By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday moved to drop a criminal case against two former police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, who were accused of falsifying a search warrant that led colleagues to fatally shoot Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker, in 2020.
In a court filing, DOJ lawyers said they no longer wanted to pursue the case following an internal review triggered by a federal judge’s decision to twice downgrade the most serious charge from a felony to a misdemeanor. A judge must approve the dismissal.
Joshua Jaynes, a former Louisville Police Department detective, and Kyle Meany, a former Louisville sergeant, were accused of depriving Taylor of her civil rights by making false and misleading statements on an affidavit used to justify the search of Taylor’s home.
The move is the latest by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration to undo civil rights and police misconduct cases started during Democratic President Joe Biden’s term, including those tied to high-profile killings by law enforcement. Taylor’s March 2020 killing was condemned in street demonstrations that year as part of a larger protest movement over racism and policing.
“Kyle is incredibly grateful for today’s filing. He is looking forward to putting this matter behind him and moving forward with his life,” Michael Denbow, a lawyer for Meany, said in a statement.
Attorneys for Jaynes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Taylor was killed in March 2020 during a botched police raid after officers investigating a man Taylor had previously dated executed a no-knock warrant at her home. Her boyfriend, who was carrying a legally owned firearm, shot at police, prompting them to fire back 22 times into the apartment.
Police found no drugs in the apartment. Taylor was unarmed.
Jaynes and Meany were not part of the team that went to Taylor’s apartment. An indictment accused them of filing an affidavit despite knowing they did not have legal justification for the search.
Both pleaded not guilty.
Political appointees at the Trump Justice Department previously intervened in a second federal civil rights case tied to Taylor’s killing.
DOJ lawyers asked for a one-day prison sentence for a former Louisville police officer who had been convicted on a civil rights charge for firing into Taylor’s apartment, though his shots did not strike Taylor. A judge sentenced the former officer to 33 months in prison.
The Trump administration also rescinded the Justice Department’s finding of widespread civil rights violations by Louisville police, a separate probe spurred by Taylor’s killing. A federal judge granted the Trump DOJ’s request to withdraw from a proposed settlement agreement brokered under the Biden administration.
Civil rights prosecutors have been told there will be a higher legal bar to bring law enforcement use-of-force cases under the Trump administration, Reuters reported.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
