4 LMPD officers federally charged in connection to Breonna Taylor raid
4 LMPD officers federally charged in connection to Breonna Taylor raid
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Updated: 11:53 AM EDT Aug 4, 2022Infinite Scroll Enabled
WLKY Digital TeamPlay VideoSHOW TRANSCRIPT
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
QUICK UPDATES:
- These LMPD officers, current and former, have been federally charged: Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison, Kelly Goodlett and Kyle Meany.
- The offenses: Civil rights, unlawfully conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force, and obstruction.
- US Attorney Merrick Garland says LMPD’s Place Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for Breonna Taylor’s home, which resulted in her death.
- Hankison was previously the only officer to ever be charged in the case, locally, but was acquitted. Asst. US Attorney Kristen Clarke says Hankison’s charges stem from unconstitutionally excessive force when he fired upon Taylor’s apartment.
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More updates to come.
Four LMPD officers, current and former, have been federally charged for civil rights violations in connection to the 2020 raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment.
The officers are Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison, Kelly Goodlett and Kyle Meany. They’ve been charged with violating Taylor’s civil rights.
US Attorney Merrick Garland says LMPD’s Place Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for Taylor’s home, and that those actions led to her death.
Jaynes, Goodlett and Meany were all part of securing that warrant.
Garland said Jaynes and Goodlett conspired to falsify an investigative document after the raid in order to hide their tracks, and once met in a garage and agreed to lie to investigators.
Judge upholds firing of former LMPD detective fired for role in Breonna Taylor death
Brett Hankison is one of three officers who fired shots the night she died. Asst. US Attorney Kristen Clarke says Hankison’s charges stem from unconstitutionally excessive force.
More background on the raid
Taylor’s apartment was raided on March 13, 2020 as part of a larger drug investigation.
The 26-year-old was at home with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when they heard knocking at the door.
Once in the hallway, plainclothes detectives burst open the front door of her apartment and gunfire rang out. An officer was shot in the leg, and Taylor was shot multiple times. Bullets went into neighboring units.
Taylor’s death sparked months of protests across Louisville, and added fuel to nationwide movement around other shootings of Black people, like George Floyd.
Until now, only one officer involved had ever been charged, Det. Brett Hankison, but he was acquitted of all charges earlier this year.
More on Jaynes
As said, Jaynes is accused of lying on the affidavit.
Jaynes wrote that he verified through a U.S. postal inspector a suspected drug dealer, Jamarcus Glover, was picking up packages at Taylor’s apartment. But he did not personally verify that information.
He has said that he relied on the information provided by Sgt. Jon Mattingly, another officer there the night of the raid.
We learned from the internal investigation that Mattingly told Jaynes that Glover was not receiving suspicious packages there, but Jaynes still wrote down Glover had received parcels at Taylor’s home in the affidavit and implied they were indicative of drug trafficking.
He later clarified to investigators that he meant “any” parcels, not just “suspicious” ones.
“Um, was it – it – the way that you worded that specific bullet point in your affidavit, was it your intent to mislead the – the reviewing judge?” a PIU investigator asked in May.
“No, not at all. And like I said, I could have – I – I could have worded a little bit differently in there. But I try to be as – as (unintelligible) as detailed. Or sometimes it’s good to be not as detailed,” Jaynes replied.
But the Public Integrity Unit interviewed two Shively police officers who refuted Jaynes’ account, saying they told several LMPD officers no packages were being delivered there.
