Legal accusations against two previous Louisville law enforcement officials, implicated in the Breonna Taylor search operation, have been dropped.
motion to dismiss other allegations was dismissed.
A 26-year-old emergency room technician named Taylor was fatally shot in her apartment during an botched forced entry raid at 3 a.m. on March 13, 2020.
In 2022, Louisville detectives Joshua Jaynes and Sgt. Kyle Meany were accused of submitting a false affidavit to search Taylor's residence before the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department's raid. They also conspired to create a "false alibi," attempting to escape accountability for their roles in authoring a warrant affidavit containing false information, as alleged in court documentation.
US District Court Judge Charles Simpson, on March 17, 2023, ruled that Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was the lawful cause of Taylor's death after firing a weapon when police stormed the house, believing they were intruders. Following Walker's gunshot, the officers returned fire, resulting in Taylor's fatal injuries.
The jury found no direct connection between Taylor's death and the warrantless entry.
According to Brian Butler, attorney for Kyle Meany, "We are [very] pleased by the Court’s ruling."
Judge Simpson dropped federal felony charges against both men, as the facts did not fit the charges as written. Taylor's death, he said, was the consequence of the manner in which the warrant was carried out instead of the warrantless entry itself.
The court documents stated that "Taylor’s death was proximately caused by the manner in which the warrant was executed." Walker's decision to open fire, as alleged and argued, was a natural consequence of executing the warrant at 12:45 a.m. on an unsuspecting household that prompted the officers to return fire, killing Taylor.
Jaynes' charge of using a dangerous weapon to deny Taylor her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search was already dismissed by the judge, as there was no evidence proving the execution team used their weapons to subject Taylor to the search.
As a result, the charge became a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of a fine, imprisonment, or both for up to one year.
The Louisville Metro Police Department, US Department of Justice, and Jaynes' attorney have yet to comment on the judge's decision. Taylor's family's attorney also has not provided a comment.
Taylor's death, as well as those of other Black people at the hands of law enforcement, like George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, led to nationwide protests for police reform in the summer of 2020. The ruling said: "The tragedy of Breonna Taylor’s death and the gravity of her family’s grief are not lost on this Court."
Meany still faces a charge of providing false statements to federal investigators, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Jaynes faces two charges of falsifying records in a federal investigation and conspiracy to falsify records and witness tampering, carrying a potential total sentence of 40 years.
Jaynes, who wrote the search warrant for Taylor's home, was dismissed from the force in 2021 for failing to complete a Search Warrant Operations Plan form and being dishonest about verifying packages were delivered to Taylor's residence by her previous boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover.
Meany was terminated from the Louisville department in 2022. Chief Erika Shields stated, "I fully respect the judicial process and realize Sergeant Meany has yet to be heard before a jury of his peers. That being said, he is facing multiple federal charges after a lengthy investigation by the DOJ."
Shields, who took charge of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department shortly after Taylor's death, resigned as police chief in early 2023.
Brett Hankison, another former Louisville detective, is set for a new civil rights trial in October, following a deadlock in his first trial. Prosecutors claimed Hankison used excessive force the night Taylor was killed and violated her civil rights, as well as those of her boyfriend and next-door neighbors. If found guilty, he faces life imprisonment.
Former detective Kelly Hannah Goodlett pleaded guilty in a federal court in 2022 to conspiring to create a false affidavit for a search warrant and lying to investigators about it, but has yet to be sentenced.
In the aftermath of the judge's decision, US authorities and Jaynes' attorney remain silent.
Regardless of the outcome, the tragic death of Breonna Taylor and other Black individuals at the hands of law enforcement continue to spark calls for police reform in the United States.
