On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed the two felony charges that carried a life sentence against former Louisville Metro Police officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany. Jaynes, Meany and another officer were responsible for the search warrant for Breonna Taylor’s home in March 2020, which prosecutors say they obtained with false information.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Simpson ruled the warrant was not the actual cause of Taylor’s death. Simpson said that the decision Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, made to fire a shot at officers breaking down their door “is the legal cause of Taylor’s death,” according to the 33-page court order.
This follows a federal case that began two years ago. In 2022, the United States Department of Justice indicted Jaynes and Meany for their role in securing the search warrant. The indictment alleges Louisville Metro Police did not have probable cause to search Taylor’s home until Jaynes and Meany falsified a search warrant.
Neither Jaynes nor Meany was present for the fatal raid. Other LMPD officers executed the warrant and broke down Taylor’s apartment door. When officers forcefully entered the apartment, Walker fired one shot at them. He later said he did not know who they were. Officers returned fire and fatally shot Taylor, sparking racial justice protests in Louisville and nationwide.
Jaynes still faces two felony counts of covering up Taylor’s death, which could lead to a 40-year prison sentence. The court order said Jaynes worked with another officer, Kelly Goodlett, after the botched raid to cover up the fact that the search warrant was falsified. Goodlett was the first officer to be convicted for their connection to Taylor’s killing.
Jaynes and Goodlett submitted a “false investigative letter” that linked Taylor to the drug dealer whom officers were investigating at the time, the court order alleges. The two also submitted a “false statement to criminal investigators” stating that both Jaynes and Goodlett had information that the drug dealer was “receiving packages at Taylor’s apartment.”
“The Indictment alleges that Jaynes knew the falsified May 1, 2020 letter would be used in a federal criminal investigation but submitted it anyway,” the recent court order reads.
Meany is still facing one felony count for allegedly lying to the FBI, which could carry up to five years in prison.
“Meany lied to a federal agent when he told that agent that the LMPD’s SWAT unit had asked for no-knock authority to search Taylor’s apartment,” the indictment alleges.
In a written statement shared with LPM News, Taylor’s family said, “Obviously we are devastated at the moment by the Judge’s ruling with which we disagree and are just trying to process everything.”
The family said one of the Assistant United States Attorneys plans to appeal the case.
“The appeal will extend the life of the case,” Taylor’s family said in a statement, “but we’ve always maintained and we will continue to fight until we get full justice for Breonna Taylor.”
