The FBI has arrested a former Louisville Metropolitan Police Department detective who was fired for lying about a search warrant that led to a 2020 robbery. led to the fatal raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment, as well as three other people, including the only officer facing state charges in Taylor’s fatal shooting.
The FBI arrested Joshua Jaynes Thursday morning and booked him into the Oldham County Detention Center, said Thomas Clay, an attorney representing Jaynes.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Jaynes, former officer Brett Hankison, Sgt. Kyle Meany and Officer Kelly Hanna Goodlett are the four defendants facing new federal charges in connection with an investigation that ended in 2020. March 13 Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman and an emergency room technician whose name was the cry. to protesters across the country in 2020. demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism.
LMPD said in a statement following the DOJ’s announcement that Chief Erika Shields began termination proceedings against Meany and Goodlett on Thursday.
“While we must refer all questions about this federal investigation to the FBI, it is critical that any illegal or inappropriate law enforcement actions be fully addressed in order to continue our efforts to build police and community trust,” the department said in a statement. .
One of the new charges announced by the DOJ on Thursday is related to false actions by Haynes, Meany and Goodlett to obtain a warrant to search Taylor’s apartment.
A separate indictment accuses Hankison of using “unconstitutionally excessive force during the raid on Ms. Taylor’s home” for firing 10 shots into an occupied apartment next door “without a lawful purpose justifying the use of deadly force,” the aide said. Civil Rights Division Attorney General Kristen Clarke made the announcement during a Thursday morning news conference with Garland in Washington.
Earlier this year, a Jefferson County jury acquitted Hankison of state charges of wanton endangerment in connection with the shots fired at the apartment, which was close to but did not injure any of Taylor’s neighbors.
It was not immediately clear if all the officers except Jaynes had attorneys available to comment on their behalf. Stew Mathews, the attorney who represented Hankison in his state case, said he is not yet sure if he will represent Hankison in the new federal case. No bond is available in the federal system, and court dates have not yet appeared in online records.
“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” Garland said during a news conference at Justice Department headquarters.
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Nationally known civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the Taylor family along with local attorneys Lonita Baker and Sam Aguiar, said after Thursday’s announcement that it was “a great day to arrest Breonna Taylor’s killers.”
“Thank God, Attorney General Daniel Cameron didn’t have the last word on Breonna Taylor’s death,” Crump added during a news conference in Jefferson Square Park in 2020. at the center of protests over Taylor’s murder.
Cameron, Republican Attorney General of Kentucky, 2020 drew the ire of protesters and Taylor’s family after announcing that only Hankison and no other LMPD officers would be charged in connection with the case.
“Today was a huge step toward justice,” Crump, Baker and Aguiar said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for the diligence and dedication of the FBI and DOJ as they investigated what led to Breonna’s murder and what happened afterward. The justice Breonna received today would not have been possible without Attorney General Merrick Garland or Assistant AG for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke.”
“We hope this guilty plea sends a message to all the other officers involved that it’s time to stop covering up and take responsibility for their role in the death of an innocent, beautiful young black woman.”
In a statement released Thursday, Garland said the federal charges focus on the activities of the LMPD’s Local Investigations Unit, which attorneys for the Taylor family said in 2020. called a “rogue” group targeting people and drugs in Louisville’s West End in a lawsuit.
PBI Section 2020 served five search warrants related to alleged drug trafficking, four of which were served at properties in the West End and one at Taylor’s apartment, which was about 10 miles from others on Springfield Drive in the South End.
Jaynes, Meany and Goodlett were involved in the warrant at Taylor’s home, DOJ officials said.
Garland said the DOJ alleges that members of the PBI unit “falsified the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant at Ms. Taylor’s home,” which violated federal civil rights law and “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”
Jaynes, Meany and Goodlett sought a warrant for Taylor’s home “knowing that the officers did not have probable cause to search,” Garland said, and they knew that the affidavit supporting the warrant “contained false and misleading information and omitted material information. “
Garland then described some details that previously came to light when Jaynes was fired last year, namely that in a statement he swore before a judge, Jaynes wrote after a U.S. Postal Inspector checked that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a suspected drug dealer, had gone to her apartment. delivered shipments.
But Jaynes was actually talking to another officer, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who got the information from the Shively police, not the postal inspector. According to those Shively officials, postal inspectors said the packages were missing. Police found no drugs or cash in Taylor’s apartment after the fatal shooting.
The new allegations, which Garland shared Thursday, are that Jaynes and Goodlett in 2020 met in a garage in May and “conspired to knowingly falsify an investigative document” and “conspired to mislead federal, state and local authorities” who were investigating the shooting.
Mattingly was shot and killed during the raid by Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who legally owned his firearm and said he believed intruders were breaking into the apartment.
Two other police officers who fired their weapons during the raid — Myles Cosgrove, who fired the shot that killed Taylor, and Hankison — were also previously suspended from LMPD for their actions, and Mattingly was fired but resigned from the department.
“The officers who ultimately searched this Taylor unit were not involved in the preparation of the warrant and were unaware of the false and misleading statements contained therein,” Garland noted Thursday.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement Thursday that the charges “are an important step forward in the process of getting justice for Breonna Taylor.”
“My thoughts are with Mrs. Tamika Palmer, Breona’s mother, and all those who loved and cared for Breona,” Ms. Fischer said. “While we cannot undo her tragic death, we can and must continue to pursue justice for her. I greatly appreciate the hard work of the federal government in tirelessly pursuing this case. And while I know some may feel this process has taken too long, as I have said since initially, there can be no reference to due process, no reference to justice.
“Today is an important day in this process and on the road to justice,” added Fischer, a Democrat. “And I pledge to my city that my administration will continue to stand firm in our work to achieve this justice and to create a fairer, safer and more compassionate city for all Louisville residents.”
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Earlier this year, a jury found Hankison not guilty of endangerment charges related to the bullets he fired into an occupied apartment next door during a raid on Taylor’s apartment. He was the only officer charged in the case.
The FBI has been investigating Taylor’s death since 2020. in May when it launched a “color of law” case, which focuses on allegations that police officers or other officials have abused their authority, including excessive force, false arrest or obstruction of justice.
Last year, the DOJ also launched a “patterns and practices” investigation into LMPD and the Louisville Metro Government. The charges announced Thursday against the four defendants are separate from an ongoing “patterns and practices” investigation, according to the DOJ.
Garland said last year’s investigation will focus on several areas, including whether the department:
- Used unreasonable force, including during peaceful protests;
- Engaged in unconstitutional stops, searches, and seizures, including the illegal execution of a search warrant at a private residence;
- People are discriminated against because of race; and
- Failed to provide public services under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
As part of its investigation, the DOJ also completed a comprehensive review of LMPD policies and training, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of its officer oversight and accountability system, including misconduct investigations.
This story has been updated.
Contact Billy Kobin at [email protected]