LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A mistrial was declared Thursday afternoon after a jury was deadlocked on a verdict in the trial of an ex-Louisville Metro Police Department officer Brett Hankison.
Hankison was charged with excessive force that violated Breonna Taylor’s rights along with her boyfriend and neighbors, according to The Associated Press.
He reportedly fired his gun blindly on the night Taylor was killed during a police raid in March 2020, WLKY reported. Some of the shots went into Taylor’s window, a glass door, and into an apartment next door, according to the AP. No one was hit by any of the shots.
The trial went on for about three weeks and two dozen witnesses testified, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Over the last few days, a jury struggled to reach a verdict. Eventually, on Thursday they sent a note to the judge saying “they were at an impasse.” The judge, according to the AP, urged them to continue to try. They returned to deliberations, but U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ultimately declared a mistrial.
Hankison could go through a retrial but that is up to federal prosecutors, the AP reported.
