Federal Charges Dropped Against Two Former Louisville Police Officers Who Issued Warrants In Breonna Taylor Case

So now what?

CNN reports that two former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers had felony charges dropped against them by a federal judge in the Breonna Taylor case.

Louisville Detective Joshua Jaynes and Sgt. Kyle Meany were hit with federal charges in 2022 after submitting a false affidavit to search Taylor’s home before LMPD raided the apartment, then worked together to create a fake narrative to cover up an attempt to avoid responsibility. The charges carried a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The decision was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Simpson on Aug. 23, ruling that the warning shot fired by Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when officers entered the home was “the legal cause of Taylor’s death” over a warrantless entry, according to court documents. “There is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death,” the court ruled.

Walker fired the shot, thinking Jaynes and Meany were intruders. A round of gunfire took place, resulting in the 26-year-old emergency room technician being shot multiple times. Simpson dropped the felony deprivation of rights under the color of law charges, according to Courier Journal, against both former officers, claiming the “alleged facts do not fit the … felony offenses as written.”

However, neither is completely off the hook. Jaynes still faces charges of conspiring with another detective to cover up the false warrant and falsifying a document to mislead investigators. The charges of making a false statement to FBI investigators are still against Meany. Jaynes’ lawyer, Thomas Clay, says his client is happy with the judge’s ruling, saying it holds a precedent on how the U.S. should handle dismissals.

“This dismissal places the burden on the United States as to how to proceed on the dismissal of this order,” Clay said.

Meany’s legal representative, Brian Butler, agreed, “We are very pleased by the court’s ruling.”

Taylor’s death was one of three in 2020 — including George Floyd in Minnesota and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia — that chartered the Black Lives Movement, sparking nationwide protests. Court documents laid out the severity of her case, saying, “the tragedy of Breonna Taylor’s death and the gravity of her family’s grief [is] not lost on this Court.”

In contrast, a spokesperson from the Department of Justice said the judge’s decision is being reviewed, and the agency will announce next steps after it is assessed.

Another former officer involved in the case, Brett Hankison, also faced federal charges and is waiting for a new civil rights trial scheduled for October after a jury was deadlocked in the initial 2023 trial. Prosecutors accused Hankison of using unjustified force on the night of Taylor’s death and violated her civil rights along with Walker and the next-door neighbors. He faces life in prison if found guilty.