The redacted recordings from the Breonna Taylor grand jury hearings, approximately 20 hours’ worth of audio, were released on Friday, October 2, 2020.
The 14 audio files taped from September 21-23 give the public a glimpse into the process but solidifies what many already suspected: Daniel Cameron did not present a case that would hold the officers responsible for her death.
In fact, it is noted that they did not even record the juror deliberations nor the prosecution’s recommendations because they were not considered evidence.
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At the center of the case is whether or not the police (in a clear and audible fashion) made their presence known as they entered into Breonna’s home. If they did and were fired upon by Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, then the officers would have been justified in shooting back. If they did not, their defense goes up and smoke — Taylor’s blood is on LMPD’s proverbial hands.
What did the tapes prove?
According to reports, a witness that said they heard the police announce themselves did NOT testify. Instead, another officer reported what he heard to the grand jury as evidence.
It has been reported that of the 12 witnesses who testified, only one said that the police officers announced themselves.
None of the witnesses said that the cops did identified themselves in the 90 seconds between “gently knocking” to “forcefully pounding” to banging and shouting out “police” and breaching the door.
It was revealed through testimony that Detective Myles Cosgrove got into an argument with a neighbor saying, “something about leave her alone, there was some girl there.”
On the second day of the grand jury’s presentation, a detective from the Office of the Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations said that he interviewed Summer Dickerson, one of Taylor’s neighbors and she said that after hearing the gunplay that she called 911. Dickerson, a white woman, came out and asked a familiar officer and asked what was going on.
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She reported that an officer told her, in the thick of the commotion, “Some drug-dealing girl shot an officer.”
Also, the tapes reveal that the jurors were not content with the evidence. They questioned what was presented and gasped at testimony. According to the New York Times, this is what happened when Walker gave his account.
A tape of Walker’s account recorded the day of the shooting with investigators was shared with the panelists. He said that he and Breonna Taylor were in the dark catching a late film when they heard the knocking at the door. This alarmed them and they tried to put clothes on to be appropriate for whatever was going down.
The knocking only lasted for 90 seconds, a minute and a half. He said that Breonna screamed “at the top of her lungs” asking who’s at the door banging. He explained that the two began to walk out of the bedroom, toward the door. That is when he said that the doors flew off the hinges — and he banged out a shot from his gun.
He willfully communicated that he was not able to see who was at the door and did not hear them identify themselves.
“All of a sudden, there’s a whole lot of shots,” Walker said. “They’re just shooting, like, we’re both on the ground.”
Then he said that the shooting ended, and he looked at Breonna and she was bleeding.
“Next thing I know, she’s on the ground and the door’s busted open and I hear a bunch of yelling and just panicking,” The boyfriend said. “And she’s right here bleeding. And nobody’s coming, and I’m just confused and scared.”
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Walker told investigators that was when one of the officers told him that he was getting locked up for the rest of his life and asked him, “Were you hit by any bullets?”
He told the cop, “No.”
Walker alleged that the police officer replied to him, “That’s unfortunate.” He punctuated the sentence saying that was the officer’s “exact words.”
One of the jurors responded, “That’s not appropriate.”
No transcripts of the audio were released.
