Federal prosecutors file new indictment against ex-Louisville police officers
Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment Tuesday against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her.
The Justice Department's superseding indictment comes weeks after a federal judge threw out major felony charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany.
The new indictment includes additional allegations about how the former officers allegedly falsified the affidavit for the search warrant.
It says they both knew the affidavit they used to obtain the warrant to search Taylor's home contained information that was false, misleading and out of date, omitted “material information" and knew it lacked the necessary probable cause.
The indictment says if the judge who signed the warrant had known that “key statements in the affidavit were false and misleading,” she would not have approved it “and there would not have been a search at Taylor’s home.”
Attorney Thomas Clay, who represents Jaynes, said the new indictment raises “new legal arguments, which we are researching to file our response." An attorney for Meany did not immediately respond to a message for comment late Tuesday.
Federal charges against Jaynes and Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022. Garland accused Jaynes and Meany, who were not present at the raid, of knowing they falsified part of the warrant and put Taylor in a dangerous situation by sending armed officers to her apartment.
When police carrying a drug warrant broke down Taylor’s door in March 2020, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot that struck an officer in the leg. Walker said he believed an intruder was bursting in. Officers returned fire, striking and killing Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her hallway.
In August, U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend were the legal cause of her death, not a bad warrant.
Simpson wrote that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” Simpson’s ruling effectively reduced the civil rights violation charges against Jaynes and Meany, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, to misdemeanors.
The judge declined to dismiss a conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of making false statements to investigators.