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12 million for the taylor family

Breonna Taylor was involved in a drug syndicate? From what I've read, there's no evidence to support any allegation that she was . . . and the fact that the police tried to get a defendant in another crime to finger her for being part of a drug syndicate might be why the settlement was for far more than the total amount of her future earnings potential might have been, much less the present value of those earnings.

No matter how much money they settled for it won't bring her back. My understanding is that as part of the Settlement the City also agreed to some changes in Police Operations and training.

If I were the Parents, I would move as far away as possible to somewhere where they aren't known. In part for Personal Safety, but in larger part so the local versions of the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton Race Grifters can't find them and guilt them into funding some initiative or Organization that will only serve to put Money in the Pocket of the Organizer.
 
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not sure what to think, she was involved in a drug syndicate, didn't deserve to die the way she did, hopefully the family will re-invest the money in her community.

$250k-$500k is “it’s not really our fault, but take this and shut the f*** up, this is over” money.

$12,000,000 is “we f****d up and f****d up royally, please please please make this go away and never mention it again” money.
 
$250k-$500k is “it’s not really our fault, but take this and shut the f*** up, this is over” money.

$12,000,000 is “we f****d up and f****d up royally, please please please make this go away and never mention it again” money.
Wrong. This is a national story and that’s why the figure was so high. Current environment and national story. If people didn’t know her name the case would be worth 1/10 that. Fault has zero to do with that figure.
 
$250k-$500k is “it’s not really our fault, but take this and shut the f*** up, this is over” money.

$12,000,000 is “we f****d up and f****d up royally, please please please make this go away and never mention it again” money.

Chump change for the city when you look at the continued black eye this is giving the city. Fischer is an imbecile and has batches this from the get go. My hope is the family doesn’t waste it on my side of the river down Highway 111. I’ve seen a few do that very same thing, best if they move away and start anew.
 
Not that facts matter, but ...

The local word is/has been that this matter involved 2 of Taykor's boyfriends - one current and one ex - who were both were targets of drug investigations.

The "no knock" warrant that produced the shooting at Taylor's apartment was supported, in part, by affidavit testimony from a police officer which included a claim that the ex had been seen leaving the apartment with mail packages, as recently as January, and that the cops believed he might still be getting stuff mailed there.

AFTER the incident, a postal inspector (who was not part of the drug investigation agency or the investigation) was interviewed to see if his agency had noticed any suspicious packages being delivered to Taylor's apartment. He was quoted as saying "no." (UPS and FedEx have not commented publicly to my knowledge, but I have heard on the sly that they also said "No - we don't knowingly deliver drugs either.")

The raid/execution of the no-knock warrant at Taylor's apartment occurred AFTER the ex was arrested in the afternoon. His arrest was based on another warrant sought/received at the same time from the same judge as the "no-knocker" directed at Taylor's apartment, all as part of the same investigation, etc. (There were multiple raids in multiple places that day/evening/night - all related.)

The current boyfriend was staying at Taylor's when the raid occured, but his activities were apparently NOT part of the support for underlying warrant. I might be wrong about that - I know folks who read the warrants/affidavits - I did not.) While nobody is sure who fired first, it is known that his gun fired a bullet that hit a cop, who survived.

The FBI ballistics report was delivered to the Kentucky Attorney General this past weekend. It may have better info but the local word has always been that 8 cops fired 22 shots, some of which went through apartment walls into adjoing apartments. I have heard different numbers for how many shots Taylor. The early reports were 8. One recent report was as low as 3. I tend to believe the 8, but do not care. She died no matter how many times she was shot.

The ex was tape recorded while in jail, talking with another girl who he wanted to bail him out. His told that person that Taylor had been holding money for him, but was dead and he could not get it. He aslo said she had some money belonging to others. He did no SAY it was all drug money, but that is the impression Louisville Police clearly tried to leave by releasing the tapes.

At the end of the day, even if she was hanging with 2 drug dealers, she didn't deserve to die, but no-knock warrants are dangerous tools, and the worst case scenario occured.

The character assasination game was not only aimed at Taylor - dirt also was released about one of the cops, who had apparently been under recent investigations. One of the allegations was that he would show up at bars and "escort" young pretty drunk girls home, but try and get some sex on the way.

The cops were suspended a long time ago.

The Police Chief was "forced" into retirement a long time ago.

Through legislation passed by the Louisville Metro Council, the Louisville cops (city and county, which are merged) cannot use no-knock warrants any more.

Presumably, state cops and local feds can.

(In fact, the FBI used one a couple of weeks ago in Bardstown, investigating a 5 year old murder. It is one of several unsolved murders there - which locals say are likely related to each other and also drug related. A state police drug task force officer was executed on an interstate ramp one night. Someone blocked the road with limbs. When he got out to clear it off the road, he was shot multiple times with multiple guns. A teacher and her daughter were tied up and executed in their home. A young women went missing and her father was shot as he was out hunting on his farm. Weird.)

There is legislation already filed and waiting for action in the state assembly to expand the no-knock ban.

Rand Paul has been active in Louisville for years, working to restore rights of felons, etc, and has (I think) proposed federal legislation banning no-knocks. Not sure - don't hold me to it.

And Taylor's family has gotten paid and gotten Louisville Metro government to promise reforms to fight police brutality.

Meanwhile, downtown Louisville is a ghost town - boarded up. Big companies and banks moving out. Small business and restaurants closed. Employees afraid to be there.

And that's the report from Lake Woe-be-gone, where everything is well below average in 2020.

I return you to your regular Cooler programming. Enjoy the selective rage!
Nice local color . . . thanks for that . . . and nice sfumato writing . . . which leads to a few questions . . . .

(1) Regarding the "local word" you reference, is that the rumor mill working overtime, or is that evidentiary level fact(s) that have been circulating among the local bar?

(2) That tape recording of the ex while he was in jail, that was AFTER she was already dead, right? So that tape couldn't have been the basis for the no-knock warrant that resulted in her death?

(3) Why are folks afraid to be in downtown Louisville? Is it because of the police executing the no-knock warrant? Because of the potential for rioting after the shooting of Taylor?

(4) As a follow up to (3), does the settlement between the city and Taylor's family help quell the potential for rioting after the shooting of Taylor? Or will that exacerbate the tensions underlying that potential?

One comment: I'm even more glad that I didn't move to Bardstown when I got out of law school. My impression of the town was that the only advantages having a little money gave you there were (a) the ability to get a newer ride for burning rubber and drag racing in the streets, and (b) leaving Bardstown. Otherwise, it looked like a nice place.
 
Maybe, maybe not. Check out the discussion of Illinois v. Gates in this link: https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-04/08-probable-cause.html.

A simple exam question.

An officer responded to a call about a shoplifting suspect being detained by store security at a local Walmart. The suspect was detained at his vehicle with the door open. No merchandise was in plain sight in the vehicle. Which of the following gives the officer probable cause without further investigation to obtain a search warrant to search the suspect vehicle for unpaid merchandise?

  1. The designated store security person, who is a store manager, tells the officer a customer reported to the security person the shoplifting.
  2. The store security person tells the officer a store employee reported to the security person the shoplifting.
  3. The store security person reported to the responding officer they personally observed the shoplifting.
  4. An off-duty cop who was moonlighting as store security reports any of the above.
  5. An off-duty cop who was a customer observed the shoplifting and reported the shoplifting to the responding officer.
 
Nice local color . . . thanks for that . . . and nice sfumato writing . . . which leads to a few questions . . . .

(1) Regarding the "local word" you reference, is that the rumor mill working overtime, or is that evidentiary level fact(s) that have been circulating among the local bar?

(2) That tape recording of the ex while he was in jail, that was AFTER she was already dead, right? So that tape couldn't have been the basis for the no-knock warrant that resulted in her death?

(3) Why are folks afraid to be in downtown Louisville? Is it because of the police executing the no-knock warrant? Because of the potential for rioting after the shooting of Taylor?

(4) As a follow up to (3), does the settlement between the city and Taylor's family help quell the potential for rioting after the shooting of Taylor? Or will that exacerbate the tensions underlying that potential?

One comment: I'm even more glad that I didn't move to Bardstown when I got out of law school. My impression of the town was that the only advantages having a little money gave you there were (a) the ability to get a newer ride for burning rubber and drag racing in the streets, and (b) leaving Bardstown. Otherwise, it looked like a nice place.

1. Both. I have heard more from local bar members, but I treat it as given in confidence and don't discuss it. But the claims that both boyfriends were targets have been dicussed on local TV news. The info about the ex as a target is solid. The "current" boyfriend less so. Some police early said "we don't about investigations" but once the George Floyd protests turned into Breonna Taylor protests here, and cops started losing jobs, they "leaked' that tidbit.

2. Correct. He was arrested in the afternoon, then the warrant at Taylor's house was executed that night, just after midnight. I think the taped phone call was the next day. It was NOT suport for the warrant - just the leaked "dirt" to try and take Taylor to at least a lower pedastal. Here in town, she is viewed by the partisans as either a dirty drug dealer dater/helper, or a saint. The truth lies in between, but even her detractors hnik firing 22 times in an apartment and hitting the only person there who was NOT armed was a horrible tragedy.

3. The early protests were violent. Business burned/looted/vandalized. People who blocked streets and tried to pulled other people out of cars caused 2 shootings and a beating. Then a few days of calm. Then the protestors camped out in a park where the County Clerk has offices, across from the mayor and across from the courthouse/jail. There were a couple of killings there. One murder among the campers and a local kid who was trying to be a journalist/photographer was shot in the head by a troublemaker. Graffiti everywhere. The camp was cleared out. Then armed militias on both sides came to downtown to "protest" at each other. One guy said that if the cops are not jailed, they will burn the city down. (He recently repeated that threat.) Taylor's family consistently asked for non-violence, but the protestors didn't care. Then Oprah paid for a group (Until Freedom) to come here and have protests and stay through October and put up 20 billboards. Most recent there a peaceful but illegal sit in on the front yard of the yard of the Attorney General (I saw where folks have started to picket at Pelosi's house. Gooseygander.) And a march out by Churchill that was all good until the end, when they block a street by the UofL football/baseball complex and got arrested. So most folks know there is more violence to come - just don't know when. Plus, its boarded up. Going there is like visiting the Bronx in 1978. "Warriors ... come out to playeeeeay."

4. I'd say not much. Louisville race problems are deep and old. If the grand jury doesn't indict the cops, riots. If they are indicted but found not guilty, riots. By folks who misspelled Breonna Taylor's name on their original "Say Her Name" signs! We are no longer a "nation of laws, not men." We now are ruled by vigilante "justice" - where everybody demands their own view be implemented, tweeted, re-tweeted, liked and forwarded on Facebook - at the threat of riot. Just read this board and behold the state of political discourse.

"if we don't get what I want this city will burn."

5. Bardstown is a quaint place, if all you do is go to My Old Kentucky Home and the Old Talbott Tavern and the local distilleries. It is much more rural than it appears. I had met the father who was murdered. I know lots of people there who know that family. The next county over (Bullitt) - where I-65 runs - had a Sherriff who admitted during a trial that he met with and provided info to Mexican cartel members about drugs in the area. He claimed he was just giving them false info and working them for info he'd use to bust them. He was acquitted and I am surprised he is still alive. You made a wise choice.
 
1. Both. I have heard more from local bar members, but I treat it as given in confidence and don't discuss it. But the claims that both boyfriends were targets have been dicussed on local TV news. The info about the ex as a target is solid. The "current" boyfriend less so. Some police early said "we don't about investigations" but once the George Floyd protests turned into Breonna Taylor protests here, and cops started losing jobs, they "leaked' that tidbit.
Regarding (1), you could discuss generalizations about the information given in confidence . . . and certainly without attribution. But then I don't want to be pushy . . . . 🤥
 
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