Thread by @radleybalko

On charging the cops who shot Breonna Taylor: My sense is that a murder charge will be tough.

The no-knock warrant was illegal, and she should never have been searched in the first place, much less with those tactics. But a judge signed off on the warrant and no-knock provision.

Oddly, in spite of the no-knock warrant, the police claimed to have knocked and announced. I doubt this. Neighbors didn't hear it. And it makes no sense for Walker, who had done nothing wrong, to open fire on a bunch of armed cops. It's more likely the cops are either lying ...

... or announced simultaneously with the battering ram hitting the door, which has been a problem at Louisville PD.

If a reasonable person in Walker's position would not have known the men breaking down the door were cops, he has the right to self defense.

But ...

... once Walker fired, the cops had the right to return fire, also in self defense.

Here's where it gets murky. What effect does the fact that the no-knock portion of the warrant was illegal have on the cops' right to defend themselves? What if the entire warrant was illegal?

The latter is also a possibility, because the affiant officer lied about a local a postal official describing the packages at Taylor's house as suspicious.

The warrant's illegality is likely why charges against Walker were dropped. It may also help with Walker's ...

... his civil lawsuit. But I just don't know what effect an illegal warrant signed by a judge would have on the officers' right to self-defense with respect to criminal charges, here.

I'd be curious what lawyers who specialize in this area think.

Paul Butler recently argued another way to charge them: Even if the cops did have the right to self-defense, the manner in which they unleashed that torrent of bullets merits a charge of reckless homicide. This is persuasive. Many of the bullets appear to have been fired ...

from outside the house, meaning the cops were firing at a target they couldn't see. Bullets were found all over the apartment, and in a neighboring apartment.

Also possible but less likely: felony murder for the affiant cop who lied to procure a warrant for a raid ...

... he had to have known would be volatile and potentially violent. Seems more of a stretch, though.

Just FTR, I think the cops should be fired. The affiant cop should be charged with perjury. I think the ...

... reckless homicide charge would be appropriate if it's true they fired from outside the house, or otherwise recklessly. The judge who signed the warrant should be removed from the bench. And there should be comprehensive review of every warrant served by narcotics cops ...

... over the last 10 or so years. Officials who knew about the reckless way drug cops were serving warrants (which, given that it was published in a paper in 2015, means just about everyone) and did nothing about it should be fired.

More on that here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…