LOUISVILLE – A federal judge lessened the charges against two former Louisville Metro Police officers accused of falsifying information to secure a warrant for the botched 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman whose death sparked national outcry over police brutality.

In August 2022, the Justice Department charged the pair in connection with preparing and approving a search warrant affidavit tied to a narcotics investigation that allegedly contained false and misleading statements, omitted key facts and was not supported by probable cause.

U.S. District Senior Judge Charles Simpson III dismissed felony deprivation of rights under the color of law charges against former detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany in an order Thursday.

While the original indictment stated the offense involved the use of a dangerous weapon and resulted in Taylor’s death, which would have bumped up the potential penalty to life in prison, Simpson ruled that part of the indictment be stricken. Now, if convicted of that count, Meany and Jaynes face no more than a year in prison.

"Based on the fact allegations and the Government’s argument, the Court finds that the warrantless entry was not the actual cause of Taylor’s death," Simpson wrote in a 33-page order filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

The judge instead put the onus on Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, for firing his gun first. Walker's attorney has said he shot once in an act of self-defense, believing the home was being broken into because police didn't announce themselves. Officers fired 32 shots in response, with several hitting Taylor.

The judge's order Thursday, more than four years after Taylor was fatally shot, comes on the heels of indictments of two officers charged in the murders of other Black women: Sonya Massey in Illinois and Ta'Kiya Young in Ohio.

Law enforcement officers have killed 857 people so far this year, according to Mapping Police Violence, a database managed by police reform research and advocacy organization Campaign Zero. The group found Black people are nearly three times as likely to be killed by police than white people in the United States.

Ex-officers pleased with judge's decision

Jaynes is still charged with conspiring with another detective to cover up the false warrant and of falsifying a document to mislead investigators, and Meany is still charged with making a false statement to FBI investigators.

Jaynes was fired from LMPD in January 2021 after an internal investigation determined he violated LMPD’s truthfulness and search warrant preparation policies; Meany was fired by former LMPD Chief Erika Shields in August 2022 after he was federally indicted. 

Louisville lawyer Thomas Clay, who represents Jaynes, told The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that his client was happy with the outcome.

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

The attorney added that the Department of Justice was waiting for the conclusion of the trial of Brett Hankison, currently slated for October, to set a date for the trial of Jaynes and Meany.

Brian Butler, an attorney representing Meany, said “we are very pleased by the court’s ruling.”

Details on the judge's decision

The decision by Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend who was at her apartment the night of the raid, to fire at police who had entered her residence is at the center of the dismissed charges.

Prosecutors are required to prove officers’ entry was the actual cause of Taylor’s death, as well as the proximate cause, meaning her death was “the natural and probable consequence” of what happened. Attorneys for Jaynes and Meany argued Walker’s decision to fire at officers intervened in the natural course of events and should relieve them of “criminal responsibility for Taylor’s death.”

Simpson agreed. Walker’s decision to shoot at officers — one, former Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, was injured — was a ”superseding cause” that became the “legal cause of her death,” even if he didn’t know the people who’d entered the apartment were police.

Additionally, while prosecutors alleged the fatal shooting “involved the use of a dangerous weapon and resulted in Taylor’s death,” the judge ruled officers were using their weapons to return fire against Walker, not to “facilitate, further, or aid in conducting the search itself.”

While prosecutors argued police had their guns drawn upon entry, the judge said that purpose was “self-protection, not facilitating the allegedly unlawful search.”

Where do the other cases stand?

Meany and Jaynes were among four current and former officers federally charged on Aug. 4, 2022, in connection to the raid. 

One of those officers, detective Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to lying on the warrant. She hast not yet been sentenced.

Hankison, who fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment during the 2020 raid, was federally charged with violating the civil rights of Taylor, Walker and three neighbors by using excessive force. When a jury could not come to a unanimous decision in November, the judge declared a mistrial. 

A retrial is anticipated later this year.

Neither of the other two officers who fired their weapons during the raid on Taylor’s apartment were charged with any crimes. 

Reach reporter Josh Wood at[email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at@JWoodJourno. Reach reporter Rachel Smith at[email protected] or on X at@RachelSmithNews. Reach reporter Lucas Aulbach at[email protected] or on X at@LucasAulbach.