A federal judge dismissed the most severe charges against two former Louisville police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020.
Prosecutors have accused Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany of providing false information in order to obtain the search warrant for Taylor's apartment. The 26-year-old Black woman was shot and killed during the middle-of-the-night raid, and her death fueled racial justice protests in Louisville and across the country.
Both Jaynes and Meany were charged with felony deprivation of rights under the color of law, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. But that enhanced charge required the use of a weapon and resulted in "serious bodily injury or death."
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Simpson III ruled Wednesday that, even if officers lacked probable cause to get a search warrant, that civil rights violation was not the direct cause of Taylor's death.
"...one can foresee that a violation of the warrant clause, searching someone's home without probable cause, would result in an illegal invasion of privacy but not in someone's death," Simpson explained in his ruling.
This is the second time the judge has shot down prosecutors' attempt to charge Jaynes and Meany with this serious felony. He dismissed the charge last August, but prosecutors re-filed it with additional information.
Both officers still face additional charges for allegedly falsifying information on the search warrant application, although none carry as big of a sentence. Meany is also charged with lying to the FBI during its investigation.
No trial date has been set.
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