Federal Jury Finds Ex-Officer Guilty of Violating Breonna Taylor’s Rights
The New York Times
The former detective fired 10 shots through Ms. Taylor’s apartment in a raid in 2020 that set off a wave of protests across the country.
The former police detective who fired 10 shots through Breonna Taylor’s apartment in a deadly raid in Louisville, Ky., in 2020 was found guilty on Friday night of violating her civil rights by using excessive force.
But the federal jury earlier in the evening cleared the former officer, Brett Hankison, of violating the rights of Ms. Taylor’s neighbors, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Mr. Hankison, who is white, was the only officer to be charged for his actions during the botched operation that set off a wave of protests across the country. But his shots did not kill Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who worked as an emergency room technician. Two other officers, also white, fired the fatal shots, but neither was charged.
After the verdict, Mr. Hankison silently walked out of the federal courthouse and stepped into a waiting S.U.V. He declined to answer a reporter’s questions. Mr. Hankison’s lawyers could not immediately be reached.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
It is not the first time that Mr. Hankison has faced a jury in the case. Last year, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to come to a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges. He was previously acquitted of similar state charges.
