Federal civil rights trial of ex-LMPD Detective Brett Hankison in Breonna Taylor case is delayed further
The trial of ex-Louisville police Detective Brett Hankison on charges that he violated the civil rights of Breonna Taylor and four others the night when she was killed by another officer during a raid gone bad has been pushed back two additional months.
Expected to last three weeks, the trial was to begin Aug. 21, but on a defense motion, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings Wednesday reset it for Oct. 30.
Hankison appeared with new counsel − Jack Byrd of Nashville, Tennessee, and Ibrahim A. Farag of Louisville. The defense told Jennings the government has turned over more than one million pages of evidence and it couldn't process them by August.
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Byrd asked Jennings to postpone it until next spring but she said that was too far out.
Hankison is charged with using excessive force by firing blindly into Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020, through a sliding glass door and a window covered by curtains.
He was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment but charged federally last August.
He is accused of violating the civil rights of Taylor, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker along with three neighbors, including a pregnant woman and 5-year-old child.
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Hankison was fired in 2020 when then-interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder called the rounds he fired "a shock to the conscience."
Hankison testified in Jefferson Circuit Court he was trying to protect two fellow detectives at the apartment’s front door, including Sgt. John Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Walker who has said he thought the couple was being robbed. Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove returned fire and a bullet from Cosgrove’s gun hit Taylor, killing her.
Also charged with federal civil rights charges were Sgt. Kyle Meany and Detectives Joshua Jaynes and Kelly Goodlett, for allegedly fabricating a warrant for the search of Taylor's apartment and other offenses
Goodlett pleaded guilty and resigned while Meany, Jaynes and Hankison were fired. Goodlett is expected to testify for the government against her former colleagues.
No date has been set yet for their trial but U.S. Senior Judge Charles R. Simpson III has set a pretrial conference for Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor case: Brett Hankison federal civil rights trial
