DOJ moves to dismiss criminal case against ex-officers charged for role in Breonna Taylor’s death

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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has moved to dismiss the criminal cases against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying the warrant used in the 2020 raid that led to the death of Breonna Taylor.

Motion Filed With Prejudice

In a new court filing obtained by CBS News, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked a federal judge to dismiss the case against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany with prejudice, preventing prosecutors from bringing the charges again. The judge has not yet ruled, per CBS.

Related: FBI opens investigation into fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor Case: Charges Stemmed From Warrant Affidavit

Police shot and killed Taylor, a 26‑year‑old award‑winning EMT, during a botched raid at her Louisville apartment in March 2020. Federal prosecutors alleged that Jaynes and Meany aided and abetted the deprivation of Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights by using false information to secure the search warrant.

• Prosecutors accused Jaynes of drafting an affidavit that included false statements and key omissions.
• Meany was accused of approving the affidavit despite knowing it relied on inaccurate information.

Federal judges twice rejected the DOJ’s attempts to pursue felony civil rights charges in 2023 and 2025, reducing the allegations to misdemeanor color‑of‑law violations. The DOJ cited those rulings as a key factor in its decision to dismiss the case, per CBS.

Related: DOJ to investigate Louisville Police Department

Attorneys for Taylor’s Family Condemn the Decision

Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lonita Baker, who represent Taylor’s family, sharply criticized the DOJ’s move. They said the dismissal “is deeply painful.” Moreover, warned it “sends a chilling message about the value of Black lives in our country.”

They emphasized that the warrant process “has always been at the center of this tragedy.”

“It deserves no less than the highest level of accountability.”

Crump and Baker also said the family “cannot accept a reality where a young woman can be killed in her own home and no one is held responsible under the law.” They vowed to continue advocating for accountability.

“We will not stop fighting until her life, and the lives of all Black women, is valued equally under the law.”

Next Steps

A federal judge must still decide whether to grant the DOJ’s request. If approved, the dismissal would close the last remaining federal case tied to the warrant.

Key Developments

• DOJ seeks dismissal with prejudice.
• Felony charges were previously reduced to misdemeanors.
• Filing signed by political appointees, not career prosecutors.
• Taylor family attorneys call the decision “deeply painful.”

More on the case

Read more on Breonna Taylor’s case