to begin with.

But he said if give a chance for a do over, he "would do the exact same thing" because he was trying to save the lives of his fellow officers.

Hankison, 47, was indicted in August 2022 on two charges of deprivation of rights for firing into a sliding door and bedroom window in Taylor's apartment that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain after "there was no longer a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force," according to the indictment. The charges including violating the rights of Taylor's neighbors.

Three other former officers have also been federally charged for their involvement in the Taylor case: Kyle Meany, Kelly Goodlett and Joshua Jaynes.

The charges resulted from a federal investigation that, in part, looked at how police obtained the search warrant for Taylor's apartment, something a prior state investigation by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office did not pursue. Cameron has said that aspect was part of the U.S. Justice Department's work.

Jaynes and Meany are accused of drafting and approving "what they knew was a false affidavit to support a search warrant for Ms. Taylor's home," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke has said. "That false affidavit set in motion events that led to Ms. Taylor's death when other LMPD officers executed that warrant."

Goodlett has already pleaded guilty in federal court to felony conspiracy for helping to falsify the affidavit and then conspiring with Jaynes to cover it up. She is expected to testify against Jaynes and Meaney.

The former detectives who fired the shots that struck Taylor — Mattingly and Cosgrove — were not charged.

Mattingly retired and Cosgrove was fired for failing to properly “identify a target,” violating the department’s use of force policy and failing to use a body camera.

Investigators said Cosgrove fired the fatal shot killing Taylor.

Related Stories: