According to U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s decision, Taylor’s boyfriend’s actions—firing a shot at officers on the night of the raid—and not a faulty warrant were the legitimate cause of her death.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland filed federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany in 2022 during a well-publicised visit to Louisville. Although Jaynes and Meany were not present during the raid, Garland claimed they knew they had fabricated a portion of the warrant and had put Taylor at risk by sending armed officers to her flat.
In the Tuesday ruling, Simpson, however, stated that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” Simpson’s decision essentially dropped the life-in-prison maximum allegation of civil rights violations against Jaynes and Meany to misdemeanours.
In March 2020, when drug-addicted police smashed down Taylor’s door, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot that hit an officer in the leg. Walker claimed he thought someone was breaking in.
Walker’s “conduct became the proximate, or legal, cause of Taylor’s death,” according to Simpson’s conclusion.
“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 responding officers, Simpson said.
Walker’s counsel claimed that he was unaware that he was firing at police, leading to the dismissal of the attempted murder allegation against Walker that had been brought against him at the time of his initial arrest.
Kenneth Walker and Breonna Taylor.CBS News
A representative for the US Justice Department told CBS News that the agency is examining the judge’s ruling and determining the appropriate course of action.
Kelly Goodlett, a third former officer implicated in the federal warrant case, entered a guilty plea to a conspiracy charge in 2022 and is anticipated to provide testimony against Meany and Jaynes at their trials.
Days before the search was executed, according to federal prosecutors, Jaynes, the person who drew up the Taylor warrant, told Goodlett he had “verified” through a postal inspector that a suspected drug dealer was receiving parcels at Taylor’s flat. Prosecutors alleged that Goodlett informed Jaynes that there was insufficient evidence to link Taylor to any illegal behaviour at the time the warrant was issued, although knowing it was untrue. She also included a line stating that, according to court documents, the accused drug dealer was currently residing in Taylor’s flat.
According to court filings, Jaynes and Goodlett met in Jaynes’ garage two months after the Taylor shooting, when it was making national headlines, to “get on the same page” before Jaynes spoke with authorities about the Taylor warrant.
In 2022, federal prosecutors also charged Brett Hankison, a fourth former officer, with putting Taylor, Walker, and a few of her neighbours in danger by firing at Taylor’s windows. Hankison is set to face those charges again in October following a hung jury verdict in his previous trial that concluded last year.
In order to resolve litigation filed in both federal and state courts by Kenneth Walker, the city of Louisville agreed to pay $2 million in 2022.
“What does justice look like for you, for Breonna Taylor?” was the question posed to Walker by co-host Gayle King of “CBS Mornings” in 2020.
Walker said, “Breonna Taylor is sitting right next to me.” “That’s the only justice for me.”