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u.s. news Diaranson 24 augustus 2022

Former Louisville cop pleads guilty in Breonna Taylor case

(AP) — A former Louisville po- date. Part of the plea hearing was also
lice detective who helped falsify kept under seal and was not discussed
the warrant that led to the deadly in open court Tuesday. She faces up
police raid at Breonna Taylor’s to five years in prison for the convic-
apartment has pleaded guilty to a tion.
federal conspiracy charge.
She resigned from the department
Federal investigators said Kelly Good- Aug. 5, a day after U.S. Attorney Gen-
lett added a false line to the warrant eral Merrick Garland announced new
and later conspired with another de- federal charges in the Taylor case.
tective to create a cover story when
Taylor’s March 13, 2020, shooting Former officers Joshua Jaynes and
death by police began gaining nation- Kyle Meany were indicted on charges
al attention. related to the warrant used to search
Taylor’s home. A third former of-
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, ficer, Brett Hankison, was charged
was shot to death by officers who with using excessive force when he
knocked down her door while exe- retreated from Taylor’s door, turned
cuting a drug search warrant. Taylor’s a corner and fired 10 shots into the
boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of side of her two-bedroom apartment.
the officers as they came through the He was acquitted by a jury on similar
door and they returned fire, striking state charges earlier this year. Jaynes,
Taylor multiple times. Meany and Hankison have all been
fired.
Goodlett, 35, appeared in a federal
courtroom in Louisville on Tuesday The three former officers face a max-
afternoon and admitted to conspiring imum sentence of life in prison if
with another Louisville police officer convicted on the civil rights charges.
to falsify the warrant. Goodlett briefly
answered several questions from fed- Federal prosecutors said in court
eral judge Rebecca Jennings Grady. records that Jaynes, who drew up
the Taylor warrant, had claimed to
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, was Goodlett days before the warrant was media outlet he had not verified pack- warrant and was still a Louisville po-
in the courtroom Tuesday but did not served that he had “verified” from a ages for Glover were going to Taylor’s lice sergeant when he was indicted on
speak after the proceedings. postal inspector that a suspected drug apartment. Jaynes and Goodlett then Aug. 4, was fired by Louisville Police
dealer was receiving packages at Tay- met in Jaynes’ garage to “get on the Chief Erika Shields on Friday.
Three former Louisville officers lor’s apartment. But Goodlett knew same page” before Jaynes talked to in-
were indicted on criminal civil rights this was false and told Jaynes the war- vestigators about the Taylor warrant, Shields said in a statement that Meany
charges earlier this month by a fed- rant did not yet have enough infor- court records said. has not yet had his case heard by a
eral grand jury. Goodlett was not in- mation connecting Taylor to criminal jury, but “he is facing multiple federal
dicted, but charged in a federal infor- activity, prosecutors said. She added a They decided to say Sgt. John Mat- charges after a lengthy investigation
mation filing, which likely means the paragraph saying the suspected drug tingly, who is identified in the court by the DOJ” and should not “expect
former detective is cooperating with dealer, Jamarcus Glover, was using records as J.M., told them Glover was continued employment under such
investigators. Taylor’s apartment as his current ad- receiving packages at Taylor’s home, conditions.”
dress, according to the court records. according to prosecutors. Mattingly
Goodlett will be sentenced Nov. 22. was shot in the leg during the raid at Hankison was the only officer
Grady said there may be “extenuat- Two months later, when the Tay- Taylor’s apartment. charged who was on the scene the
ing circumstances” that may move lor shooting was attracting national night of the killing.
the court to push back the sentencing headlines, the postal inspector told a Meany, who signed off on the Taylor

Asylum seekers caught in political battle in NYC, Washington

(AP) — Weary of Venezu- money was tight and expens- who died on the same jour- failed Democratic leadership. York.
ela’s autocratic govern- es mounted. So he set off for ney.
ment and the pittance he the United States, an odyssey Nearly 8,000 migrants have For migrants, the politics
earned in the military, that required him to travel by Now Maldonado and thou- arrived on the state-spon- are only dimly understood
Dario Maldonado desert- foot through Central Ameri- sands of other asylum seekers sored bus trips, straining the — and far less relevant than
ed and fled with his family can jungle infested with ven- from across Latin America resources and humanitarian finding temporary shelter,
to neighboring Colombia. omous snakes and gun-toting and the Caribbean are caught services of both cities, which jobs and a long-term home
bandits, sometimes sidestep- in the political battle over have also sought assistance in America.
But life remained hard — ping the corpses of people U.S. immigration policy after from the federal government.
two Republican governors “I have heard that the Texas
started sending busloads of “This can be chaotic. But governor is anti-immigrant,”
migrants to New York City we want to send a message: Maldonado said outside a
and Washington. We’re here to help, and we New York shelter. “It is like
want to put politics aside,” a war between the party of
Border cities such as San Di- said New York City’s im- the governor of Texas and the
ego have long wrestled with migration commissioner, party of Biden.”
influxes of asylum-seekers Manuel Castro, as he greeted
and created well-oiled ma- arriving migrants on a recent A voluntary consent form for
chines to respond, but the morning. free transportation from Tex-
nation’s largest city and its as tells migrants that Wash-
capital were caught flat-foot- Abbott started the practice in ington is where the president
ed. That created an opening April with Washington, and and members of Congress
for Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey followed suit “are more immediately able
Doug Ducey of Arizona to in May. Abbott also recently to help address the needs of
exploit what they consider began sending buses to New migrants.”