Judge Dismisses Major Charges Against Former Officers in Breonna Taylor Case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed serious felony charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led to the tragic shooting of Breonna Taylor. The warrant was used by police to forcefully enter her apartment, where she was shot and killed.

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson stated that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at the police during the raid, were the main reason for her death, not the warrant itself.

In 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany during a visit to Louisville that garnered national attention. Garland accused the two officers, who were not present during the raid, of knowing they had falsified parts of the warrant, which ultimately placed Taylor in a dangerous situation by sending armed officers to her home.

However, Judge Simpson ruled on Tuesday that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” This decision downgraded the charges against Jaynes and Meany from serious civil rights violations, which could have resulted in life sentences, to lesser misdemeanors.

Despite the dismissal of the major charges, the judge did not dismiss a conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of lying to investigators.

What Happened During the Raid

During the police raid in March 2020, officers executing a drug warrant broke down Taylor’s door. Kenneth Walker, believing an intruder was breaking in, fired a shot that hit one of the officers in the leg. In response, police fired back, tragically striking and killing Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her hallway.

Judge Simpson concluded that Walker’s actions were the legal cause of Taylor’s death. He explained, “While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that Walker disrupted those events when he decided to open fire” on the police.

Reaction from Taylor’s Family

Initially, Walker was arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but that charge was dropped after his lawyers argued that he did not know he was firing at police. In a statement to The Associated Press, Taylor’s family expressed their devastation over the judge’s ruling. They stated they intend to appeal Simpson’s decision and emphasized their commitment to seeking full justice for Breonna Taylor.

The U.S. Justice Department has stated that it is currently reviewing the judge’s decision and will determine the next steps.

Other Officers Involved

In a related case, a third former officer, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty in 2022 to a conspiracy charge and is expected to testify against Jaynes and Meany at their upcoming trials. Prosecutors allege that Jaynes, who drafted the warrant for Taylor’s apartment, falsely claimed to Goodlett that he had verified information from a postal inspector about a suspected drug dealer using Taylor’s address. Goodlett was aware that this claim was false and informed Jaynes that the warrant lacked sufficient evidence linking Taylor to any criminal activity. She then added a misleading paragraph to the warrant.

Two months after the shooting, when it became a national news story, Jaynes and Goodlett met in Jaynes’ garage to coordinate their statements before he spoke to investigators regarding the warrant.

A fourth former officer, Brett Hankison, was also charged by federal prosecutors in 2022 for endangering the lives of Taylor, Walker, and some of their neighbors by firing into Taylor’s apartment. Last year, his trial ended with a hung jury, but he is set to be retried on those charges in October.