20 Hours of Audio From Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Are Made Public

(New York Times) — An audio recording of the grand jury inquiry into the killing of Breonna Taylor was made public on Friday morning, a rare disclosure that could shed light on what evidence the jurors considered in the proceedings.

The recording, which is more than 20 hours long, was filed in court by the Kentucky attorney general, Daniel Cameron, and The New York Times is in the process of reviewing the material. The move came after a grand juror filed a court motion asking for the proceedings to be made public and accusing Mr. Cameron of using the jurors to deflect blame over the decision.

The jurors indicted a former officer last week with endangering three of Ms. Taylor’s neighbors by firing into their home during a raid of her apartment in March, but their decision to not charge either of the officers who shot her was met with angry protests in Louisville, during which one man shot two police officers. Their examination of the evidence lasted two and a half days, Mr. Cameron said.

Grand jurors are given broad powers to request evidence, call witnesses and determine which charges to pursue, but they often do not exercise — and sometimes do not even know about — those rights. Prosecutors often closely guide the jurors, presenting them with certain charges and telling them about their own roles, and the review almost always remains secret.

Mr. Cameron has insisted that the 12 jurors were given “all of the evidence” and were free to pursue charges against the two white officers who shot Ms. Taylor, a Black emergency room technician, even though the jurors were told the officers were justified.

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