The United States Department of Justice has requested that a former police officer involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor be given a prison term of a single day, plus three years of supervised release.That reduced sentencing recommendation marks a stark reversal for the prosecution, which began under former President Joe Biden and continued under current President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump appointee serving as assistant attorney general for civil rights, submitted a court memorandum reflecting the government’s new stance.
She argued that former police officer Brett Hankison should not be confined to prison for his actions in the early morning hours of March 13, 2020, when Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was shot to death in her apartment.
Dhillon noted that Hankison had no criminal history before November 2024, when a federal jury found him guilty of using excessive force in violation of Taylor’s civil rights.
These facts, Dhillon wrote, “demonstrate that there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public from the defendant”.
“For the reasons explained in this memorandum, the government requests a downward variance and a sentence of time served (one day’s imprisonment), followed by three years of supervised release.”
But critics blasted the recommendation as disregard for the will of the jury — not to mention for Taylor’s life.
“The fact that Donald Trump’s DOJ thinks Breonna Taylor’s life is worth just a one-day jail sentence is morally reprehensible and deeply insulting,” wrote US Representativ …