Walker v. Louisville/Jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov't

• Decision Date: 01 February 2022
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:21-cv-161-DJH-LLK
• Citation: 583 F.Supp.3d 887
• Parties: Kenneth WALKER, III, Plaintiff, v. LOUISVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY METRO GOVERNMENT et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Kentucky

583 F.Supp.3d 887

Kenneth WALKER, III, Plaintiff,

v.LOUISVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY METRO GOVERNMENT et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:21-cv-161-DJH-LLK

United States District Court, W.D. Kentucky, Louisville Division.

Signed February 1, 2022

Abigale R. Green, Frederick W. Moore, III, H. Philip Grossman, Grossman Green PLLC, Jamie K. Neal, Kevin C. Burke, Burke Neal PLLC, Steven R. Romines, Romines Weis & Young, PSC, Louisville, KY, Brendan B. Gants, Dahlia Mignouna, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Ruby J. Garrett, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, Clifford M. Sloan, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, Jacob S. Kreilkamp, Robyn K. Bacon, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiff.

Kristie Babbitt Walker, Jefferson County Attorney, Louisville, KY, for Defendants Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, Lt. Shawn Hoover, Detective Tony James, Detective Michael Nobles, Officer Michael Campbell, Lt. Jerry Huckelberry, Sgt. Luke Phan, Detective Kelly Goodlett, Major Kimberly Burbrink.

Jace S. Martin, James P. Dilbeck, Jr., Dilbeck & Myers, PLLC, Louisville, KY, for Defendant Detective Joshua Jaynes.

Carol S. Petitt, Kyle M. Vaughn, Vaughn Petitt Legal Group, PLLC, Pewee Valley, KY, Katherine T. Watts, Matthew A. Piekarski, Phillips, Parker, Orberson & Arnett, PLC, Louisville, KY, for Defendant Detective Brett Hankison.

Kayla M. Campbell, Kent Wicker, William H. Brammell, Jr., Dressman Benzinger LaVelle PSC, Louisville, KY, for Defendants Detective Myles Cosgrove, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

David J. Hale, Judge The facts alleged in Plaintiff Kenneth Walker, III's complaint arise from Louisville Metro Police Department's search of Breonna Taylor's apartment. (Docket No. 1, PageID # 12–14) Believing that intruders were attempting to break into Taylor's apartment, Walker, Taylor's boyfriend and a licensed gun owner, asserts that he fired a single shot at the LMPD officers upon their entry. (Id. , PageID # 15–16) The officers returned fire, killing Taylor. (Id. , PageID # 16) Walker sued Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and several LMPD officers, claiming violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (See id. ) Defendants move the Court to abstain or, alternatively, to dismiss Walker's complaint. (D.N. 27-1; D.N. 29-1; D.N. 30-1; D.N. 31-1) After careful consideration, the Court will grant in part and deny in part the motion of Metro and Defendants Hoover, James, Nobles, Campbell, Huckelberry, Phan, Goodlett, and Burbrink (the "Metro defendants"). The Court will deny the motions to dismiss of Defendants Mattingly, Cosgrove, Jaynes, and Hankison.

I.

The Court "takes the facts only from the complaint, accepting them as true as [it] must do in reviewing a 12(b)(6) motion." Siefert v. Hamilton Cty. , 951 F.3d 753, 757 (6th Cir. 2020) (citing Fed R. Civ P. 12(b)(6) ). On March 12, 2020, LMPD Detective Joshua Jaynes applied for a warrant to search Breonna Taylor's apartment, located on Springfield Drive. (D.N. 1, PageID # 9) Jaynes also applied for a warrant to search a residence on Elliott Avenue, at which Jamarcus Glover and Adrian Walker¹ were suspected of drug trafficking. (Id. ) Jaynes stated in his warrant affidavit that he had witnessed Glover and Adrian Walker dropping "suspected narcotics" in a rock pile on Elliot Avenue to resupply the Elliot Avenue residence. (D.N. 29-3, PageID # 353)

In support of the warrant to search Taylor's apartment, LMPD Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and LMPD Detectives Shawn Nobles and Kelly Goodlett asked the Shively Police Department for assistance and to verify with the local office of the United States Postal Inspection Service that Glover had been receiving packages at Taylor's residence. (D.N. 1, PageID # 26–27) A Postal Inspector denied that any packages for Glover were delivered to Taylor's apartment, and the Shively Police Department relayed this information to Mattingly, Nobles, and Goodlett. (Id. ) Mattingly then "conveyed to ... Jaynes that the US Postal Inspector had verified that [Glover] was receiving packages" at Taylor's residence. (Id. , PageID # 27) Jaynes "endorsed" Mattingly's "falsehoods" and "further extended them" in his warrant affidavit by testifying that he had "personally verified" with a Postal Inspector that Glover had been receiving packages at Taylor's apartment "to avoid detection from law enforcement" and "for safe keeping." (Id. ; see D.N. 29-3, PageID # 353)

Jaynes also stated in his affidavit that on January 16, 2020, he witnessed Glover retrieve a single package from Taylor's apartment and then drive "to a known drug house." (D.N. 29-3, PageID # 353) Jaynes further asserted that he observed Taylor's car parked at the Elliot Avenue residence and a car used by both Glover and Adrian Walker parked at Taylor's residence on several occasions. (Id. ) Jaynes added that he had verified "through multiple computer databases" that Taylor lived at the Springfield Drive residence and that as of February 20, 2020, Glover "use[d]" the Springfield Drive residence "as his current home address." (Id. ) Jaynes requested a no-knock warrant due to "these drug trafficker[s’] ... history of attempting to destroy evidence" and "fleeing from law enforcement" (id. , PageID # 354), although Taylor had no criminal history. (D.N. 1, PageID # 12) Based on Jaynes's affidavit, a Jefferson Circuit Court judge issued a no-knock warrant to search Taylor's apartment, among other locations, including the Elliot Avenue residence. (See D.N. 29-3)

At an operational meeting before the searches, LMPD officers reclassified the search of Taylor's residence as a "knock-and-announce" search, expecting that Taylor would be home alone. (D.N. 1, PageID # 13) Officers believed that Taylor's residence was a "soft target" that "posed no threat" and expected the search would be "low key." (Id. ) On March 13, Mattingly and Nobles, as well as LMPD Lieutenant Shawn Hoover, Officer Michael Campbell, and Detectives Myles Cosgrove, Tony James, and Brett Hankison executed a midnight search of Taylor's apartment. (Id. , PageID # 14) Taylor and Kenneth Walker III, her boyfriend, were sleeping inside the apartment. (Id. ) Mattingly "banged" on the front door, and Taylor at least twice yelled, "Who is it?" (Id. , PageID # 15) The officers failed to announce their identity or that they were executing a search warrant. (Id. )

Walker, a licensed firearm owner, retrieved his gun, believing unlawful intruders were breaking into Taylor's apartment. (Id. ) Within one minute after knocking, the officers, who were in plain clothes, used a battering ram to force open the front door. (Id. , PageID # 15–16) Walker fired a single shot at the officers upon their unannounced entry, still believing they were intruders. (Id. , PageID # 16) Mattingly and Cosgrove responded by firing twenty-two shots into the apartment in less than one minute, although Cosgrove could not clearly see Taylor and Walker. (Id. ) Hankison fired shots into the apartment through the patio door and windows. (Id. ) Six shots from the officers struck Taylor, killing her. (Id. ) Mattingly was shot once in the leg and survived. (Id. ) Officers found no contraband or evidence of drug trafficking in Taylor's apartment. (Id. , PageID # 16–17) Walker was initially charged with murder and later attempted murder and first-degree assault for allegedly shooting Mattingly, but the criminal charges were ultimately dismissed with prejudice. (Id. , PageID # 18)

In April 2020, one month after the search of Taylor's apartment, Jaynes asked Shively Police Department Sergeant Timothy Saylor if Glover's packages had been delivered to Taylor's address. (Id. , PageID # 10) Saylor stated that no packages for Glover were delivered there. (Id. ) Chief Yvette Gentry later terminated Jaynes for "a sustained untruthfulness violation based on information included in [his] affidavit." (Id. , PageID # 11–12)

In September 2020 (see D.N. 27-3), Walker filed an action in Jefferson Circuit Court against the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, Mayor Greg Fischer, and LMPD officers² in their official and individual capacities, seeking declaratory relief under Kentucky state law that (1) he is immune from further arrest, detention, charges, and prosecution under Ky. Rev. Stat. § 503.085 (which provides that "a law enforcement agency" may not arrest an individual who uses force as permitted under Kentucky law unless there is probable cause that the force used was unlawful); (2) Metro's "county sovereign immunity" violates the Kentucky Constitution; and (3) Metro's immunity is waived up to the limits of insurance. (D.N. 30-3, PageID # 422–31) Walker also sought damages, claiming (1) assault; (2) battery; (3) false arrest and imprisonment; (4) malicious prosecution; (5) abuse of process; (6) negligence per se; (7) general negligence; and (8) supervisory negligence. (Id. , PageID # 431–36)

Walker filed the present action on March 12, 2021, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (See D.N. 1) Count I alleges that Jaynes, Mattingly, Nobles, Goodlett, LMPD Lieutenant Jerry Huckelberry, Sergeant Luke Phan, and Major Kimberly Burbrink violated the Fourth Amendment by obtaining and approving a search warrant based on "materially false" information. (Id. , PageID # 26) Count II asserts that Mattingly, Nobles, Cosgrove, Hankison, Hoover, James, and Campbell violated the Fourth Amendment by failing to announce before they entered Taylor's apartment. (Id. , PageID # 30) Count III alleges that Mattingly, Nobles, Cosgrove, Hankison, Hoover, James, and Campbell violated the Fourth Amendment by using excessive and unreasonable force when they executed the warrant. (Id. , PageID # 32) Count IV asserts that Metro's policies and practices proximately caused violations of Walker's Fourth Amendment rights. (Id. , PageID # 34–35) Defendants move the Court to abstain from exercising jurisdiction over this action or to dismiss Walker's complaint on the basis of...