The jury in the case of former Louisville, Kentucky police detective Brent Hankison has come in and it found the officer not guilty of the three charges in the case.
He was charged with firing his weapon into the apartment of Breonna Taylor with those rounds ultimately entered the next apartment placing the innocent residents of that apartment, which included a child, in imminent danger.
A legal expert on Law and Crime network put the decision into perspective when he told viewers that the outcome would hinge on whether the jury looked at the facts from the view of the officer or the view of the innocent parties. The only knowledge that the public has is that which they see on television where the actors are on marks so the camera gets the correct view and they can re-do the scene until they get it right. After that, the footage is edited in a studio before the product is shown to the public. Law enforcement does not get do-overs and the final product is not a polished video. He was the only officer charged with a crime in the case and none of his
Hankison testified in his own defense that he fired his weapon at the muzzle flashes he saw through a window and that he fired to protect other officers from the gunfire aimed at them. Hankinson testified that he was unaware of anyone being in the apartment of Taylor and was devastated when he was told that Ms. Taylor was dead inside and broke down multiple times during the testimony.
It is clear that suspects will shoot without regard for where the rounds hit, but police officers are expected to know the destination of rounds that they fire.
Although a tragedy, the officer’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances of being fired on, In fact, a Louisville police sergeant was shot in the exchange of gunfire.
Stew Matthews, an attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio who made national news representing University of Cincinnati Police Officer Raymond Tensing in two trials for the death of Samuel Dubose, represented Hankison.
The jury in this case made the right decision.