Tapes of the grand jury inquiry into the police killing of Breonna Taylor were released Friday, October 2nd, one week after just one ex-cop was charged in the case, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron submitted the nearly 15 hours of tapes after an unidentified grand juror filed a motion Monday, September 28th, demanding the tapes be made public and accusing Cameron of using the grand jurors “as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for those decisions.”
According to a statement from Cameron, the tapes “contain the entire presentation of evidence,” with some redactions for any identifying information or names of minors. The tapes do not contain juror deliberations and prosecutor recommendations and statements, which are not recorded as they are not considered evidence.
“I’m confident that once the public listens to the recordings, they will see that our team presented a thorough case to the Jefferson County Grand Jury,” Cameron said. “Our presentation followed the facts and the evidence, and the Grand Jury was given a complete picture of the events surrounding Ms. Taylor’s death on March 13th. While it is unusual for a court to require the release of the recordings from Grand Jury proceedings, we complied with the order, rather than challenging it, so that the full truth can be heard.”
The ex-officer charged in the Taylor case was Brett Hankison, who faces just three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and could face up to five years in prison for each count. The two other officers involved, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, will not face any charges.
Not only had activists and lawyers for Taylor’s family been hoping for more serious charges like murder, but many were quick to point out that the endangerment charges levels against Hankison were tied to shots he fired that traveled through the walls of Taylor’s apartment into the apartment directly behind hers. Ultimately, not a single charge was filed directly in relation to Taylor’s death.