Pre-Termination Hearings for Two Officers In Breonna Taylor Shooting
Intent to Terminate Paperwork Issued
(KY) – Two police officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, have been served with pre-termination paperwork. The two officers are Detective Joshua Jaynes and Detective Myles Cosgrove. Detective Joshua Jaynes is the officer that requested the no-knock warrant and Detective Myles Cosgrove has been determined to have been the one who shot the fatal bullet that killed Ms. Taylor.
There have been articles that have stated that supposedly false information was supplied in requesting the warrant, but so far, there haven’t been details on what was done. All we know from the termination process is that the paperwork states,
“Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the Department. Your conduct severely damaged the image our Department has established within our community,” Gentry wrote. “I cannot tolerate this type of conduct or untruthfulness by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department.”
Gentry is Interim Chief of Police Yvette Gentry of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Interim Chief Gentry uses the word “untruthfulness” in the letter to Detective Jaynes, which verifies what we have been hearing, though we still don’t know what it entails.
Jaynes’ Attorney Ready for a Fight
Detective Jaynes’ attorney is Thomas Clay. According to Mr. Clay, “there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s already been a decision reached to terminate him without regard to what he has to say at this pre-termination hearing.” I suspect he is right, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Under their policy, all officers who are facing a termination, get a pre-termination hearing. You get a hearing if you are being terminated for missing too much work and you get a hearing if you were grossly negligent resulting in the loss of life. Some cases allow for leniency and some cases do not.
According to the letter that Jaynes got from Gentry, she accused him of “extreme violations of our policies, which endangered others.” I would have to say that falls into the no-leniency category.
Mr. Clay is a defense attorney and as such, he will naturally claim his client is innocent. He has gone further and claimed that “Detective Jaynes is being made a scapegoat through a whimsical and farcical investigation by the Louisville Metro Police Department.” Since we don’t know what exactly Jaynes is accused of doing, it’s impossible to make a determination. In the case of Detective Joshua Jaynes, we’re going to have to wait for more information.
Detective Myles Cosgrove
This is interesting. Detective Myles Cosgrove is the person accused of firing the killing shot. His attorney is Jarrod Beck, but Mr. Beck is not commenting at all on the case against Mr. Cosgrove. I guess I’m used to all the bluff and bluster from defense attorneys that I find his silence unusual. The union has been the only one to comment and all they said was that they knew about the pre-termination letters and that they will be working with the attorneys.
No matter how you view this case, these two officers are extremely lucky. All they are fighting for is their job. Neither one has to worry about losing his life, the way Ms. Taylor did.