An anonymous juror motioned on Monday to have the transcripts of the deliberations in the Breonna Taylor case released, and has asked to speak publicly in order to clear the air of any confusion. Attorney General Daniel Cameron granted both requests.
"While there are six possible homicide charges under Kentucky law, these charges are not applicable to the facts before us because our investigation showed—and the grand jury agreed—that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in the return of deadly fire after having been fired upon," Mr. Cameron said during a news conference.
Legal experts had warned that Kentucky's self-defense law made it such that it would be unlikely that Sergeant Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove would be indicted on murder charges because Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had fired the first shot during the execution of the warrant. Walker said that he thought the officers were intruders despite Cameron saying that the officers had knocked, announcing who they were before entering the residence.
The juror reportedly took issue with the way the state's attorney general represented the grand jury's deliberations and stated that the AG's office failed to give the panel the option to indict the other two officers involved in the incident, according to The New York Times.
"This is something where the juror is not seeking any fame, any acclaim, any money," said Kevin M. Glogower, the juror's counsel.
Glogower said that the unnamed juror was uncomfortable in allegedly not having the option to indict the two other officers involved in the shooting of Taylor. The 12-member panel was reportedly only provided the possibility of charging Detective Brett Hankison, who was fired in June.
"We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented," Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said in an email, according to The Times.
Kuhn noted that there would be no charges brought against the other two officers because their force was justified under the conditions of the execution of the warrant.
"Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sergeant Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker," she wrote in an email. "For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment."
Longtime defense lawyer Ramon McGee said the question of which charges the attorney general presented to the panel was not a problem, according to The Times.
"That is an incorrect assumption on how the grand jury process works," McGee said. "Prosecutors make the decision on what witnesses are called, which evidence is tendered and what charges to recommend," he said.
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