Breonna Taylor Civil Rights Case: Judge Declares Mistrial Against Ex-Louisville Police Officer

A federal judge has declared a mistrial for a former Louisville police officer involved in the Breonna Taylor civil rights case for the fatal raid on the victim's home.

The development affects ex-Louisville law enforcement personnel Brett Hankison, who was previously charged with violating the civil rights of the victim, her boyfriend, who was in the house with her, and their neighbors.

Breonna Taylor Civil Rights Case

(Photo : Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Frontline Action Hub)
A federal judge has declared a mistrial for a former Louisville police officer in the civil rights case of deceased Black woman Breonna Taylor.

Hours before the decision, the jury sent a note to the judge handling the case saying that they were at an impasse and could not come to a unanimous decision. Then, the judge ordered the jury to resume deliberations in what is known as an Allen charge.

This type of charge is when the judge asks the jury to return to deliberations to come to a unanimous decision after they have said they have reached an impasse. After further deliberations, the jury sent another note to the court saying that some jurors concluded and decided they could not reasonably and honestly come to a verdict, as per ABC News.

While prosecutors sought another Allen charge, the judge said that due to the jury's diligence and limited questions for the court, the implication was that the jurors were knowledgeable on relevant parts of the case, noting that another Allen charge was not needed.

Prosecutors then asked the judge to offer the jury the transcript that the latter previously requested. However, the judge noted that she did not want to give them the entire transcript because they did not know what the jury was looking for and the court had already told them it was unavailable.

Hankinson was initially charged in a two-count indictment for deprivation of rights under color of law. Both are civil rights offenses and were handed out in August 2022. Court documents showed that the former Louisville police officer was charged with willfully depriving Taylor and Kenneth Walker of their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures.

The charges against the defendant were in response to him firing ten rounds through Taylor's bedroom window and sliding glass door. These were covered with blinds and a blackout curtain. Several bullets went through a wall into the apartment of the Black woman's neighbor, according to CBS News.

Judge Declares Mistrial

US District Court Judge Rebecca Grady declared the mistrial nearly a week after jurors started deliberating. Taylor was an emergency medical technician who was sleeping inside her apartment with her boyfriend when police charged in with a battering ram to break down the door of their apartment.

Before the mistrial, Hankison was also acquitted by a Kentucky jury last year on wanton endangerment charges in relation to the case. State prosecutors argued that the former Louisville police officer illegally put Taylor's neighbors in danger.

At the time when the new charges were brought against Hankison, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the Black woman should be alive today. Hankison is the only officer who fired his weapon at the time of the botched raid to be criminally charged, said the Associated Press.