Kelly Goodlett
An ex-Louisville police officer Kelly Goodlett is expected to plead guilty for her role in death of Breonna Taylor, Goodlett confirmed with her attorney.
Authorities charged Kelly Goodlett with conspiracy. Officers accuse her of falsifying a search warrant and filing a false report to conceal it. The charge carries a maximum of five years and a $25,000 penalty.
According to the unsealed documents, Goodlett conspired with officer Joshua Jaynes to include false information in the affidavit that claimed it was verified that a suspect in a drug investigation was receiving packages at Taylor’s address.
Prosecutors claim that Goodlett told Jaynes the affidavit didn’t have enough information but still included a “misleading” phrase that falsely stated that officers had “verified” recent packages.
After Taylor’s death, outlets reported that the suspect never received packages at the address where cops shot the paramedic. As a result, Goodlett and Jaynes met in a parking garage and formed a false story that they both told officers when authorities questioned them.
Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, stated the decision to focus on the specifics of the search warrant instead of the actual shooting caused the prosecutors to have a better chance of conviction.
The “use of force” is extensive, and the justice system often protects officers.
There was a shooting, and someone died, and perhaps it was a crime, but it’s very difficult, as everyone knows, to prove a case in a police shooting because police officers have the authority to use deadly force,” McQuade explained. “To focus on the shooting itself was unlikely to go anywhere. What Justice did here was go back a step.
The announcement comes a couple of weeks after the Department of Justice brought federal charges against all officers involved– Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison, Kelly Goodlett, and Kyle Meany. The offenses include Civil rights, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force, and obstruction.
Attorney General Garland said, “The federal charges announced today allege that members of a Police Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home and that this act violated federal civil rights laws, and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”
Goodlett is expected to enter her plea August 22nd.
