LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The U.S. Department of Justice is asking that Brett Hankison, one of the Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, be released from federal prison while he appeals his conviction.

The DOJ filed a 28-page brief Thursday supporting Hankison's bid for bail before the 6th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Hankison, a former detective for the Louisville Metro Police Department, was found guilty in November 2024 of violating Taylor's civil rights and using unjustified and unreasonable force against her in 2020 when he fired into her window, which was covered with blinds and curtains through which he could not see, on the night she died. The shots he fired did not hit anyone.

It was the third time Hankison was tried in connection with th

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