Judge allows jurors to speak publicly about Breonna Taylor case
Judge Annie O’Connell ruled that members of the grand jury can speak publicly about the proceedings in Taylor’s case.
On Tuesday (Oct. 20), Judge Annie O’Connell ruled that the grand jurors who worked on the Breonna Taylor case can speak publicly about what happened during the proceedings, according to WLKY.
“There exist additional interests to consider in making this decision: the interest of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to be assured that its publicly elected officials are being honest in their representations; the interest of grand jurors, whose service is compelled, to be certain their work is not mischaracterized by the very prosecutors on whom they relied to advise them; and, the interest of all citizens to have confidence in the integrity of the justice system,” O’Connell wrote.
She also advised the jurors that if they choose to speak publicly without hiding their identification, the court will not have control over the amount of public scrutiny and attention they may receive.
The judge also said that the order “merely grants one grand juror’s request to do so and gives others the option… any one grand juror’s memory, options, perceptions are their own. No one grand juror speaks for the others, nor does one’s statement carry any more weight than another’s.”
Back in March, Taylor was fatally shot by members of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) as they executed a “no-knock” warrant at her home. Authorities were investigating a drug operation which was allegedly linked to her ex-boyfriend — who no longer lived with Taylor at the time of the shooting.
Months later, a grand jury charged former LMPD Detective Brett Hankison with three wanton endangerment counts for “blindly” shooting into the homes of Taylor’s neighbors. Since his indictment was announced, a juror sued the state to be able to speak publicly about the case.
The juror also accused Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron of using the grand jury “as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility for those decisions” and adds that this has resulted in “more seeds of doubt in the process.”