Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has announced that he will release recordings from the grand jury proceedings involved in the Breonna Taylor case. In a statement to The Hill, he says that he plans to release the recordings on Wednesday despite how it may affect the ongoing investigation and other “unintended” consequences” it may have.
“As the special prosecutor, our team has an ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool,” Cameron stated.
“Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judge’s order to release the recording on Wednesday.”
The decision to release the recordings comes less than a week after state officials announced that no officers would be directly charged in the death of Breonna Taylor. Instead, former officer Brett Hankinson was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for firing shots that could have injured others in nearby apartments.
Initially, Cameron had articulated that the officers were justified in firing the shots that killed Taylor because her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had fired the first shot which hit officer Jonathan Mattingly. However, a new ballistics report from the state contradicts the notion that Walker struck Mattingly first. Instead, it does not confirm that Walker hit Mattingly and leaves the possibility open that Mattingly was hit by friendly fire.
Walker nor Taylor’s family has released a statement regarding Cameron’s recent decision.
