The former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officer who was terminated for lying on the search warrant that led to Breonna Taylor’s tragic death has filed a lawsuit against the Police Merit Board to get his job back.

More than two months ago, the Police Merit Board voted to uphold Joshua Jaynes’ firing from the LMPD. Thomas Clay, who represents Jaynes, vowed to take the matter to court and filed a suit on Friday (Sept. 17). “There are solid grounds for this appeal,” Clay told the Courier-Journal on Monday (Sept. 20). “I think the decision of the Louisville Metro Police Merit Board was wrong, as a matter of law and factually.”

The complaint alleges that the board made an “arbitrary decision not supported by true facts” and accuses board attorney Mark Dobbins of exceeding “his role as legal adviser.”

As REVOLT previously reported, Jaynes, who was fired from the department back in January, lied on the search warrant that led to the March 2020 raid at Taylor’s home the night she was fatally shot. An internal investigation found that the wording on the affidavit, which led the cops to the residence, was misleading.

According to the warrant, Jaynes verified through the U.S. Postal Service that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was receiving suspicious packages — allegedly containing drugs — at her home in West Louisville. However, his termination letter states that that information was false.

The former cop reportedly received information about the packages from another detective, although that information was never confirmed.

During the hearing with the Merit Board back in June, Jaynes was questioned about the allegations that he did not verify the claims with the postal inspector. The ex-detective confirmed that he did not. “My point is, how is someone looking at this supposed to know that there is an intermediary, there is somebody else that you talked to?” a Merit Board member asked Jaynes. The board ultimately voted to uphold Jaynes’ termination.