Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Recording Released, Taylor's Boyfriend, Police Argue If Cops Announced Their Presence

The recordings of the grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case reveal contradictory testimony over whether police announced themselves or just barged into Taylor's Louisville, Kentucky, apartment. The recordings were released Friday by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron under court order.

Earlier this week, a juror filed a motion asking that the judge unseal the transcript and records related to Taylor's March 13 death. Taylor was killed as police armed with a no-knock warrant broke down her front door.

None of the three officers who fired their weapons that night -- Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove and former Officer Brett Hankison -- was charged in Taylor's death. Hankison, however, was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a neighboring apartment.

The announcement of the charges sparked protests and calls by Taylor's family for Cameron to release the evidence.

One of the recordings played for the grand jury is Louisville Police Lt. Shawn Hoover's interview conducted the night of the raid. He said police knocked on Taylor's door three times before entering.

"We knocked on the door, said 'police,' waited I don’t know 10 or 15 seconds. Knocked again, said 'police,' waited even longer," Hoover testified.

"So it was the third time that we were approaching, it had been like 45 seconds if not a minute. And then I said, 'Let’s go. Let’s breach it.’"

Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was with her the night of the shooting, as well as multiple neighbors, said that they did not hear the officers announce their presence.

The judge ordered the recordings to be released Wednesday. Cameron filed a motion for a one-week extension to give his office time to redact personal information from witnesses, but the judge instead gave his office until Friday.

In a statement Friday, Cameron's office said that 3 minutes and 50 seconds of audio was redacted from the recordings. An unredacted copy was also filed with the court so that the judge could compare the redacted and unredacted copies of the recordings if needed.

The recordings do not include juror deliberations or prosecutor recommendations and statements.

Cameron said he is confident the release of the recordings will show "our team presented a thorough case to the Jefferson County grand jury."

“Our presentation followed the facts and the evidence, and the grand jury was given a complete picture of the events surrounding Ms. Taylor’s death on March 13. While it is unusual for a court to require the release of the recordings from grand jury proceedings, we complied with the order, rather than challenging it, so that the full truth can be heard.”