After more than a week of testimony, a jury is now expected to decide whether a former Louisville Metro Police detective is guilty of civil rights abuses.
Brett Hankison faces two felony charges of deprivation of rights under the color of law of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor and her neighbors. This stems from Hankison’s decision to fire several shots through Taylor’s apartment during a botched police raid at her home in March 2020. Some of his bullets also went into a neighboring apartment where a family of three was sleeping.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors and Hankison’s defense attorneys had one last chance to address the jury in their closing arguments.
‘12 seconds of chaos’
“You’re gonna be 12 jurors looking at 12 seconds,” said defense attorney Don Malarcik to open his closing argument.
Malarcik said it was “12 seconds of chaos” when the police raided Taylor’s apartment and Hankison shot through the glass door and window, which were covered so he couldn’t see inside.
Federal prosecutor Michael Songer reiterated the numerous testimonies from officers saying they were “shocked and confused” when they learned Hankison was responsible for the bullet holes that came from outside Taylor’s apartment.
Songer said Hankison’s actions were “like a drive-by shooting.”
Malarcik said Hankison had faced “unbelievable scrutiny” since 2020 for those actions.
Hankison and fellow officers were not given enough information about Taylor’s apartment before the raid, Malarcik argued. He said officers weren’t aware Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, would be there. He said officers had no knowledge of who lived next door or of the layout of the Taylor’s apartment.
“Bad information is worse than no information,” Malarcik said.
Hankison testified earlier this week that the night of the raid was the first time he was ever shot at or fired his weapon in his 17-year career. Malarcik said that Hankison had to make “a life or death decision” to protect fellow officers, after then-Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg by Walker.
Malarcik said Hankison acted no differently than other officers at the scene: He returned fire at the threat. He said Hankison was “acting to save lives.”
In contrast, Songer said Hankison “guessed” the target’s location. Hankison testified that he couldn’t see anything when he shot into the apartment.
“Officers cannot guess when it comes to the lives of innocent people,” Songer said.
Malarcik reiterated that Hankison did not shoot anyone. And he said federal prosecutors’ questions to Hankison on Tuesday were about hypothetical scenarios.
“Mattingly being shot in the femoral artery was not a hypothetical,” Malarcik said.
Songer said Hankison’s shots still affected those inside the apartment and the neighboring one.
“If [Hankison] suggests that his shots did not harm people, then he would be dead wrong,” Songer said.
Chelsey Napper testified last week that she, Etherton and her five-year-old were diagnosed with PTSD after the police raid. The second charge against Hankison is for allegedly violating their civil rights by shooting into their apartment. Songer reminded the jury that other witnesses — Aaron Sarpee and an upstairs neighbor — broke down in tears when they recounted their experiences.
“There’s no question that the defendant knew he was wrong,” Songer said to the jury.
Hankison “reasonably perceived a threat” when he fired into Taylor’s apartment, Malarcik argued. Malarcik reminded the jury that Hankison testified that he felt helpless when he believed he saw a man with a rifle inside the home.
Police investigators said they did not find a rifle after the incident.
Malarcik said Walker was “preparing himself for battle,” when police broke down Taylor’s front door. He said that Walker had “the upper hand” because he knew the layout of the apartment and he had time to grab his weapon. Walker has said he thought the police breaking down Taylor’s front door were intruders.
Songer said Hankison violated police policy, despite multiple trainings, instructing him to identify a target before shooting. During testimony, federal prosecutors presented documents showing Hankison took several active shooter and firearms training courses during his 17 years with LMPD, including one taught by Paul Humphrey, who is now the police chief.
But Malarcik said Hankison did not violate any policy because his actions were not explicitly described in LMPD’s standard operating procedures. He also said “target identification” is not written in any LMPD policies, including the use of deadly force policy.
Malarcik also argued against the charge related to Taylor’s civil rights, claiming she Taylor was’t alive when Hankison shot into the apartment, so Hankison couldn’t deny her civil rights, which end when someone dies. Federal prosecutors did not call any doctors, coroners or first responders to prove Taylor was alive when Hankison fired, Malarcik said.
Songer responded to Malarcik’s testimony, saying it didn't matter whether Taylor was alive after Walker left the apartment because she was alive seconds after police forcefully broke down the door and Hankison fired his first shot into the home.
Taylor’s death certificate says she died eight minutes after police broke down the door, but the coroner has said that time was an approximation.
Jurors are now deliberating about whether to find Hankison guilty of depriving the civil rights of Taylor or her neighbors. They have the right to convict him on one, both or neither charge.
Last year, Hankison was tried for the same charges, but the judge declared a mistrial after a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision.
In 2022, Hankison faced state-level wanton endangerment charges for the bullets he shot into Napper’s apartment. A jury acquitted him.
