LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former Louisville Metro Police officer's federal trial remains largely behind closed doors as jury selection continues into a third day.
Brett Hankison is accused of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor and those of her neighbors during a botched raid of Taylor's apartment in 2020.
This marks the second attempt by prosecutors to convict Hankison for his actions on the night Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot to death by police after they knocked down the door of her apartment.
“We call it dual sovereignty doctrine,” Defense Attorney Karl Price said. "Dual means two, sovereignty means jurisdiction; a location -- Kentucky or the federal government -- and doctrine is just another way of saying law."
Price, a former Jefferson County prosecutor, said although the Fifth Amendment protects a person from being tried twice for the same charges, under the dual sovereignty doctrine, that can still happen.
"The federal government basically is charging Brett Hankison with different offenses than he was charged in the state court,” he said.
Last year, Hankison was found not guilty on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into neighboring apartments the night of the botched raid.
Hankison’s federal charges include several civil rights violations.
"There can never be a deprivation of those civil rights,” Price said. “But when there is a deprivation of those civil rights by an individual who is acting under the ‘color of law’ – i.e., a uniformed individual, a police officer – those rights can be redressed either civilly, and sometimes criminally.”
Price said although it is “somewhat difficult” to convict police officers in Kentuckiana, the outcome of Hankison’s case remains uncertain.
“The federal government is pretty good about their criminal prosecution, they have a 90-plus conviction rate,” he said. “Generally, they do not bring charges they don’t believe they can make.”
Price said the indictment talks about the “use of a dangerous weapon” and “an attempt to kill.” He believes this will be an interesting piece of the trial because federal prosecutors will need to prove Hankison attempted to kill someone, particularly the three neighbors.
“But then there’s a question of whether he was trying to kill the individual he thought was shooting outside to the police officers and then accidently shot Sergeant Mattingly,” Price added.
As of Wednesday, nearly 80 potential jurors have been questioned by attorneys.
While we don’t know the exact questions being asked, we do know they are interested in knowing about each juror’s criminal history, their perception of the police, their thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement and what they already know of the Breonna Taylor investigation.
Right now, it's unclear when the 16-person jury will be seated or when opening statements will begin.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.