Louisville detective who obtained no-knock search warrant for Breonna Taylor reassigned
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Metro Police detective who applied for the no-knock search warrant that precipitated the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor has been placed on administrative reassignment.
Interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder announced Wednesday morning that he placed Detective Joshua Jaynes on administrative reassignment until questions from Taylor's family, her attorneys, a U.S. postal inspector and others about "how and why the search warrant was approved" are answered.
Schroeder also said the matter has been referred to the FBI, which has launched its own investigation into Taylor's death.
Jaynes wrote five affidavits seeking a judge's permission for no-knock searches, including at Taylor's South End apartment, as a part of a narcotics investigation in March.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw signed all five within 12 minutes.
According to court records, the warrants were for Taylor's apartment on Springfield Drive, a suspected drug house in the Russell neighborhood on Elliott Avenue, two vacant homes nearby on Elliott Avenue and a suspected stash house on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
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The warrant for the Muhammad Ali house was not executed, court records show, though police did not specify why.
The warrants for Taylor's apartment and Elliott Avenue were carried out at nearly the same time.
While Taylor was named on the warrant for her apartment, two men — Jamarcus Glover and Adrian Walker — were named on all five warrants and were among the primary targets in the investigation.
Glover was arrested on Elliott Avenue that night for trafficking and firearm offenses. The case remains pending.
The language on all five warrants is similar, describing the criminal history of the suspects and Jaynes' observations. All end by asking for a no-knock entry "due to the nature of how these drug traffickers operate."
Jaynes wrote that the subjects have a history of attempting to destroy evidence, use cameras to monitor police and have a history of fleeing law enforcement.
Taylor's apartment was included in the search because Jaynes said Glover had been seen getting a package from Taylor's home in January and driving to a "known drug house."
But experts The Courier Journal previously contacted about no-knock warrants saw problems with Jayne's application.
Professor Christopher Slobogin, director of Vanderbilt University’s Criminal Justice Program, has said "unless the police had reason to believe this particular house had cameras, and explained that reason to the judge, a no-knock warrant would be improper."
“Otherwise,” he said, "police would never need to knock and announce for any search related to drug dealing, with consequences like the one we have in this case.”
Brian Gallini, a professor at University of Arkansas who has written about the Fourth Amendment also was skeptical: “If it was appropriate here, then every routine drug transaction would justify grounds for no-knock.”
Jaynes also wrote that he "verified through a U.S. postal inspector that Jamarcus Glover has been receiving packages" at Taylor's apartment.
"It is not uncommon for drug traffickers to receive mail packages at different locations to avoid detection from law enforcement," Jaynes wrote. " … Mr. J. Glover may be keeping narcotics and/or proceeds from the sale of narcotics" at Taylor's apartment "for safekeeping."
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But U.S. postal inspector Tony Gooden, of Louisville, told WDRB News in May that a different agency had asked in January to look into whether Taylor's home was receiving suspicious mail. The office had concluded that the apartment was not, according to Gooden.
"There's no packages of interest going there," Gooden told the news outlet.
The Courier Journal has not been able to reach Gooden for comment.
Benjamin Crump, a Florida-based attorney who is representing Taylor’s family and is involved in several in high-profile cases of African Americans killed in police shootings, wrote in a news release that Gooden's statement "directly contradicts what the police stated in the affidavit to secure a no-knock warrant for her home."
More than a month after Taylor died, Jaynes again received a no-knock search warrant for the suspected trap house on Elliott Avenue, still targeting Glover and three other suspects. Glover was arrested following that search for additional trafficking charges.
When police entered Taylor's home in the early morning hours of March 13, Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, fired his weapon and struck an officer in the leg, maintaining that he believed someone was breaking in.
Officers returned fire, striking and killing Taylor, an unarmed 26-year-old ER technician.
Reporter Andy Wolfson contributed to this report. Reach Tessa Duvall at [email protected] and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.