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Kentucky attorney general to release Breonna Taylor jury deliberations

29 September 2020
Dan Ackermann

Grand jury proceedings in the case of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman fatally shot by police, will be released on Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron confirmed to news outlets.

Driving the news: Cameron's announcement late Monday came hours after a judge granted an unnamed juror's court motion seeking the release of last week's transcripts and related recordings.

🚨 BREAKING: KY Attorney General Daniel Cameron says he *will* release grand jury recording in #BreonnaTaylor case on Wednesday.

Here’s his full statement: pic.twitter.com/T2XiClvbYY

— Blayne Alexander (@ReporterBlayne) September 29, 2020
  • "The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body," Cameron said in his statement. "It's apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen." 
  • Kevin Glogower, the attorney for the juror, wrote in the filing, that they hoped "the truth may prevail," per the Courier-Journal.
"The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country."
Glogower

The big picture: Taylor died during a police raid on her Louisville home on March 13. None of the three officers were indicted on homicide or manslaughter charges related to Taylor's death.

  • Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting into an apartment next to Taylor's during the raid. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.
  • The announcement of the charges triggered nationwide protests last week.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.