Brett Hankison fired into Taylor’s apartment, but none of the rounds hit Taylor or neighbors. The DOJ asked for a prison sentence of one day.
US abandons police reform settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville
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A former Louisville police officer was sentenced to 33 months in prison for violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was killed during a botched raid on her home and whose death sparked nationwide demonstrations for equality.
The July 21 sentence was in defiance to a last-minute request from federal prosecutors that Brett Hankison receive only a one-day sentence.
In March 2020, Hankison fired 10 rounds into Taylor’s apartment, three of which traveled into an adjacent unit. None of the rounds fired by Hankison hit Taylor or any neighbors, but he was charged with violating their civil rights in 2022.
His first trial on those charges ended in a mistrial in 2023. In November, a second federal jury convicted Hankison of violating Taylor’s civil rights but acquitted him of violating the rights of her neighbors.
Hankison faced a maximum sentence of life in prison, but the Department of Justice recommended a one-day sentence, which would be considered already served because the “defendant gets credit for the day he was booked and made his initial appearance,” a $100 fine and three years of supervised release.
Western Kentucky District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings said she was troubled by the prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum, as well as their arguments toward leniency.
DOJ sought one-day prison sentence
A pre-sentence report prepared by the United States Probation Office recommended a sentence between 11.25 and 14 years, according to court documents. However, the Justice Department said in a memo filed July 16 the range was incorrectly calculated and “excessive,” recommending that the court “grant a significant downward departure.”
“The government respects the jury’s verdict, which will almost certainly ensure that Hankison never serves as a law enforcement officer again and will also likely ensure that he never legally possesses a firearm again,” the memorandum said. “But adding on top of those consequences a sentence within the lengthy guidelines range — even when properly calculated — would, in the government’s view, simply be unjust under these circumstances.”
The DOJ’s recommendation drew condemnation from activists and Louisville residents. In a joint statement, the attorneys who represent Taylor’s family called the suggested sentence “an insult.”
“This sets a dangerous precedent. When a police officer is found guilty of violating someone’s constitutional rights, there must be real accountability and justice. Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity,” said attorneys Ben Crump, Lonita Baker, and Sam Aguiar.
What happened to Breonna Taylor?
Taylor, an emergency room technician, was inside her apartment when she was fatally shot by plainclothes officers around 12:40 a.m. on March 13, 2020, during a narcotics investigation.
Officers, who say they knocked and announced themselves several times before their forcible entry, had been attempting to serve a no-knock search warrant. Neither Taylor nor her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were the target of the investigation, and no drugs were found in the home. Walker and several neighbors also say they did not hear the officers identify themselves as law enforcement.
As police entered the apartment, Walker shot an officer in the leg. He later said he believed the officers were intruders.
Taylor’s death sparked months of protests in Louisville and around the country.
The Louisville Metro Police and the city’s government reached an agreement on civil rights reforms with the Department of Justice. But the plan was delayed by a lack of approval from a federal judge, and the DOJ announced in May it would abandon negotiations. However, area officials including Mayor Craig Greenberg have said they’re still prepared to move forward.
Sentencing comes after yearslong legal battle
Hankison was fired in June 2020 and charged at the state level in September 2020 with three counts of wanton endangerment over the bullets that entered a neighboring unit. He was found not guilty of wanton endangerment in March 2022.
He was charged with two federal counts of deprivation of civil rights the following August. The move came as prosecutors leveled additional charges against three other officers — Joshua Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett and Kyle Meany — involved with the warrant used in the raid.
Goodlett pleaded guilty in August 2022 to helping falsify an affidavit for the search of Taylor’s apartment. The cases against Meany — charged with two counts of deprivation of civil rights and two counts of lying to federal investigators — and Jaynes — charged with two counts of deprivation of civil rights, two counts of falsification of records and two counts of conspiracy — are still open.
Contributing: Rachel Smith, Louisville Courier Journal
