He is charged with two felonies for depriving the civil rights of Taylor and her neighbor.
The U.S. Justice Department’s final witness was Sgt. Brandon Hogan of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Hogan formerly trained police officers on firearms and was part of a SWAT team that arrived at Taylor’s apartment after the shooting.
Hogan testified that, based on a briefing before the warrant was served, he didn’t actually expect officers to visit Taylor’s apartment on Springfield Drive.
When he arrived, he saw bullet holes around a window that was covered with drapes and blinds, he said.
Hogan said his initial reaction was “hope” that the holes represented shots fired at officers – not the other way around. Hogan said he couldn’t discern how an officer would be able to identify a threatening target inside before firing through the window.
He said all officers are trained on this principle, as are civilians who take basic conceal and carry permit classes.
“How can we engage something that we cannot see?” Hogan said.
He also testified that officers are trained to consider what effect errant bullets might have if they pass through objects.
“Bullets are not like the movies,” Hogan told the court. “They don’t get stopped by flipping tables over or stuff like that. Bullets go through almost everything.”
The prosecution used his comments in an attempt to underscore previous testimony that people in neighboring apartments had shots enter their homes, too.
“In an apartment complex, especially at that time of night, it is imperative,” Hogan said, referring to the fact the raid took place after midnight. “You know people are in there. You know people are probably sleeping in their beds.”
Then it was the turn for Hankison’s defense lawyers to call witnesses.
Aaron Sarpee testified that he was picking up his daughter from a babysitter in an upstairs apartment. It was late after his shift as a truck driver. When he tried to leave with his daughter, he saw police outside and they told him to go back inside, he said.
Sarpee, a military veteran, said very soon after that he heard lots of gunshots. Two bullets came through the floor of the upstairs apartment where he grabbed his 2-year-old to shield her.
“All their lives were endangered that night,” he said of the people in the apartments around Taylor’s.
Sarpee said it gave him flashbacks to being in a war zone. He said he requires special medication to sleep.
“I served my country to keep this country safe. We have officers running around to keep our families safe,” Sarpee said, his voice quivering. “Our kids are dying from the folks who are supposed to keep us safe.”
Sarpee is not the only witness from the scene continuing to experience effects from that night. Earlier this week, neighbor Chelsey Napper, who is named as an alleged victim of Hankison in the indictment, said she and her family were diagnosed with PTSD after the incident.
Defense attorneys questioned Sarpee about a comment he made previously that made it appear as though he came out after hearing police outside. Sarpee said that was incorrect: He didn’t know police were in the apartment complex until after he opened the door and ran into them on his way out.
They also called Mike Nobles to testify, an officer who was part of the team that conducted the raid. Nobles said they loudly and repeatedly knocked and screamed, “Police!” During that time, a neighbor came out from upstairs who officers told to go back inside, but he couldn’t see the person.
Soon after, Nobles said he broke down Taylor’s apartment door after hitting it with a battering ram device three times.
According to Nobles, as the door opened, there was a pop – a single shot from Taylor’s boyfriend, who later said he thought the police were intruders. The lead officer in the raid shouted, “No, no, no!” and bent over, appearing to be shot. Another officer, Myles Cosgrove, “heroically” stepped over the fallen officer into the doorway and began firing into Taylor’s apartment, killing her. Officers behind Cosgrove retreated.
It was sometime during this scene that Hankison is said to have also fired shots through a closed window and glass door. Nobles said he didn’t see or hear what Hankison was doing amid the chaos, but that Cosgrove fired the final shots.
He testified that he wasn’t sure what Hankison’s exact vantage point was in those moments. He also confirmed a statement about his initial reaction after learning about gunshots being fired through windows: “What the f—, this is not Iraq!”
The defense also briefly brought LMPD officer Joel Casse to the stand to testify on the veracity of his body camera footage. Casse was a member of a SWAT team that entered after the initial group had retreated. It appeared to show windows with both blinds and curtains drawn.
Also on Thursday, lawyers for Hankison made a motion for acquittal. Among other things, they argued Taylor had already been shot by another officer before Hankison fired, therefore he didn’t specifically deny her civil rights. The judge denied the motion.
The defense said it will present a few more witnesses, including Hankison, on Monday. The court expects to hear closing arguments on Tuesday, after which a jury will deliberate. Hankison’s last federal trial ended in a mistrial after the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
