A federal judge has dismissed charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying the warrant used to enter Breonna Taylor’s apartment the night police shot her to death.
Charles Simpson, a US district judge, issued a one-page ruling on Friday throwing out charges against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, two former officers involved in crafting the Taylor warrant.
Federal prosecutors in the Trump administration asked a judge recently to dismiss charges against the former officers “in the interest of justice”. Prosecutors noted that the court had already removed some felony charges against Jaynes and Meany in previous proceedings.
Merrick Garland, the former Biden administration US attorney general, announced charges against Jaynes and Meany in 2022 in a high-profile news conference in Louisville, where Garland said: “Breonna Taylor should still be alive today.” Garland said the officers at the scene who shot Taylor, 26, were unaware of the “false and misleading statements” in the warrant.
Taylor’s boyfriend fired one shot at police after they broke down her front door with a battering ram. Police returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times in her hallway. Her killing along with the death of George Floyd in Minnesota sparked weeks of racial justice protests in the summer of 2020.
Jaynes was facing charges for conspiracy and falsification of records and misdemeanor civil rights violations. Meany was facing a charge for allegedly lying to federal investigators.
The warrant used to enter Taylor’s apartment alleged she was receiving packages for a suspected drug dealer and former boyfriend. The document said Jaynes had confirmed with the postal service that packages for the ex-boyfriend were going to Taylor’s apartment. Investigators later learned that Jaynes had not confirmed that information with the postal inspector. Meany, a former police sergeant, signed off on the warrant.
Jaynes was fired by Louisville police in 2021 for being untruthful about the warrant. Meany was fired after he was charged in 2022.