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DOJ urges time-served sentence for former officer involved in Breonna Taylor raid

FILE - Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison examines a document as he answers questions from the prosecution, March 2, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool, File)
Timothy D. Easley/AP
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FILE - Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison examines a document as he answers questions from the prosecution, March 2, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool, File)

The US Department of Justice is recommending that a former police officer found guilty of violating the rights of Breonna Taylor be sentenced to one day in jail.

Former Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison was convicted last year of one count of abusing Taylor's civil rights. Hankison fired several shots through Taylor's bedroom window during the "no-knock" police raid that became a flashpoint in the Black Lives Matter movement.

But a Wednesday court filing argues Hankison was did not shoot Taylor and is not responsible for her death and should serve one day behind bars -- another way of saying he would not return to jail because the sentence would be one of time-served.

CNN reports the filing was not signed by lawyers involved in the case or the career staff who usually handle sentencing requests, but by President Donald Trump’s appointee to run the Civil Rights Department and a senior non-career official in her division.

The Trump DOJ announced earlier this year it would be dropping a lawsuit calling for federally-overseen police reforms in Louisville -- shelving a proposed consent decree signed by Louisville city leaders and the DOJ. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has committed to implementing the consent decree locally.