Lawyer For Breonna Taylor Grand Juror Questions Why Only Daniel Cameron Can Speak To Media
At least two grand jurors want to speak out about the Breonna Taylor case and one juror even sued to be able to speak freely. Now a lawyer for an unidentified grand juror wants to know why Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron can repeatedly speak to the media, like Fox News, but the jurors can’t.
The grand juror's attorney, Kevin Glogower, said Tuesday that Cameron's continued talk radio and cable news appearances could "absolutely" bolster the grand juror's argument in court.
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the grand juror's attorney, Kevin Glogower, said Tuesday (October 13), "Why should only one person be allowed to talk about what happened in that room? Specifically, why should somebody with that amount of power be the only one allowed to talk about what happened in that room?"
Glogower also claims Cameron doesn't appear to have actually been in the room, according to 15 hours of grand jury recordings, but makes "very definitive statements" about what happened.
He added, "That continues to build courage within our client that they're doing the right thing. They're attempting to go through the appropriate avenues to speak out and to make sure that whatever is getting to the public is the full truth, and not just the one side of the assertions that are coming from the attorney general's office."
Cameron is opposing the juror's motion to speak freely and in a 22-page response, he said, "Allowing this disclosure would irreversibly alter Kentucky's legal system by making it difficult for prosecutors and the public to have confidence in the secrecy of the grand jury process going forward."
Cameron said he doesn't object to anyone stating their opinion about how he handled the Taylor investigation but stated "while the duty of a grand jury to meet in secret is firmly established, the right of the alleged grand juror to proceed anonymously is anything but."
He also claimed there is a "remarkable difference" between that and revealing secret grand jury proceedings, which he said are "well-founded and are based on centuries of history, practice, and custom in the country and the commonwealth."
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Annie O'Connell will rule on if the jurors can be released from the gag order but there is no word on when she will make that decision, the Courier-Journal reports.
On Sept. 23, the grand jury returned three counts of “wanton endangerment” in the first degree against former officer Brett Hankinson for firing into another apartment. A $15,000 cash bond was also attached to the charges. The other two officers, Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove, were not charged and remain on the force. Hankinson was fired in July.
After midnight on March 13, Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly executed a botched “no-knock” warrant at Taylor's apartment which she shared with Walker. Believing they were intruders, Walker fired his weapon and gunfire from the officers ensued. The 26-year old Taylor was struck six times and died. Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron claimed the warrant was not a no-knock and the police announced themselves prior to entering the apartment.
Breonna Taylor’s family is demanding that Daniel Cameron recuse himself from the case and wants a special prosecutor instead. Cameron is opposing the gag order from the grand jurors being lifted after two members sought legal assistance to allow them to go public with their stories.
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