The Kentucky attorney general’s office has announced it would release the grand jury’s transcripts after a grand juror contested in a court filing that its discussions were inaccurately portrayed.
In court papers filed on Monday, an anonymous member of that jury asked for the deliberations to be released, “so the truth may prevail.”
The filing implies that Kentucky’s attorney general Daniel Cameron intentionally misled the public.
“The full story and absolute truth of how this matter was handled from beginning to end is now an issue of great public interest and has become a large part of the discussion of public trust throughout the country,” the anonymous juror wrote.
In response to the filing, Cameron agreed to make the records public.
“The Grand Jury is meant to be a secretive body. It’s apparent that the public interest in this case isn’t going to allow that to happen,” Cameron said in a statement.
He added that the special prosecutor had an “ethical obligation not to release the recording from the Grand Jury proceedings, and we stand by our belief that such a release could compromise the ongoing federal investigation and could have unintended consequences such as poisoning the jury pool.
“Despite these concerns, we will comply with the Judge’s order to release the recording on Wednesday. The release of the recording will also address the legal complaint filed by an anonymous grand juror.”
Cameron has faced heavy criticism after the grand jury decided not to charge any of the officers directly with Taylor’s killing.
Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, sent a statement via email to The New York Times.
“Our prosecutors presented all of the evidence, even though the evidence supported that Sergeant Mattingly and Detective Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker,” she said in the email. “For that reason, the only charge recommended was wanton endangerment.”
