Grand Juror in Breonna Taylor Case Says Truth Must Come Out

And the recording of the proceedings will be released to court Wednesday
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 29, 2020 1:18 AM CDT
Grand Jury Recording Will Be Released in Breonna Taylor Case
University of Georiga students lead a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown in memory of Breonna Taylor in Athens, Ga., Friday, Sept. 25, 2020.   (Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)

The recording of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case will be released to the court Wednesday, despite Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's misgivings. The development comes on the heels of a grand juror filing a motion Monday demanding that the transcript be released. "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," the attorney for the juror, who has remained anonymous, wrote in the filing. With the release, "the truth may prevail." It was the judge at the arraignment of former Louisville Metro police officer Brett Hankison, however, who ordered the recording released by Wednesday, USA Today reports. Hankison, the only officer indicted in the case, pleaded not guilty Monday.

Following that series of developments, Cameron released a lengthy statement in which he said that, while "the grand jury is meant to be a secretive body," it's clear "that the public interest in this case isn’t going to allow that to happen." He said his office continues to have misgivings that releasing the recording could taint the jury pool or compromise the federal probe into the case, which is still ongoing. However, by releasing it, he said, he would comply with the judge's order as well as satisfy the grand juror's complaint. That complaint also spurred Cameron to clarify in his statement that, yes, the only charge recommended to the grand jury was the wanton endangerment charge against Hankison (which has nothing to do with Taylor's death). But, he insisted, "our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that [the other cops] were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon." It's not clear when the recording might be made public, CBS notes. (More Breonna Taylor stories.)

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