The secret grand jury recordings in the Breonna Taylor case were released publicly on Friday.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office released the tapes nearing a court-mandated deadline after he and the grand jury faced condemnation for the charges that were brought as a result of the raid that left Taylor dead.
“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 in a statement Friday.
The attorney general had sought more time before releasing the audio, but a judge granted him a two-day extension, which was Friday, instead of granting him additional time.
“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,” he added. “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.”
Brett Hankison was the only former Kentucky law enforcement officer who was charged for his role in the raid, and the grand jury recording is being released as part of the case against him. He was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment in September.
Prosecutors claim that Hankison endangered Taylor’s neighbors after he responded to one shot being fired at the officers by Taylor’s boyfriend when he fired his own weapon into a neighboring apartment. If convicted, Hankison, who was fired from the police department, could face up to five years in prison for each count. The other two officers involved in the March raid were not charged.
A wave of protests across the nation ensued after the grand jury opted not to charge any of the officers for the death of Taylor, a black, 26-year-old emergency room technician.
One of the grand jurors filed a motion in Jefferson County earlier this week for the court to release all records in the investigation.
The juror, who is not named in the Monday court filing, said through a lawyer that more details are wanted about what happened in the proceedings so that “the truth may prevail.”
