(Photo: John Sommers II/Getty Images)
Shortly after a judge ruled that grand jurors could speak publicly about the Breonna Taylor case, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said “everything” from the grand jury should be released by Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
“The current situation raises serious concerns, as multiple grand jurors are now claiming Attorney General Cameron has not been truthful to the public about what occurred in the grand jury process,” Beshear said in a statement Thursday. “I trust Kentuckians with the truth, and the next step should be to release all information, evidence, grand jury conversations, recorded or not — everything.”
On Tuesday, the grand jury didn’t agree that her fatal shooting was justified and the jury was never asked to consider murder charges against the Louisville police officers.
The new details come after a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Annie O’Connell ordered the release of the grand jury records in the case so the public can see if “elected officials are being honest.”
“There exists additional interest 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,” O’Connell said, according to NBC News.
Lawyer Kevin Glogower identified Grand Juror #1 in a statement saying the only charge presented during the proceedings was wanton endangerment.
Last month, Cameron announced that no police officers would be charged with homicide for killing Taylor March 13 and said the use of force was justified.
Taylor, 26, was shot to death after officers with a no-knock warrant broke down her door during a narcotics investigation.
The only officer charged in the incident was former Louisville Police Dect. Brett Hankison for firing shots into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment.
The anonymous grand juror said in a statement that homicide, self-defense and justification laws were not explained during the proceedings.
“Questions were asked about the additional charges and the grand jury was told there would be none because the prosecutors didn’t feel they could make them stick,” the statement said. “The grand jury didn’t agree that certain actions were justified, nor did it decide the indictment should be the only charges in the Breonna Taylor case.”
Taylor was shot multiple times after her boyfriend fired once at the police which he believed was a home invasion.
In a separate statement, another grand juror said they were “pleased” with the judges ruling and “will be discussing possible next steps with counsel.”
Cameron said he disagreed with the judge’s decision to order the release of records but will not appeal it. He said he’s still confident in the presentation made to the grand jury.