When is the police justified in using deadly force? 2:13
(CNN) - In the early hours of March 13, the Louisville, Kentucky Police arrested an alleged crack dealer named Jamarcus Glover.
Glover was not the kingpin. His arrest did not appear in the national headlines. But having him handcuffed represented a key moment in a narcotics investigation that lasted months. If it had ended there, it would have been a good night for the police.
But in a related, nearly simultaneous operation across the city, officers, wearing tactical vests, settled outside a Louisvill apartment in the South End in front of a green door with a gold number 4. It was the home of a young woman who detectives suspected was part of the Glover network.
Her name: Breonna Taylor.
Agents used a battering ram to break down Taylor's door, triggering a series of events that would leave the 26-year-old woman unarmed in a barrage of police gunfire, apparently out of control.
Unlike the recent and controversial killings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, there is no police body camera video of what happened in the moments after officers knocked on Taylor's door. And in an era of widespread demands for increased police accountability, it is a case where achieving a widely agreed sense of justice could prove difficult.
In the absence of video evidence, the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death have been widely discussed, and sometimes distorted, on social media and by experts. False claims include that the police were raiding the wrong direction, and that an officer injured in the shooting was the victim of "friendly fire" by other police officers.
Misconceptions aside, the police operation that night was tragically flawed.
A CNN review of the incident found a key miscalculation by the police, who assumed that Taylor was home alone when she was actually accompanied by a boyfriend who was legally armed, along with the decision to proceed with a forced entry. high risk under questionable circumstances contributed to the fatal outcome. This story is based on a review of affidavits, search warrants, audio recordings of the official statements of key participants, 911 recordings, and interviews with more than a dozen people.
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That night's chaotic scene was exacerbated by an agent accused by his own department of firing "blind" 10 shots at Taylor's apartment from an uncovered patio. Since then, he has been fired and is appealing his dismissal.
Photo of the place where Breonna Taylor died, provided by Sam Aguiar, the attorney for Breonna Taylor's family.
Police officers and prosecutors declined to comment for this report, citing an ongoing investigation. Attempts to contact Glover, who faces drug trafficking charges stemming from the incident, were unsuccessful. His lawyer said his client intends to plead not guilty, but declined to comment further.
Walter Katz, a veteran expert in police oversight - who has monitored the Los Angeles, San Jose, and Chicago Police Departments - called the known circumstances of Taylor's death "very troublesome" and indicative of systemic training failures and tactics.
The investigation, which now includes the State Attorney General's Office and the FBI, is being closely watched not just in Kentucky, but across the United States.
Five arrest warrants approved
At around noon on March 12, a Louisville Police detective submitted to Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Mary Shaw a stack of five requests for search warrants for approval, according to court records .
They were for places linked to Glover, a convicted criminal suspected of supplying the local drug market. One of the places to look was Taylor's apartment.
Police said Glover used Taylor's residence as his "current address" as of the February 20 check of various online computer databases and that he had been receiving mail there, says a three-page affidavit. for a search warrant written by Detective Joshua C. Jayne. The detective said he saw Glover "enter" directly into Taylor's apartment in mid-January, and shortly afterward leave with a package. It then led directly to a "known drug store," Jaynes said. Taylor's car, the detective noted, had been seen parked in front of another alleged Glover-linked drug warehouse "on different occasions." The affidavit did not document any activity regarding Taylor or his residence in March.
In addition to seeking approval of the records, the Police wanted the judge to give them permission to execute the arrest warrants without having to knock on the door, which means that the police could force entry if they deemed it convenient. These extreme tactics are supposed to be reserved for cases where police fear suspects may try to arm themselves or are deemed to be able to destroy evidence if given the opportunity in the moments before a raid. Fulfilling so-called "do not touch" orders is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in law enforcement. The Police are supposed to accurately articulate to the judges why such actions are necessary in a given case.
For each of his five arrest warrants, Jaynes used identical language to justify entry without touching: "These drug traffickers have a history of attempts to destroy evidence, they have cameras on site that engage detectives once they approach housing, and they have a history of running away from law enforcement. ”
The judge approved all the records and gave the police permission to force entry into the places if necessary.
In a written statement provided to CNN, Judge Shaw declined to discuss the details of the order, saying it was "restricted in my ability to comment on ongoing legal matters." But, she said, it took more than 30 minutes to review and consider requests for orders and "I made the probable cause determination that the law requires of me."
Shaw added that Taylor's death was a tragedy that "will stay with me forever."
Taylor's family attorneys would later attack Jaynes' affidavit for Taylor's residence as weak and misleading. For example, any shipments Glover received in his department would have been harmless items like clothing or shoes, one of the attorneys told CNN.
"They were definitely not drugs."
"We keep hitting"
Hours after Shaw signed the arrest warrants, the police began the operation, conducting almost simultaneous raids in various locations.
Taylor's department, according to police, was considered a less volatile "soft target". As such, police commanders decided in advance that officers call and announce their presence before entry. That decision was communicated in a preoperative briefing, according to a source familiar with the details of the operation who requested anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.
Sometime after 12:30 am, Sgt Jonathan Mattingly started banging on the door. He later told investigators that he believed Taylor was alone and that he wanted to give him enough time to respond.
As the policemen waited for an answer, a neighbor poked his head in to ask what was going on. One of the officers, Brett Hankison, held out his gun and told the neighbor to reenter his apartment, Mattingly would later tell investigators.
"Brett was a little nervous," Mattingly said. “I remember looking at Brett and saying, 'Brett, relax. Brett, just relax. Just relax".
When there was no response after repeated beatings, Mattingly said, he announced that he was a police officer there to carry out a search warrant.
"Policeman. Come to the door, ”he said.
Another search team agent said he heard movement inside and thought someone was about to open the door.
"We keep hitting and announcing," Mattingly said, but no one responded yet.
Finally, a lieutenant at the scene gave the order to "go ahead and hit" the door with the battering ram, Mattingly said.
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"Who?"
Taylor had been watching a movie in bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when she fell asleep next to him. Walker told investigators that she heard a knock on the door after midnight and her first thought was that it was Glover. She said she knew Taylor had dated the accused drug trafficker during their seven-year on-off relationship. She was concerned that there might be problems.
Taylor, who had woken up, shouted, "Who is it?"
Walker said there was no response.
He said he and Taylor rushed to get dressed and grabbed his gun, which his lawyer said he legally owns.
The knocking on the door continued, he said.
"She is screaming at the top of her lungs, and so am I right now: who is she?" He recalled. "Unanswered. Without anything".
As they walked down a hallway to the front door, Walker said, the door flew off its hinges.
"So I only let one shot out," he said. "I still couldn't see who he is or anything."
Follow police orders and procedures
Mattingly was the first to cross the door.
She could make out a man and a woman in the dark hallway, she said, and the man had a gun in his hand.
"I remember seeing the canyon," said Mattingly.
Then, in an instant, he saw the flash of the cannon and felt the heat of a bullet in his leg. The bullet had cut his femoral artery.
Mattingly returned fire, releasing multiple shots in rapid succession.
Bum. Boom Boom Boom Boom, "he recalled. In all, he said he shot six times.
He remembered falling to the ground and being helped to get out of the apartment before listening to fellow policemen return fire.
Hankison and Agent Myles Cosgrove were later identified as the other agents who unloaded their weapons that night.
An attorney for Cosgrove declined to comment. Hankison's attorney did not respond to CNN calls and emails. Mattingly's attorney, Todd McMurtry, defended his client's conduct.
"Sergeant Mattingly was following orders from superiors, did not participate in the arrest planning process, and at all times followed established police procedures," he said.
None of the officers has been charged with any crime.
Louisville Police Officers Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankison and Jonathan Mattingly.
"Help"
Inside the apartment, Walker was uninjured. But Taylor lay on the ground next to him, bleeding profusely. There were bullet holes everywhere, even in a neighboring apartment where a young child lived.
Walker dialed 911 on his cell phone.
His voice sounds haunted when he tells the dispatcher that someone had kicked the door and shot his girlfriend.
As the operator filled him with questions, Walker repeatedly moaned his girlfriend's nickname - "Bre" - and the word "help."
In the minutes after the shooting, Louisville Police invaded the parking lot of the Taylor apartment complex.
Cell phone video shot by a neighbor and posted on social media by Taylor's sister captured the scene:
Officers with drawn weapons shout orders from behind police cars, as Walker walks behind the compound with his hands in the air.
Photo of the scene provided by Sam Aguiar, attorney for Taylor's family.
They took him in handcuffs. Six days later, a jury accused him of attempted murder of a police officer.
The indictment was returned after a brief presentation in which panel members were essentially told that Walker had opened fire on police during a raid and that one of the officers had been wounded.
The jurors were not told that Walker said he was unaware that the people who burst into Taylor's door were police officers and that he believed he was acting in self-defense. The panel was also not informed of Taylor's death.
No drugs found in the department
In May Walker's defense attorney Rob Eggert filed a motion to dismiss the charge.
He said that the prosecution's presentation to the panel "completely misrepresents" what happened the night Taylor was killed and that the jury was "woefully misled."
"His way out of this was to bury my client," Eggert told CNN in a recent interview. "And that's not right".
A day later, in a surprise move, the Louisville-area chief local prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charge against Walker. Thomas Wine, the attorney general for the Commonwealth of Jefferson County, said he did not agree that the jurors had been misled, but accepted that it was important that they listen to Walker directly before deciding whether to charge him. If, after further investigation, the case were brought back to the jury, Wine said, Walker would have that opportunity.
Why is there police brutality in the US?"A shock to the conscience"
Taylor's shooting was widely covered by the Louisville Courier Journal in the days and weeks after the events. But the case received relatively little national exposure.
That changed after the death, in police custody, of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, which sparked weeks of protests in cities across the country.
Taylor's case exploded in the national consciousness along with Floyd's.
Last month, the Louisville City Council passed the Breonna Act, which prohibited no-touch orders and requires officers who execute search warrants to wear body cameras.
Eight days later, the newly appointed Louisville Police Chief gave Hankison a firing letter.
The chief accused Hankison of blindly firing 10 shots at Taylor's apartment through a covered door and window that prevented him from assessing any threats posed by the occupants before opening fire.
Some of his bullets penetrated a neighboring apartment and endangered the lives of three of its occupants, according to the letter.
"I find in his conduct a shock to the conscience," wrote the chief. "Your actions have brought discredit on yourself and the Department ... and it demands its termination."
The Department's Public Integrity Unit has completed a formal investigation into the shooting, but the results of the investigation have not been published.
Meanwhile, FBI agents have taken documents from Louisville Police investigators, according to a source familiar with the matter. At the Taylor apartment complex, agents have been interviewing their former neighbors, one resident told CNN.
When is the police justified in using deadly force? 2:13Katz, the police oversight expert, said he believes there has been increasing pressure on prosecutors across the country to stop giving undue deference to the police version of events in controversial uses of force.
But a case like Taylor's, which does not have a video, requires a thorough and methodical investigation that could take considerable time to complete, he said.
A key area of dispute in the case is whether the police announced their presence before breaking down the door.
Mattingly told investigators that he and others did it repeatedly. Walker said he never heard anyone say "police" and that he and Taylor were yelling "who is it?" and they found silence.
CNN interviewed several of Taylor's neighbors, either directly or through her attorney. Most said that the gunshots woke them up and, therefore, they did not hear what preceded it.
"Truly, definitely missed"
Taylor's aunt Blanca Austin and her sister Ju'Niyah Palmer say they want the police officers involved in Taylor's death to be charged with murder.
In a recent interview in a park overlooking downtown Louisville, Taylor's sister and aunt spoke about the circumstances surrounding her death and what they hope will come out of her death.
Her aunt, Bianca Austin, described Taylor as a "brave, goofy little girl" who became a hard-working, goal-oriented young woman who emphasized family. At the time of her death, she had been working as a certified emergency medical technician.
"He was a fun person to be around," Austin said. "She is going to be really missed."
The loss has been so devastating to Taylor's mother that she spent last Mother's Day in her room, refusing to get out of bed.
Taylor's sister Ju'Niyah Palmer, who was also her roommate and best friend, acknowledged that Taylor had a past relationship with Glover. But she said her sister was not involved in Glover's alleged drug operation and had prohibited her from bringing that aspect of her life into her personal life.
"You can't come to my house with any drugs," he said, quoting what his sister told Glover. "My sister lives here and I can't put her in danger of being affected by what you do."
She said that Taylor had nothing to hide in her apartment and that she would have been happy to demonstrate to the police if she had known it was they who entered the door.
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"If they had come in and said, 'Hey, you sell drugs,' she would be like ... that's not who I am," Palmer said.
Both women criticized the police for Taylor's death and said the officers involved should be charged with murder.
"We are going to fight to the end," said her aunt. "This is our baby and she will get the justice she deserves."
Breonna Taylor