The night Breonna Taylor died, Detective Brett Hankison stood outside her apartment and blindly fired 10 shots into her bedroom window and sliding glass door, both of which were blocked by blinds and curtains. Based on this reckless behavior, a federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, indicted last week prisoner Hankison of deliberately violate Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights have the force of law.

Hankison did not kill Taylor and his surprising behavior many things What went wrong before, during and after the deadly raid in March 2020; misleading and legally inadequate The search warrant affidavit linking the 26-year-old EMT to drug dealing was based on little more than complicity. But Hankison’s case vividly illustrates the difficulty of holding police officers criminally responsible for abusing their authority.

Hankison was there was fired three months after the raid. Acting Police Chief Robert Schroeder in question The detective “displayed extreme indifference to the value of human life” by “blindly and wantonly” firing his gun without “verifying any person as an immediate threat” or considering “any innocent persons present.”

an indictment approved Hankison was indicted in the same manner by a Kentucky grand jury in September 2020. three crimes for “unintentionally” discharging his weapon “under circumstances that showed extreme indifference to human life.” expenses It was based on bullets entering the apartment next to Taylor’s and endangering his neighbors.

In March 2022, after three hours of deliberation, a state jury found acquitted Hankison’s accusations show how laxly jurors tend to sentence police officers who say they used deadly force in response to a perceived threat. Hankison five months later accused on two federal charges, claiming That it violated Taylor’s rights and those of her neighbors.

Last year, a federal judge declared: faulty judgment Since the jury could not reach a verdict, a lawsuit was filed on these charges. During his second federal trial, Hankison again testified He said he was trying to help two fellow officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove thought they were under constant fire in Taylor’s apartment.

Hankison was wrong about this. When police entered the apartment around 12:45 a.m., Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who later said he had no idea the intruders were police, grabbed a handgun and fired a single shot, striking Mattingly in the leg.

In response, Mattingly and Cosgrove fired a total of 22 shots into a dark hallway where an unarmed Taylor stood next to Walker. Hankison testified He said his colleagues mistook the gunshots for bullets from an AR-15 rifle that was “proceeding down the hall and executing everyone.”

Still, it’s hard to understand Hankison’s reaction. “He did exactly what he had to do,” defense attorney Don Malarcik said said Jurors during closing argument. “He was acting to save lives.”

Not so, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Songer said. Songer said Hankison “violated one of the most basic rules of deadly force.” said jury. “If they can’t see the person they’re shooting at, they can’t pull the trigger.”

Cosgrove, the former interim police chief of Louisville who fired 16 shots into the apartment, including the one that killed Taylor, did something similar, according to Yvette Gentry. Elite canned Cosgrove stated that he “did not identify a target” in December 2020, saying he shot “in three different directions”.

Yet an investigation by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron concluded Both Cosgrove and Mattingly had opened fire in self-defense, meaning criminal charges were not warranted. Hankison, who has so far been found guilty of the charge involving Taylor but acquitted of the charge involving his neighbors, is the only officer directly involved in the raid to be convicted of a crime.

Federal charges still pending be in abeyance Against former Detective Joshua Jaynes, who wrote the search warrant affidavit, and former Sgt. Kyle Meany confirmed this. But it’s not hard to understand why Attorney General Merrick Garland acted the way he did. suggests “Justice for the loss of Ms. Taylor is a task beyond human capacity.”

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