A former Louisville police officer accused of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend and her neighbors in 2020, when Taylor was shot and killed in a botched police attack, was inadmissible as evidence against the former officer. trial, a federal judge ruled Thursday, according to WHAS11, the ABC affiliate in Louisville that covered the case in the courtroom.
The United States government filed the motion in August introducing two alleged wrongdoings by Brett Hankison while he was a Louisville police officer. According to court documents, Hankison was part of a 2016 narcotics investigation in which he pulled a handgun and ran between a suspect and a member of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) unit who drew a gun.
In the second incident, Hankison allegedly pointed out the car window in 2017, blocked a customer at the barbershop who was trying to leave and started yelling at people in the shop, prompting an undercover SWAT team operation, according to the court. document.
On March 13, 2020, Louisville officers conducted a raid on Taylor’s apartment around 12:45 p.m. firearm, hitting the first officer at the door. Two Louisville officers then fired a total of 22 shots into the apartment, one of which hit Taylor in the chest, according to information filed by the Department of Justice. None of the bullets fired by Hankison, who was outside the apartment, struck anyone.
In the Breonna Taylor case, Hankison was indicted on a two-count indictment for deprivation of rights under color of law, both civil rights violations, in August 2022. According to court documents, he is accused of intentionally depriving Taylor and Walker. the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable assault, which includes the right to be free from the unreasonable use of police force during a seizure.
Former Louisville Police Officer Brett Hankison discusses muzzle flashes seen from his apartment during questioning by prosecutors in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
Timothy D. Easley, Pool via AP
According to court transcripts, he was also charged with knowingly depriving Taylor’s neighbors Chelsey Napper, Cody Etherton and Zayden Flournoy of their right to be free from deprivation of liberty without due process of law, which includes the right to be free from police officers. an unjust use of power that shocks the conscience.
Hankison’s federal trial, which is the third attempt to convict him for his actions in Taylor’s shooting, is set to begin Tuesday. A federal trial last year ended in a mistrial when the jury deadlocked because it could not reach a unanimous verdict. Hankison was acquitted of multiple dangerous state charges in March 2022.
United States District Court Judge Rebecca Jennings granted the prosecution’s motion to exclude references to Hankison’s prior trial in an upcoming trial, according to WHAS11.
In court testimony last year, Hankison said he had no clear target when he fired 10 rounds into the side wall of Taylor’s apartment in March 2020. The bullet also went through a neighbor’s apartment.
“I can’t,” Hankison said when asked by prosecutors during a previous trial if he could see the outline of a person through the window blinds when he shot. He added that he could not see the actual person or the weapon, according to court documents.
Hankison claimed he saw muzzle flashes coming from inside the house and believed the threat came up the hallway and advanced on officers from Hankison’s position outside, according to court transcripts.
“You’re not there,” Hankison told prosecutors. “You don’t know what I see…”
Hankison said he now knows the muzzle flashes came from his friends, who were standing in the front door of the apartment, according to court documents. Hankison said, at the time, he thought his friends were being executed.
A photo of Breonna Taylor is seen among photos of other women killed by violence during the 2nd Annual Defend Black Women March at Black Lives Matter Plaza, July 30, 2022, in Washington.
Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Frontline Action Hub
Prosecutors said the shell casing Hankison used was not found near the sidewalk near the home Hankison claimed was at the time of the shooting. He was found in the back of a gray truck in a parking lot, according to court transcripts.
The prosecution referenced testimony from former Sgt. John Mattingly and Etherton, Taylor’s neighbor, said there was a pause between the time the officers in the doorway finished shooting and when Hankison began firing 10 rounds from the side of the apartment, according to court documents.
The defense said prosecutors took the statements of Mattingly and Etherton out of context and did not have the evidence necessary to claim there was a pause between the shots of Hankison’s fellow officer and the gunfire itself, according to court transcripts. Hankison said he stopped shooting after he noticed there were no muzzle flashes in the apartment. He testified that he thought he neutralized the threat.
Prosecutors argued that if the officers had stopped shooting before Hankison started, there would have been no muzzle to see and target, making the shooting unfair, according to court documents.
Neither the prosecution, the defense, nor Taylor’s family attorneys immediately responded to ABC News’ requests for statements.
Prosecutors filed new charges last week against Kyle Meany and Jason Jaynes, two former Louisville officers accused of obtaining false bonds for Taylor’s home, according to AP News.
A federal judge dropped charges in August against Meany and Jaynes, according to court documents.
The judge ruled that Walker’s decision to open fire when officers entered the home “caused a return fire that struck and killed Taylor,” according to court documents.
The new charges include more allegations about how the former officer allegedly falsified an affidavit for the warrant, according to AP News.
Both former officers knew the affidavits used to obtain search warrants contained misleading information and lacked the necessary probable cause, according to prosecutors.
Jaynes still faces misdemeanor charges of violating Taylor’s right to be free from unreasonable searches, felony charges for concealing information from the FBI after the shooting and felony charges for obstructing the FBI’s investigation, according to court documents. Meany still faces charges that he lied to the FBI.
Former Louisville officer Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiring to falsify an affidavit to obtain a warrant to search Taylor’s home without probable cause and to cover up a false warrant by lying to criminal investigators after Taylor’s death, according to the DOJ.
A pretrial conference focused on juror questionnaires took place Friday in Hankison’s case, according to WHAS11. The trial began Tuesday with jury selection, according to the court.
ABC News’ Stephanie Maurice and Deena Zaru contributed to this report.
