Brett Hankison, the lone officer charged in the raid on Breonna Taylor’s home, has had his trial delayed until 2022.
Hankison, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove were not charged with murdering Taylor. Instead, Hankison is facing three charges of wanton endangerment for firing into Taylor’s neighbor’s home. He is the only one to face charges stemming from the botched drug raid that left the 26-year-old EMT shot eight times on March 13th, 2020. He was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department at the end of June.
The ex-detectives trial was initially scheduled for August 31st. On Friday, Judge Ann Bailey Smith pushed the trial back to February 1st, 2022, citing the Kentucky Supreme Court directive, which gives priority hearings to defendants in jail during the pandemic. She noted that there is only one room to accommodate many attendees, and two murder trials are already taking place during the week of August 31st.
Smith is also hoping that mask orders will be lifted in time for the new trial, saying, “You want to not only hear what people have to say, but you want to see their expressions on their faces.”
Hankison’s defense motioned for the trial to be transferred out of the county, but Smith ruled against their request.
