LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A federal judge has dismissed the criminal case against two former Louisville Metro Police officers in the Breonna Taylor case.
Former detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were accused of providing and lying about false information in a search warrant used by police to burst into Taylor's house, resulting in her death.
Both were indicted by the DOJ's prosecutors working under then-President Joe Biden's administration. The case was tied up in the federal court system for several years, stretching into President Donald Trump's term.
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson issued a one-page ruling Friday throwing out charges against Jaynes and Meany.
The U.S. Department of Justice made a motion last week for a federal judge to dismiss the criminal case, with prejudice, against Jaynes and Meany "in the interest of justice."
In a statement Friday, March 20, U.S. attorney Kyle Bumgarner said the U.S. State Attorney's office for the Western District of Kentucky and all of its employees "have been recused from all investigations and decisions concerning Breonna Taylor."
"Since the inception of the investigation in 2020, all prosecutorial decisions have been made by Main Justice without consultation with my office," Bumgarner said.
Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, shared her disappointment in the DOJ's move in a post on social media.
"I am compelled to express my extreme disappointment in Trump and the Department of Justice. Their phone call today informing me that charges against the police are being dropped while implying they have helped me is utterly disrespectful," Palmer wrote. "This is the first time I've heard from them since they took over and it's clear they have not served me or Breonna well. Their behavior is deplorable. F*** Trump and his DOJ administration."
This comes months after a federal judge dismissed the most serious felony charges — carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison — against the two former officers.
While saying he was "seriously troubled" by their alleged actions, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Simpson ruled the officers shouldn't be charged with depriving Taylor's rights under color of law and causing her death.
Prosecutors sought to "severely punish" Jaynes and Meany, believing police never should been at Taylor's door and, without the false warrant, she would still be alive, the judge wrote.
But Jaynes and Meany weren't at the raid and "the government cannot attribute Taylor's death to the lack of a warrant supported by probable cause," Simpson said in the ruling.
Taylor was killed when her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot after police burst in early in the morning as part of a series of searches revolving around a drug dealer who once dated Taylor. Walker said he thought the couple were being robbed. Police fired 32 shots in response, killing Taylor.
Simpson ruled officers returning fire was a legal act, "thus, this is not a case of excessive force. Nor is it a case of police brutality. … This is a case of legal, lethal and tragic crossfire that was not initiated by the police."
https://www.wdrb.com/news/breonna-taylor/federal-judge-dismisses-criminal-charges-against-2-former-lmpd-officers-in-breonna-taylor-case/article_595dc4ee-e54f-4097-b757-3b5a0e707f24.html
now do derek chauvin