The US Department of Justice is recommending a one-day jail sentence and supervised release for the former police officer convicted of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her bedroom by Louisville, Kentucky, police in March 2020.
Brett Hankison is set to be sentenced on Monday after being found guilty in November 2024 of one count of civil rights abuse for shooting into Taylor’s bedroom window, which was covered by blinds and a blackout curtain, during a narcotics raid on the wrong home.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, which justice department attorneys argued should be drastically reduced.
Hankison’s bullets pierced the apartment nextdoor, where a couple with a five-year-old child lived. None of his shots hit Taylor, her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who was in the room, or her neighbors, investigators found.
In a 16 July sentencing memorandum, assistant attorney general for civil rights Harmeet K Dhillon and senior counsel Robert J Keenan said that because Hankison did not shoot anyone and has a clean record otherwise, he should only serve three years of supervised release. It also said that Hankison has suffered psychological stress from the trials. The justice department did not respond to a request for comment.
The memo said that “there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public from defendant or to provide ‘just’ punishment or deterrence.”
The memorandum also argued that he was first tried in 2023, ending in a mistrial, and that he was acquitted of a second charge of violating the neighbors’ civil rights.
“The government respects the jury’s verdict, which will almost certainly ensure that defendant Hankison never serves as a law enforcement officer again and will also likely ensure that he never legally possesses a firearm again,” the memo said.
Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro police department in June 2020, and Taylor’s killing fueled the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the United States.
If the judge honors the justice department’s request, Hankison would serve no jail time, as his booking and initial court appearance would count toward the one day.
