Breonna Taylor Grand Juror Wants Secret Proceeding Made Public
Breonna Taylor Grand Juror Wants Secret Proceeding Made Public
(Bloomberg) -- A Kentucky grand juror involved in the decision not to bring murder charges against police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman in her apartment, asked that the transcripts and recordings of the secret proceeding be made public so that “the truth may prevail.”
The juror said in a request Monday at the Jefferson Circuit Court that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron at a Sept. 23 press conference laid the decision not to charge the officers with murder, or at all, at the feet of the grand jury while failing to answer questions about what possible charges the jurors were presented.
“The citizens of this Commonwealth have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself,” the juror said. “Using the grand jurors as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for these decisions only sows more seeds of doubt in the process while leaving a cold chill down the spines of future grand jurors.”
The juror also asked permission to discuss the grand jury proceedings and specifically to disclose what didn’t happen in the secret proceedings, what charges weren’t presented to jurors, what explanations of the law weren’t given, and which witnesses didn’t testify.
“This action does not seek monetary damages,” the juror said in the filing. “Only the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
The decision not to charge the police officers with murder sparked outrage. Taylor had been the center of the #SayHerName campaign highlighting police brutality against women. Protesters took to the streets of Louisville, which had been placed under a state of emergency, shortly after the decision was announced.
Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was indicted by the grand jury on three counts of first-degree “wanton endangerment” for firing his weapon into neighboring apartments but not specifically for shooting Taylor. Hankinson pleaded not guilty Monday, the Washington Post reported.
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