USA TODAY International Edition
Release of grand jury recordings delayed
A judge has agreed to the request from the Kentucky attorney general to push back the release of records in the case.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A judge agreed to state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s request for a delay in releasing grand jury recordings in the controversial Breonna Taylor case, initially due by noon Wednesday.
Cameron asked for a one- week extension in a motion filed Tuesday, saying the delay was necessary to protect witnesses’ personal information. The high- profile case has prompted threats against officials and police officers.
Judge Ann Bailey Smith gave his office a new deadline of noon Friday to submit the recordings.
Stew Mathews, who represents former detective Brett Hankison, confirmed the deadline to The Louisville Courier Journal.
Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for Cameron, confirmed that Smith “granted an extension ... to give us proper time to redact specific personal information of witnesses.”
Cameron’s office wants to “redact personal identifiers of any named person, and to redact both names and personal identifiers of any private citizen.”
Kuhn said Wednesday morning that the audio recording is 20 hours long and that the office filed a motion to request additional time “to redact personally identifiable information of witnesses, including addresses and phone numbers.”
In response to myriad threats, the Louisville Metro Police Department is “providing extraordinary protection,” including up to 400 hours of security each week to protect officers, public officials and their families, according to a motion filed by F. Scott Lewis, attorney for the grand jury witnesses.
Smithordered Cameron on Monday to include the grand jury recording as evidence in the criminal case against Hankison.
Wednesday, 13 witnesses interviewed by the LMPD Public Integrity Unit and the Attorney General’s Office filed a separate motion seeking a limited protective order that would prevent anything included in the public case file from including their names or other identifying information.
The motion cited the “thousands, if not millions” of people interested in the case and potential for “threats to and reprisals against witnesses.”
Cameron said Monday that he would comply with Smith’s order, but he was concerned it could compromise a federal investigation and have unintended consequences of tainting the jury pool.
Sam Aguiar, a Louisville attorney who has represented Taylor’s family, said Wednesday the move was “par for the course for Daniel Cameron to blatantly mislead the public.”
Monday, a grand juror in the case filed a court motion calling for the release of the recording and transcript, along with permission to speak freely about what charges and defendants were not considered.
One week ago, the grand jury indicted Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment but did not bring charges against any of the officers for Taylor’s death.
Hankison’s charges stemmed from shots he fired into a neighboring apartment with three residents.
Cameron’s investigation has sprung leaks and faced intense scrutiny from the public and attorneys for Taylor’s family. Louisville- based attorney Lonita Baker called for a new special prosecutor to be appointed.
The Attorney General’s office asked for time “to redact personally identifiable information of witnesses, including addresses and phone numbers.”