A Kentucky judge ruled that Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend’s decision to open fire is the legal cause of her fatal shooting by police officers, throwing out federal charges against two officers who allegedly falsified a drug warrant that led to police breaking down her door and killing her in 2020.
In a decision on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III dismissed felony deprivation of rights charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes, who was accused of knowingly drafting a false search warrant affidavit on Taylor’s home, and former Sgt. Kyle Meany, who approved the warrant.
Three plainclothes Louisville police officers, Brett Hankison, Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, executed the search warrant on Taylor’s home on March 13, 2020. Startled awake by pounding on the door, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he assumed it was a break-in and fired a shot in the dark, which struck Mattingly. The officers fired 32 shots in return, killing Taylor.
The judge ruled that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death,” writing that Jaynes and Meany were not involved in the raid on Taylor’s home. Instead, he wrote, it was Walker’s decision to open fire that was the legal cause of Taylor’s death.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced federal charges against Jaynes, Meany and two other officers in 2022.
Simpson’s ruling on Thursday means that Jaynes and Meany, who could have faced life in prison had they been found guilty on the felony charges, now face only misdemeanor charges related to covering up the allegedly false search warrant and lying to investigators. Both men have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
There has not yet been an objective accounting of the chaos during Taylor’s fatal shooting. Her family has long disputed police accounts of what happened at her home that night, and the officers who executed the warrant have given differing versions of the events. None of the officers used body cameras during the operation.
Taylor’s family said in a statement to The Associated Press that prosecutors told them they plan to appeal Simpson’s ruling.
“Obviously we are devastated at the moment by the judge’s ruling with which we disagree and are just trying to process everything,” they said. “The only thing we can do at this point is continue to be patient. … We will continue to fight until we get full justice for Breonna Taylor.”
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