The grand jury's decision today on the Breonna Taylor case has left a lot of people saddened, outraged, and disappointed. Did the grand jury make the right decision here? Is this a case of injustice? Before I get into all of that, a recap of the events that unfolded on March 13, 2020.
On the night of March 13, 2020, multiple officers showed up to the apartment of Breonna Taylor and Kenneth Walker with a search warrant(issued by a judge). I've seen as many reported as 6 officers on the scene, but the officers in question here who engaged in gunfire are Detective Brett Hankison, officer Jonathan Mattingly, and officer Myles Cosgrove. Essentially, it was believed to be a "drug house" by law enforcement. The individuals law enforcement were looking for are reported to be Jamarcus Glover and Adrian Walker, both of whom were not present in Taylor's apartment.
It was first reported that this was a "no-knock" warrant executed by law enforcement, which essentially means officers can just bust into your home at the drop of a hat without announcing themselves to conduct their search and/or make an arrest. The officers have since claimed that they did not execute a no-knock warrant and knocked and announced themselves before entering the premises. At least one witness corroborated this claim, though other neighbors claimed they did not hear this. Upon breaching the apartment, Mattingly, according to Attorney General Daniel Camerson, is the only one who actually entered the apartment. Kenneth Walker fired at him, likely thinking it was a home invasion, hitting him in the thigh. This was confirmed to be from Walker's firearm, as he had 9mm and the 3 officers all had .40 caliber handguns. All 3 officers then returned fire. Officers Cosgrove and Mattingly from the doorway, and detective Hankison from the patio and through the window. Breonna Taylor was killed in the gunfire. There were over 30 shots in total fired from the officers. Attorney General Cameron said Hankison fired 10 shots, Mattingly fired 6, and Cosgrove fired 16 shots. AG Cameron stated their investigation(likely a combination of ballistics and eye witness accounts) found it was a shot from officer Cosgrove's gun that was the shot that killed Breonna Taylor.
Today the grand jury indicted Hankison on 3 counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. Officer Mattingly and Cosgrove were not charged. Detective Hankison has long since been let go before being charged.
Okay, so this is a lot to unpack here. I'll start with this. There are questions that are most important in determining should more charges or more serious charges been handed down.
1. Did the officers commit any wrongdoing or commit a criminal act? If so, which?
2. Which officer or officers are responsible for Taylor's death?
3. Can it be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt to convince a jury?
As I've touched on before in several blog posts, this is criminal law we are talking about here. Not morality policing. As shitty of a situation as one is, the letter of the law must be upheld. One can't be arrested or charged based on what one thinks "should" happen morally. Criminality needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. So I'll start by addressing the first question. Did the officers commit wrongdoing or a criminal act?
The officers were there with a search warrant, which means they had legal right to enter the property even if the residents were opposed to it. A warrant is only issued by a judge when law enforcement establishes enough probable cause. Evidently, they did in this case to the judge's discretion. Once they entered the home and were fired upon, the officers legally have the right to return fire. As stated in many blog posts of mine, law enforcement can respond with lethal force if they have strong reason to believe their lives or the lives of civilians are in immediate danger. Being shot at(and struck) certainly qualifies. The question here is, were the responding shots too extreme and reckless?
Officer Mattingly and Cosgrove were in the doorway. Detective Hankison was outside near the window. Mattingly and Cosgrove reportedly return fire directly, the former firing 16 shots and the latter 6. 6-8 of those shots struck Walker and a reported 6 struck Taylor. AG Cameron stated that it was determined through their investigation that one of the bullets fired by Cosgrove was the fatal shot. I don't know the exact layout of the apartment, but being that an officer was fired on and struck, and at the time remember, the officers entering the apartment were entering it for a reason. They suspected it to be a drug house, potentially with drug dealers inside, I do not consider the amount of shots fired by Mattingly or Cosgrove excessive force. Their lives are in danger, one officer had already been struck. Their goal is to neutralize the target. Unfortunately and tragically, Taylor, an innocent bystander was killed by one of these rounds.
I do not believe Mattingly or Cosgrove committed any crimes here, and the grand jury made the right call not to indict. They had legal right to return fire. This was a horribly sad and tragic accident. There are no indications whatsoever they intended to kill Breonna Taylor or cause her any harm. Intent is everything when trying to prove murder.
Before I get to Hankison, I just want to do a rundown of Kentucky's murder laws. Kentucky has murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless homicide.
To charge Mattingly or Cosgrove with any of these crimes they would either have to prove direct intent to kill Taylor and/or premeditation(Murder); an intent to kill without premeditation, in the heat of the moment(Voluntary Manslaughter); unintentionally killed Taylor while committing a criminal act(Involuntary Manslaughter); knew their acts were reckless and dangerous and didn't intend to kill, but the victim died anyway(Reckless Homicide).
The only one of these Mattingly and Cosgrove's actions would remotely fall under is reckless homicide, but being that an officer was struck and acting in self defense, they had right and precedent to respond with lethal force. They did not commit a criminal act, so involuntary manslaughter would not apply here. The other two, forget it. Remember, when charged, you have to convince a jury that these officers are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and any of these crimes committed here would be virtually impossible.
Now, to detective Hankison, the one who was actually charged with a crime here. Why was he charged and not the others? From listening to AG Cameron today and looking through the details of the case, they determined the extreme nature in which he fired into the apartment based on the position he was in(not in the doorway like the other two officers) was unjustified and reckless. Being that the investigation determined it was not one of his shots that killed Taylor, he was not charged with any murder offenses. He was determined to be guilty in acting recklessly and endangering the lives of others, and showed severe indifference to the well-being of others. Neighbors in nearby apartments were nearly shot by his actions, nearly killing them. Hankison was not in the doorway and he didn't have a clear view of the apartment. He fired recklessly through windows, not having a clear view of any potential targets. That is reckless policing and reckless use of potentially lethal force. The circumstance and positions the officers were in while firing shots into the apartment determine whether the use of force was justified. Being that Mattingly and Cosgrove were in the doorway and Mattingly had already been hit, I'm sure that was a major determining factor in the grand jury finding their actions were justified in comparison to Hankison. Also, Hankison's shots appeared more erratic in nature, and was essentially firing almost blindly into the apartment.
I know what question you're asking. "So, is that it? No one is held responsible for her death?" That's not entirely true, it depends on what you mean by "held responsible." Breonna Taylor's family was awarded a $12 million settlement with the city of Louisville. That settlement shows culpability in what happened to Breonna, as is shown in the settlement which was the largest ever handed out on behalf of the Louisville police. As for criminal charges? Unfortunately, this is probably going to be the end of it. Remember, a crime has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. I just don't see enough here based off the facts and circumstances to prove murder. The prosecution would have to prove that Hankison's gun is the one that killed Taylor, going against an investigation that already took place. Or if they want charges for Mattingly or Cosgrove they'd have to prove the offenses I outlined above. As it currently stands, I don't see any of the more severe charges having any chance of sticking. Trials are expensive and a DA would never sign off on it.
This was a grand jury decision. A grand jury is presented with mounds of evidence and detail to take into consideration before making its decision. Typically, much more information than the public is privy to. The fact that a grand jury made this decision and not "the establishment" makes me feel even better about it, as tragic as the whole incident was. The fact that people are blaming a "corrupt system" on this decision, shows that people have already made up their minds on this issue long ago, think their feelings supersede that of a grand jury(who had all the evidence and facts at their disposal) or don't understand how the process works. It's an extreme shallow take on an issue that requires a lot of nuance and understanding. Grand juries are there to prevent corruption and tunnel vision, not to reinforce it.
Ultimately, I think this horribly sad story is not one of police brutality. It was a botched police raid that ended tragically. An innocent life was taken that did not have to be, but I do not believe that life was taken at the hands of a criminal act, by definition of the law. I think all that can be done is to push for quality reform(which I touch on in other blog posts) and Senator Rand Paul has already started that by introducing the 'Justice for Breonna Taylor' Act, which would ban no-knock warrants, which turns out according to AG Cameron didn't actually end up occurring in this case, but is a good start to prevent unnecessary death in future law enforcement raids, nonetheless.
My condolences go out to Breonna Taylor and her family. There are no winners here and it is a heartbreaking situation all around.
No comments:
Post a Comment