DOJ Seeks One-Day Sentence for Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Raid

The U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal judge to sentence former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison to a single day in prison for violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights during the botched March 2020 raid that led to her death. A federal jury in November 2024 found Hankison guilty, a charge that carries a potential life sentence. In a sentencing memorandum filed late Wednesday, the department said Hankison "did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death," noting that the 10 rounds he fired did not strike Taylor or her neighbors. The recommended term would be deemed time served because Hankison was booked and made his initial court appearance the day of his arrest. The unusual request was submitted by Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon and her counsel, without signatures from the career prosecutors who tried the case. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings is scheduled to impose sentence on July 21 in Louisville.