The DOJ charged 4 Louisville cops in the Breonna Taylor case. Why didn’t Daniel Cameron?

When the Department of Justice announced federal charges on Thursday against four Louisville cops for their connections to the March 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor, the backlash against Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron was instantaneous.

Why didn’t Cameron, the special prosecutor for the case, bring similar charges at the state level when he had the chance?

“Justice delayed is justice denied. But it’s never too late to do the right thing,” tweeted U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a Louisville Democrat. “Despite Daniel Cameron’s best efforts, accountability is finally coming for those responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death. It’s about damn time.”

At the conclusion of its criminal investigation, Cameron’s office ultimately only brought charges against one ex-detective, Brett Hankison, for allegedly endangering Taylor’s neighbors.

Hankison was acquitted on all counts by a Jefferson County jury in March 2022.

Critics, including Taylor’s family and attorneys, said the first-term attorney general never really intended to get justice for the slain 26-year-old Black woman.

Cameron has since thrown his hat into the ring for the 2023 Republican nomination for governor, emerging among the frontrunners in a crowded field thanks to an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Despite battling with the administration of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear over mask mandates and going to court to uphold an abortion ban, the Taylor case arguably remains Cameron’s most high-profile assignment since taking office. It has been a frequent source of scrutiny for the Mitch McConnell protege in Kentucky and beyond.

Superstar Beyonce Knowles wrote an open letter to Cameron’s office urging him to charge the officers who shot Taylor, and rapper Megan Thee Stallion used her 2020 appearance on Saturday Night Live to lambaste his handling of the case.

Cameron’s office did not answer questions submitted by The Herald-Leader, but did issue a statement Thursday evening.

In it, Cameron defended his office’s handling of the case and urged people “not (to) conflate what happened today with the state law investigation undertaken by our office,” saying his team’s “primary task was to investigate whether the officers who executed the search warrant were criminally responsible for Ms. Taylor’s death under state law.”

He also chastised those who would “use this moment to divide Kentuckians, misrepresent the facts of the state investigation, and broadly impugn the character of our law enforcement community.

“I won’t participate in that sort of rancor. It’s not productive.”

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers who attempted to execute a search warrant at her apartment in the early morning hours of March 13, 2020. Police believed Taylor was holding drugs and cash for her ex-boyfriend, a convicted drug trafficker.

Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he believed intruders were breaking in and fired one shot from his legally owned handgun after officers used a battering ram to force open the apartment’s front door. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was struck in the femoral artery and he required emergency surgery.

In turn, Mattingly and detectives Myles Cosgrove and Hankison fired a total of 32 rounds. Six shots from Mattingly and Cosgrove struck Taylor, with the fatal shot coming from Cosgrove.

Two months after the shooting, a report from WDRB News in Louisville also revealed that the warrant for Taylor’s apartment, which included a no-knock entry provision, secured by Detective Joshua Jaynes, falsely claimed a U.S. Postal Inspector verified she was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend.

Taylor’s death, along with the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked months of protests in Louisville and across the nation.

How did Cameron’s office handle the investigation?

After Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine recused himself from the criminal investigation into Taylor’s death – citing a conflict of interest because he was, at the time, pursuing an attempted murder charge against Walker – Cameron’s office became the special prosecutor for the case.

At a September 2020 press conference, Cameron said Mattingly and Cosgrove would not be charged because they were “justified” in returning fire after Walker’s initial shot.

Hankison, however, was indicted for three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for rounds fired through a covered patio door that penetrated a neighboring apartment with three people inside.

No one was charged for Taylor’s death.

Notably, Cameron said his office did not investigate “the obtainment of that warrant. … Federal law enforcement partners are conducting that investigation.”

Shortly after the announcement, members of the grand jury anonymously spoke out through their attorney, Kevin Glogower, to criticize Cameron’s handling of the case, saying they were not given the opportunity to consider any charges other than the wanton endangerment.

“The grand jury knew, and the DOJ agreed, that the falsified search warrant was important and relevant in this case,” Glogower said in a statement Thursday. “The grand jurors’ statements on the process have been verified in the DOJ investigation. They were right to be shocked and upset that they were not given the opportunity to deliberate on additional charges.”

Hankison’s case went to trial earlier this year, with Assistant Attorney General Barbara Maines Whaley taking the lead on the prosecution.

Ultimately, it took a jury just a few hours in early March to find Hankison not guilty on all three counts.

He went on to have the charges expunged from his record this summer.

Should Cameron have brought more charges against officers?

The FBI opened a separate investigation into Taylor’s death more than two years ago.

On Thursday, the long-awaited results of that probe were made public when U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced criminal charges against Hankison, as well as Jaynes, his partner Kelly Goodlett and Sgt. Kyle Meany.

“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” Garland said.

The charges against Jaynes, Goodlett and Meany hone in on the falsification of the search warrant and subsequent conspiracy to “mislead federal, state and local authorities” investigating the incident. During the news conference, Garland drew a straight line from the lie on the search warrant to Taylor’s death.

“We allege that the defendants knew their actions in falsifying the affidavit could create a dangerous situation, and we allege these unlawful acts resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death,” he said.

Joe Dunman, the managing attorney for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, tweeted: “Falsified warrants, excessive force, and cover-ups all violate Kentucky state law, too.”

University of Louisville law professor Samuel A. Marcosson told the Herald-Leader that state charges, like perjury and conspiracy, could and should have been brought against the officers involved in securing the warrant.

“It seems to me that the Attorney General should be asked some pointed questions about why he and his team did not recommend such charges to the grand jury, both in light of the discipline that the LMPD issued against those officers and now the federal indictment,” he wrote in an email.

Hankison federal charges are two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law; one count was for Taylor and Walker, the other for the three neighbors in the adjacent apartment unit.

Again, Marcosson said that decision, “raises serious questions about how the wanton endangerment case was prosecuted in state court.

“It’s difficult to see the federal charge as indicating anything other than a belief on the part of the Department of Justice that the state trial did not adequately address the use of force.”

Beshear, who was attorney general prior to Cameron and is seeking a second term as governor, had not yet reviewed the charges when asked to comment by the news media. But, he said, the allegations are serious.

“Falsifying an affidavit is a serious charge and it ought to be taken seriously,” Beshear said.

Beshear was also careful in responding when asked if he agreed with those critical of Cameron’s handling of the case, saying, “I need more information, but a false affidavit could also be perjury under state law.”

What his critics are saying

While Beshear may be cautious in seizing on Cameron’s perceived mishandling of the case, the internet was not so kind.

Just 45 minutes prior to Garland’s news conference, Cameron’s campaign Twitter account asked its followers to come up with “zingers and one liners” for his Fancy Farm speech this weekend, promising a signed T-shirt if their joke was used.

The responses aren’t likely to make the cut for Saturday’s picnic.

“*no knock*,” one tweet began. “‘Who’s there?’ ‘Illegally-obtained warrant.’”

“How does it feel to have Merrick Garland do the job you intentionally botched?” asked one popular reply.

“What does the Attorney General say when his investigation is shown to be a sham?,” asked another. “‘Hey, I’m the Attorney GENERAL. Not the Attorney SPECIFIC.’”