Two former Louisville officers were acquitted of felony charges in the Breonna Taylor case

Two former Louisville police officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, were accused of falsifying the warrant that resulted in the tragic shooting of Breonna Taylor in March 2020. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson has dismissed significant felony charges against them.

Rather than the purportedly flawed warrant, the judge determined that the legal cause of Taylor’s death was the actions of her fiancé, Kenneth Walker, who fired at police during the raid. This decision reduces the civil rights violation allegations against Jaynes and Meany, which were previously subject to a potential life sentence, to misdemeanors.

Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General, initiated the federal proceedings against Jaynes and Meany in 2022. The two officers were accused by Garland of knowingly submitting fraudulent information in the warrant, which ultimately put Taylor in immediate danger. Nevertheless, Judge Simpson decided that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death,” instead emphasizing Walker’s decision to fire as the primary cause.

In spite of this decision, Jaynes and Meany are not entirely absolved of their responsibilities. Jaynes’ conspiracy accusation and an additional charge accusing her of making false statements against Meany were not dismissed by the judge.

The case garnered national attention when Louisville police forcibly entered Taylor’s apartment in order to execute a drug-related warrant. Walker, who was under the impression that an intruder was in the process of breaking in, fired a shot that wounded an officer’s leg. In the ensuing pandemonium, the police returned fire, tragically killing Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her own home.

Initially, Walker was charged with attempted murder; however, his legal team subsequently argued that he was unaware that the perpetrators were police officers. Thus, the charges were dismissed.

As this legal dispute persists, Kelly Goodlett, a third former officer who was also involved in the warrant preparation, has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and is anticipated to testify against Jaynes and Meany. A retrial is scheduled for October for former officer Brett Hankison, who was accused of jeopardizing the lives of Taylor, Walker, and their neighbors by firing into Taylor’s windows. His initial trial resulted in a hung jury.