Sandy MaloneFrankfort, KY – The recordings of the Jefferson County grand jury deliberations in the Breonna Taylor case will be released to the public by Wednesday.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office announced late Monday that they would release the records and transcripts of the proceedings that led to the indictment of former Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) Detective Brett Hankison, FOX News reported.
A judge ruled that the recording of the grand jury presentation would be added to the Breonna Taylor case file in response to a lawsuit that was filed by a grand juror, CNN reported.
The lawsuit, filed by a grand juror who wanted to remain anonymous, also requested that the grand jurors be allowed to speak freely about the case, FOX News reported.
“There is compelling public interest for these proceedings to be released of a magnitude the city and Commonwealth have never seen before that could not be confined, weaving its way across the country,” the lawsuit claimed. “The citizens of the Commonwealth have demonstrated their lack of faith in the process and proceedings in this matter and the justice system itself.”
The grand jury indicted former Det. Hankison on Sept. 23 on three charges of wanton endangerment for firing his weapon into a neighboring occupied apartment during a raid on Taylor’s apartment.
There were three people in that apartment, including a pregnant woman and a small child.
Cameron also announced the same day that the special prosecutor’s investigation for the state had determined that the officers who fatally shot Taylor were justified when they returned fire after her boyfriend opened fire on them.
The attorney general said that the grand jury agreed the officers were justified in their actions, FOX News reported.
“The attorney general publicly made many statements that referenced what the grand jury heard and decisions that were made based on what certain witnesses said,” the lawsuit to open the records claimed. “He further laid those decisions at the feet of the grand jury while failing to answer specific questions regarding the charges presented. Cameron attempted to make it clear that the grand jury alone made the decision on who and what to charge based solely on the evidence presented to them.”
“The interest of the individual grand jurors is parallel to the public but also manifests as fears of persecution, condemnation, retribution, and torment. Unfortunately, they do not get to hide behind an entity, person office,” the suit read, according to FOX News.
Although the attorney general had previously refused to disclose what charges prosecutors had recommended to the grand jury, Cameron said on Monday that the wanton endangerment charges against former Det. Hankison were the only ones he asked them to consider, according to Politico.
“Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sgt. Mattingly and Det. Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker,” the attorney general said in a statement. “For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment.”
Kentucky Attorney General’s Officer Spokeswoman Elizabeth Kuhn told The New York Times in an email that their office planned to release the recordings by Sept. 30.
Kuhn also said “the office has “no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented.”
“Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury,” Cameron said on Monday night, according to Politico.
Holly Matkin
