This post was originally published on this site

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than two months after the Police Merit Board voted to uphold Joshua Jaynes’ firing from the Louisville Metro Police Department, the former detective is appealing the decision in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Interim Chief Yvette Gentry fired Jaynes from LMPD in January for violating department policy on truthfulness, finding the detective had provided false information on the search warrant that led officers to Breonna Taylor’s apartment the morning police killed her March 13, 2020.

Thomas Clay, Jaynes’ attorney, promised in June to take the matter to court, the next step in the appeals process. On Friday, they filed suit against the Police Merit Board.

“There are solid grounds for this appeal,” Clay told The Courier Journal Monday. “I think the decision of the Louisville Metro Police Merit Board was wrong, as a matter of law and factually.”

The complaint accuses the board of making an “arbitrary decision not supported by true facts” and alleges board attorney Mark Dobbins “exceeded his role as legal adviser.”

In the search warrant affidavit, Jaynes wrote he’d verified through a U.S. postal inspector that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover, a suspected drug trafficker, was having packages delivered to her apartment.

But Jaynes had actually spoken to another officer, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who had gotten information from Shively police, not the postal inspector.

BREAKING:Louisville officers decide overwhelmingly whether to accept a new contract

According to interviews those Shively officers gave to investigators, the postal inspector said there were no packages to Taylor’s apartment.

And, in an October 2020 interview with The Courier Journal, Mattingly said he’d never told Jaynes packages were being delivered to her Springfield Drive home. Mattingly did not testify before the Merit Board.

Clay argued throughout the hearing, which took place over three days in June, that Jaynes did not have a responsibility to verify information from a fellow law enforcement officer before putting it in his affidavit. He said this is based on a legal principle known as the “collective knowledge” doctrine.

Clay restates those arguments in the 89-page complaint, slamming Gentry and Professional Standards Unit investigator Sgt. Andrew Meyer for what he called their lack of knowledge about the doctrine.

He also takes the board to task for “false” and “arbitrary” points in the findings & orders document, which records the board’s findings and reasoning for their decision. The Courier Journal has requested a copy of the document from the board.

Jaynes’ appeal was assigned to Circuit Judge Annie O’Connell. The case has not set any hearing dates and the Police Merit Board has not filed a response to Clay’s allegations.

If the circuit court upholds Jaynes’ firing, he can appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

A Courier Journal analysis of the Police Merit Board’s rulings since 2015 found the board sides with the police chief more than 80% of the time.

Before Jaynes’ appeal, seven officers in that time frame appealed to get their jobs back; all of them were unsuccessful.

Reach Tessa Duvall at [email protected] and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall.