Federal judge emphasizes dangers of reckless tactics in drug war

A judge recently dismissed some of the federal charges against two former Louisville, Kentucky, police officers who orchestrated the 2020 drug raid that left Breonna Taylor dead. The verdict was by no means a vindication of the defendants, who still face multiple misdemeanors and felonies, and it was an implicit indictment of the reckless tactics that led to Taylor's death.

This result, emphasized US District Judge Charles Simpson, does not depend on the validity of the search warrant, which according to federal prosecutors was not supported by sufficient suspicion. Rather, Taylor's death was due to “the nighttime, surprise intrusion,” said Simpson – an approach that drug investigators still prefer despite many years of experience with its dangers.

Former Detective Joshua Jaynes wrote the affidavit in support of the search warrant for Taylor's apartment, and former Sergeant Kyle Meany approved it. An August 2022 federal indictment says they both knew the affidavit “contained false, misleading and outdated information,” that it “omitted material information,” and that “officers lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct the search.”

Based on those allegations, Simpson allowed the charge that Jaynes and Meany aided and abetted a violation of Taylor's Fourth Amendment rights to stand. However, he said the facts did not support the allegation that the crime involved the “use” of a “dangerous weapon” or that it resulted in Taylor's death, both of which would have dramatically increased the potential penalties.

Even if the search warrant had been valid, Simpson argued, the result would have been the same. According to the government itself, he said, the “decisive” factor was “the 'late night' surprise” that sparked the shooting that fatally wounded Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician.

Despite having a no-knock search warrant, the three plainclothes officers who entered Taylor's apartment around 12:40 a.m. on a Friday in March 2020 pounded on the door and then smashed it open with a battering ram. They said they also announced their arrival – a statement refuted by nearly all of Taylor's neighbors.

Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was in bed with her at the time. He later said he heard no announcement and had no idea the men who had broken into the apartment were police officers. Startled by the thud and the subsequent impact, he grabbed a pistol and fired a single shot at the intruders, hitting a police officer in the thigh.

The three police officers responded with a hail of 32 bullets. Six bullets hit Taylor, who was unarmed and standing next to Walker in a dark hallway.

A “break-in announced at noon” would not have led Walker to believe that he would have to “fend off intruders,” Simpson noted. He is by no means the first observer to stress the dangers of breaking into private homes to commit drug offenses, especially in the middle of the night.

In 2014, a Georgia SWAT team critically injured a toddler with a flash grenade after breaking into the room where the toddler and his family were sleeping around 2 a.m. Police were looking for a methamphetamine dealer, but he was not there.

Like the raid that killed Taylor, this horrific incident involved a questionable search warrant affidavit. But that wasn't the only problem.

A local grand jury described a “hasty” and “sloppy” investigation that culminated in a paramilitary break-in at a home. This kind of aggressive approach, it said, “should only be used in cases where it is absolutely necessary,” and “there should be no such thing as an 'emergency' in drug investigations.”

The jury pointed to the “inherent danger to both police officers and innocent bystanders in many of these situations,” citing in particular the risk that police officers could be mistaken for robbers, with potentially fatal consequences.

That's exactly what happened in Louisville six years later. It has also happened in many other places, including Prentiss, Mississippi; Burleson County, Texas; Chesapeake, Virginia; and Los Angeles County, California.

I could go on, but you get my point. Unfortunately, that's not the case with drug fighters.

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