An attorney representing an anonymous grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case argued in a Kentucky court Thursday that the juror specifically “wants to talk about their service on this grand jury” and is “not trying to be part of a global discussion in race relations.”
Attorney Kevin Glogower, who represents the juror, called on Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Annie O’Connell to release further grand jury material and the juror from secrecy. In response, attorney Victor Maddox argued on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that the secrecy surrounding grand juries is “fundamental” to the criminal justice system.
The unusual legal debate – grand juries are intended to be secret, with some exceptions – could shed further light on a case that has led to protests across the country and exemplified the ways that the “war on drugs” disproportionately hurts Black Americans.
The anonymous grand juror has suggested that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron may have misrepresented to the public the case presented to the panel, Glogower said at a press conference last week.
The grand juror previously requested in court that any and all recordings, transcripts, and reports of the grand jury relating to the case be released to the public. Additionally, the motion asked to “make a binding declaration” that the grand juror has the right to disclose information.
After a court ordered Cameron to do so, the Attorney General released roughly 15 hours of audio recorded while jurors reviewed evidence like 911 calls and body camera videos and asked questions.
However, the recordings do not include juror deliberations or prosecutors’ recommendations and statements, Cameron said. Glogower told CNN last week that the released recordings are missing some key information.
Cameron has said his office presented information to the grand jury “in a manner consistent with what the facts and the law are.”
Secrecy v. transparency
In court Thursday, Glogower argued that Cameron opened the door to release grand jury material when he discussed grand jury proceedings during a press conference in September. Glogower said the comments “completely undid secrecy” surrounding the proceedings.
He argued that it wasn’t right that the Attorney General was able to speak about the nature of the grand jury publicly, “and then sit back and say, ‘I’m sorry – you don’t get to do this because it has to be secret.’”
Maddox, though, argued that a decision to release further material, as well as to release this juror from secrecy, would be “breaking with centuries of precedent” on both the state and national level. He also said the release of such information could challenge former detective Brett Hankison’s right to a fair trial.
Judge O’Connell said she would decide on this matter “as quickly as [she] could.”
John Stewart, a criminal defense attorney and former Kentucky Assistant Attorney General, told CNN last week that he’d never seen anything like the grand juror’s filing in his professional experience.
“I’ve never heard of a grand juror asking the court to authorize the release of a transcript because they want to say something but don’t want to be held in contempt or violate any rules,” Stewart said. “It’s clear that this person is saying, ‘I want to speak the truth’ but are concerned they’ll violate the grand jury process … it seems they’re afraid the Attorney General will come after them.”
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers who broke down her apartment door during a botched drug raid on March 13.
Cameron led the investigation into the police killing and presented evidence in the case to a Jefferson County grand jury over two-and-a-half days last month.
The grand jury indicted Hankison on three counts of felony wanton endangerment, but none of the officers involved in the raid were directly charged with Taylor’s death.
Cameron argued that the officers who shot at Taylor, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove, were justified in doing so because Taylor’s boyfriend had shot at them first. Hankison has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Taylor family attorney Ben Crump issued a statement calling Cameron’s motion “a slap in the face.”
“With each day that passes and with every action of Daniel Cameron, it becomes more and more evident that the Attorney General has something to hide,” he said.
“If he has nothing to hide, and he did everything right as he claims, then he should have no problem letting the grand jurors speak to the public. They deserve to have that voice, and Breonna’s family deserves answers.”
CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Elizabeth Joseph and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
