LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- Former Louisville police Detective Brett Hankison decided not to replace his legal team for his retrial on charges related to his actions the night of the Breonna Taylor raid.
In December, Hankison's attorneys told the judge he may choose to add to his defense team or replace them altogether, which could have caused a possible delay in the Oct. 15 trial date.
On Wednesday, attorney Jack Byrd said in a court hearing that he and Ibrahim Farag will remain on the case. However, another lawyer will be added soon to replace Wes Mathews, who has retired.
U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings said there had been a "concern" that bringing in an entire new legal team would be a problem in keeping the case on track, but now "the understanding is we are going forward on that day."
Federal prosecutor Michael Songer even asked if it was possible to move the trial date up, noting it has already been more than two months since a jury deadlocked on two counts of civil rights violations and using excessive force.
But Jennings pointed out that Byrd is not available until October because of other trials he has scheduled.
The judge reiterated, however, that she wanted both sides ready for trial in October, saying she couldn't foresee any reason for further delay.
"My assumption is, we have a trial date on the calendar so that is when we are going to trial," she said.
Jennings set the next status conference for March 13.
On Nov. 16, a jury deliberated for about 20 hours over four days after hearing seven days of testimony.
Jennings declared a mistrial when the jurors said they had "concluded deliberating" and could not come to a unanimous ruling.
The judge also noted that court security officers were sent to the juror room because of "elevated voices."
The jurors said they were deadlocked on both charges.
Immediately after the November trial ended, attorney Lonita Baker, who represents Breonna Taylor's family, said to reporters that prosecutors told the family they were planning to retry Hankison.
"The family is disappointed," she told reporters. "This is not the outcome they wanted. But we are here for the long game. ... We live for another day to fight for justice for Breonna."
The charges stem from a botched March 13, 2020, 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, Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot that hit Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg. Walker has said he believed the couple were being robbed.
Multiple Louisville Metro Police officers returned fire, killing 26-year-old Taylor. No drugs were found in her home.
The federal trial was about Hankison firing 10 times from outside Taylor's apartment through a covered sliding glass door and blinded windows in Taylor's bedroom window, with three bullets flying into an adjacent apartment where Cody Etherton, Chelsey Napper and her 5-year-old child lived.
Hankison 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 include violating the rights of Taylor's neighbors.
In March 2022, a jury in a state criminal case found Hankison not guilty on three counts of wanton endangerment stemming from the shots fired into a neighboring apartment during the raid. Jurors deliberated for about three hours in that case.
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- Breonna Taylor's neighbor, fired LMPD chief testify at federal trial of Brett Hankison
- Hankison Trial | Breonna Taylor's boyfriend testifies it felt like 'a war' the night of the raid
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