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Joshua Jaynes, the former Louisville Metro police officer who lied on a search warrant on Breonna Taylor's home, is suing to get back on the force.
Jaynes was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in January 2021 and a police board unanimously voted to uphold his termination in June after an investigation uncovered the shady circumstances under which the search warrant that led to the fatal raid on Taylor's home was created. Now, the former cop is trying yet again to get rehired.
Jaynes' attorney, Thomas Clay, argued that his client did not lie on the search warrant, but relied on information from another officer while completing the request form, which is, according to the lawyer, permissible under the law.
"I was very frustrated not being able to introduce evidence about the collective knowledge doctrine," Clay told WLKY, referring to the two-day appeal hearing in June.
The lawsuit filed on Jaynes' behalf on Friday (September 17) claims that the board's decision was "arbitrary."
A Web of Unverified Information
In early 2020, Jaynes prepared and worked to get several search warrants approved, including the one on Breonna Taylor's home.
The search warrant for her apartment indicated that her ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover –– who was suspected of trafficking drugs –– was receiving packages at her home, but Jaynes didn't personally verify that information, investigators discovered after Taylor's killing.
The Courier-Journal reported that Jaynes got the information from Jonathan Mattingly who was also involved in the deadly raid. Mattingly, the news outlet reported, told investigators he got the information from officers with the Shively Police Department who reportedly told Mattingly that the local postal inspector confirmed the packages were being delivered to Taylor's home. Those officers later told investigators that the postal inspector said that there were no packages being delivered to Taylor's home.
In an interview with the Courier-Journal in October 2020, Mattingly claims he never told Jaynes that packages were being delivered there.
The Louisville judge who signed off on the warrant, expressed "concern" that Jaynes had lied in order to secure the warrant.
In January, Jaynes' attorney said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer should be blamed in Taylor's killing after pushing a "community revitalization" project in her neighborhood.
Yvette Gentry was serving as interim police chief at the time of Jaynes' firing, ultimately terminated the officer for the report and for failure to complete an operations plan for the botched raid.
Local activist Shamika Parrish-Wright supports Jaynes' termination and told WLKY this latest lawsuit only adds "insult to injury."
"That was bogus information wherever it came from," Parrish-Wright said. "He was supposed to do his due diligence. If he'd have done his due diligence, then we wouldn't be standing here today."
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