Preparation has begun against officers in Breonna Taylor case

The lawyers are about to discuss the federal case involving a former Kentucky police officer who recklessly shot into Breonna Taylor’s apartment on the night of the tragic raid which caused her death.
This will be the second time that prosecutors have tried to convict Brett Hankison for his actions on the night when Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed by police. Attorneys will convene in a Louisville federal courtroom on Wednesday for a status conference regarding the case.
Last year, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Hankison, alongside three other officers, with one of them having pleaded guilty for aiding in the fabrication of the warrant used to enter Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020. Taylor was fatally shot in the hallway of her home after officers broke down the door and her boyfriend fired a bullet that hit a police sergeant.
In 2020, the killing of Taylor and George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minnesota police sparked protests across the nation that summer to protest racial injustice. In August, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the federal indictments in the Taylor case, noting that Taylor “should be alive today.”
Only Hankison has been charged in any court for the shots he fired during the raid. After Taylor’s boyfriend fired at them, prosecutors determined that the two other officers who fired and struck Taylor were justified in shooting back.
Jonathan Mattingly.
Former detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly acquitted Hankison, 46. State prosecutors brought charges against Kyle Meany in March for endangering Taylor’s next-door neighbors by firing shots into Taylor’s apartment that went through her walls. Retreating from the open doorway, Hankison discharged 10 rounds of ammunition into the sliding door and window on the side of Taylor’s apartment. Federal charges have been brought against him, Taylor, and her boyfriend, alleging that they endangered their neighbors.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Jennings Grady will preside over Hankison’s trial on Aug. 21 in Louisville. If he is convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Kelly Goodlett, a former officer, has already pleaded guilty to a federal charge and is anticipated to provide testimony in the cases against two other officers implicated in creating the Taylor warrant. Jon Mattingly are the only two officers charged in the case.
Joshua Jaynes and Jon Mattingly, both former detectives, are the only two officers to have been charged in this case. Kyle Meany is charged with conspiring to deprive Taylor of her civil rights. Jaynes and Meany are to be jointly tried on Oct. 25.
The guilty plea of Goodlett was moved from last year to Dec. 13, presumably after the completion of the cases of Jaynes and Meany.