Here’s What We Know So Far About The Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Recordings

On Friday Attorney General Daniel Cameron released the long awaited audio recordings of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case.

The audio recordings were obtained on Friday morning by the Louisville Courier-Journal amounting to 14 audio files, amounting to 20 hours and can be listened to here. The grand jury proceedings took place from September 21-23. 

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No written transcripts were handed over with the audio files, making the effort to sort through the proceedings long and arduous.

Two days ago Cameron revealed that he never recommended murder or manslaughter charges to jurors during the proceedings.

Body cameras also served as a point of contention. In the recordings jurors listened to a Sept. 11 interview between Cameron’s office and Detective Tony James who said that although he was provided with a body camera, he was unaware that it did not activate after he turned it on.

Jurors also listened to the officer’s accounts on the night of the raid. Brett Hankison, the only officer charged in the case, claims cops encountered rifle fire, even though Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, was only in possession of a handgun. The Courier-Journal reports that the lead investigator did not clear this up for the jury.

In the tapes Taylor’s neighbor named Summer Dickerson called 911 after hearing the shots. Dickerson approached an officer on the ground who told replied, “Some drug-dealing girl shot at the police.”

Jurors also listened to the interviews of Dickerson and two other neighbors who said they heard cops yell “reload” during the night of March 13.

Officers were reportedly conducting the raid to arrest Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover. Louisville Metro Police officials maintain Glover was trafficking drugs from Taylor’s apartment, even though no drugs were found on the night of the raid.

Another controversy surrounded the use of a no-knock warrant. Jeff Fogg, an investigator with the Attorney General’s office told jurors that officers knocked prior to barging into Taylor’s apartment.

Walker has repeatedly said that neither he nor Taylor heard a knock. Walker filed a civil suit against the city after he was charged with attempted murder, firing at officers who he believed were intruders. One of Walker’s bullets hit Sgt. John Mattingly in the thigh. Walker’s charges were later dropped, but he’s undoubtedly suffered immensely emotionally and mentally.

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Last week Taylor’s family urged Cameron to release the recordings for transparency. The reveal that Hankison was the only officer indicted, not relating in any way to Taylor’s sudden death on March 13 during the botched raid angered her family and the bevy of supporters who have marched for justice in Taylor’s honor.

Earlier this week a grand juror filed a motion asking for the recordings to be released, while also requesting permission to speak publicly on the case.

Cameron released a public statement after the release of the tapes:

“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. “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. 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.”

Here’s What We Know So Far About The Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Recordings  was originally published on themorninghustle.com