LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The former Louisville Metro Police detective found guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights is now asking a judge for a new trial to overturn the verdict.
Brett Hankison’s attorneys filed the motion on Friday, Nov. 15, accusing the Department of Justice of engaging in “prosecutorial misconduct” throughout his recent federal trial in late-October.
Hankison was accused of violating the civil rights of Taylor and her neighbors after he fired 10 shots into her apartment, but the jury found him not guilty of violating the neighbors' rights.
It was a retrial of his first federal trial which ended in a mistrial last November.
According to the 25-page motion, Hankison’s attorneys argue federal prosecutors made “a variety of improper arguments/comments” which they argue “necessitate a reversal of his conviction.”
The motion claims prosecutors disregarded the court’s instruction to avoid commenting on whether other officers involved should have fired shots or not.
Hankison’s legal team argued the alleged comments were so “pervasive” and “destructive” that prosecutors misled jurors, ultimately depriving him of a fair trial. They also maintain that the evidence of guilt against Hankison is still not overwhelming.
“[Hankison] has had three trials over the same conduct at issue in this matter,” his attorneys explained. “The sheer fact those proceedings have resulted in a full acquitted of all three counts during his state trial, a hung jury on both counts in the first federal trial, and his most recent trial resulted in an acquittal on Count 2 [the neighbor’s civil rights], and a guilty verdict on Count 1 [Breonna Taylor’s civil rights], which was only rendered after he jury sent two separate notes indicating they could not come to an agreement on this count, two Allen charges being read, and roughly twenty-two to twenty-three hours of deliberating, is indicative of just how little evidence of guilt there is in this matter.”
Read the full motion:
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