September 1, 2020 By: Ben Abrams
Kenneth Walker, boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville EMT who was shot while in bed on March 13 by officers executing a no-knock warrant, filed a civil complaint Tuesday against the city and the local police department.
Walker fired a single shot hitting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly's leg, while he and other policemen were breaking down Taylor’s door on March 13th. Walker told investigators he thought the cops were intruders breaking into Taylor’s apartment during an early morning raid. Three police officers returned fire, fatally striking Taylor.
The officers claim that they knocked on Taylor’s door and announced themselves as police, however, Walker told investigators he heard the knocking but did not hear the officers saying who they were. Neighbors came forward, saying that they also did not hear the police announce themselves.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Walker's attorney Steve Romines argued his client is immune from being arrested, detained, charged and prosecuted again due to Kentucky’s “stand your ground” law, which provides for immunity in cases of permitted force.
Kentucky’s “stand your ground law” says a person is justified in using force and immune from criminal prosecution and civil action “unless the person against whom the force was used is a peace officer, as defined in KRS 446.010, who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law, or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a peace officer.”
Kenneth Walker "has already sustained life-long trauma, still fears harm from those who consider him a danger and seek to take away his freedom again," according to a complaint filed by his lawyer, Steve Romines, in Jefferson County District Court.
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