Former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer spoke to the community Saturday after Friday night’s partial conviction of ex-LMPD Detective Brett Hankison in a federal retrial, where he was found guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights.
“Last night’s verdict can never erase the pain felt by Breonna’s family, friends, and loved ones,” Fischer said. He continued to say that in the course of executing that decision, it has become pretty challenging and very long a wait for accountability to finally be dealt with in this case.
“As the justice system continues to work, including cases currently before the courts dealing with search warrants, I hope that this step, together with police reform efforts and continued community engagement, will begin to help restore faith in our institutions.”
This time around, Hankison was under heavier scrutiny, following the highly criticized 2020 raid that led to Taylor’s death. In this retrial, the jury found Hankison guilty on Friday for violating civil rights by allegedly using force that caused fatal injuries to Taylor but declared him not guilty of intentionally endangering Taylor’s neighbors.
It was an unusual case, and after almost three days of deliberating, the jury had voted 8-4 to initially report a deadlock. Following an Allen charge, designed to instruct the jury, in this case, continue deliberating and consider another unanimous vote if possible.
The partial conviction was a result of Hankison’s second federal trial after his first had ended in a mistrial last year following another deadlocked jury. Thursday, jurors asked a question as they deliberated to clarify if they needed to determine if Taylor was a “living victim” at the time Hankison discharged his weapon.
Hankison was scheduled for March 12 sentencing, with an avid community observing the saga in this case and more such cases. Fischer explained how, through this process though draining, accountability and reform will be essential steps taken for healing and rebuilding trust between Louisianians.
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