Recordings tied to the grand jury trial examining the police killing of Breonna Taylor were released Friday, days after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a court motion seeking an extension before releasing them. Cameron requested a one-week extension but was given until Friday to redact the personal information of trial witnesses. According to The Courier-Journal, which first obtained the recordings, they cover grand jury sessions between Sept. 21 to Sept. 23. The 15 hours’ worth of audio recordings contain descriptions of the night Taylor was killed by police officers executing a no-knock warrant, in addition to how prosecutors and law enforcement described the incident to the grand jury.
While witness audio was not released due to safety concerns, the recordings give insight into exactly which witnesses were heard by the grand jury. According to the attorney general’s office, no juror deliberations or prosecutor recommendations were recorded, as they are not part of the evidence. At this time no written transcripts have been released.
“I’m confident that once the public listens to the recordings, they will see that our team presented a thorough case to the Jefferson County grand jury,” Cameron said in a statement. “Our presentation followed the facts and the evidence, and the grand jury was given a complete picture of the events surrounding Ms. Taylor’s death on March 13th. While it is unusual for a court to require the release of the recordings from grand jury proceedings, we complied with the order, rather than challenging it, so that the full truth can be heard."
Calls to release the grand jury transcripts followed the Sept. 23 announcement that no charges will be pursued against the officers involved in the case. Last week Taylor’s family and attorney Ben Crump demanded the release of the transcripts to ensure Taylor was given a voice during the trial. The decision to release the grand jury transcripts was made following a motion filed by an anonymous juror requesting that the judge unseal transcripts and records related to Taylor’s death.
As expected, the recordings described moments in which false information was spread, including a moment in which an unarmed officer told a detective that “Some drug-dealing girl shot at the police," The Courier-Journal reported. Taylor was shot eight times and killed in March after three officers fired into her home while serving a botched “no-knock” warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker was there with her the night of her murder and fired a shot when the door was rammed, because he thought someone was breaking in.
According to police, the shot hit Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh, severing his artery—but some reports say otherwise. Cameron justified the shots that killed Taylor as self-defense against this wound, claiming the 20 shots Mattingly fired were sprayed after being hit.
Cameron told reporters the grand jury agreed with the self-defense determination, which resulted in the anonymous juror filing a motion to release the recordings to allow the jurors to speak more freely. According to The Courier-Journal, the juror’s attorney said Cameron used the jurors as a “shield” and what he said did not fit with what the jurors were told.
Other inconsistencies can be heard, including the number of times police knocked or announced themselves before entering, NBC News reported. "We knocked on the door, said police, waited I don’t know 10 or 15 seconds. Knocked again, said 'police', waited even longer," LT. Shawn Hoover said in the recording. "So it was the third time that we were approaching, it had been like 45 seconds if not a minute. And then I said, 'Let’s go, let’s breach it.’ “
The injustice Taylor faced at the hands of the Louisville police officers resulted in protests across the country. Thousands of people have gathered nationwide to demand the officers be charged for her death. Questions regarding the search warrant that led police to her home, in addition to a lack of packages police went in search of, have raised concern. According to The Courier-Journal, a judge on Thursday said she was concerned that the detective involved in the case may have lied to obtain the warrant.
However, Cameron maintains the whole process including investigations into the incident has been properly done and that the warrant is not of concern. "The scope of our investigation did not include the attainment of that warrant by LMPD's criminal interdiction division. Federal law enforcement partners are conducting that investigation," he said at a press conference last Wednesday.
Cameron and the Louisville police department have consistently lied about the investigations conducted, in addition to the charges recommended against the officers. A spokesperson for Cameron acknowledged Monday that prosecutors never recommended charges against the officers to the grand jury, just as advocates believed. The transcript recordings shed light on the inconsistencies and lies Louisville officials have clearly told.