In a striking turn of events, a Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) inquiry panel has accused Thomas Clay, defense attorney for Detective Joshua Jaynes, of violating the “squeal rule.”
Jaynes and Sgt. Kyle Meany are being sued by the United States of America for civil rights violations in the Breonna Taylor raid.
Clay has been touted as an extremely skilled defense attorney who could defeat the USA’s case against Jaynes:
His long career — 47 years ago and counting — includes defending a rogue’s gallery of criminals — among them Mel Ignatow and Karen Sypher.
More recently, he has represented an assortment of women, minorities, whistleblowers and police officers who contend they were abused by people in power.
In that unusual niche, he has won nine jury verdicts since 1996 worth a combined $11 million — including four of $1 million or more — as well as hefty settlements from local and state police and other government agencies. (ref)
Screenshot from Courier-Journal article
Detective Jaynes has a powerful advocate— unless Clay is disbarred.
The KBA’s accusation relates to Clay reporting to the FBI that the Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronny Goldy Jr. did favors for a defendant in exchange for nude photos. The KBA says Clay should have instead reported this to the bar association. This supposed infraction can result in Clay’s suspension or disbarment.
Some background on the upcoming trial
The Jaynes trial which had been scheduled for October 25, 2022, has been rescheduled to autumn 2023. Why? Because 65,000 documents provided to the defense attorneys totaling more than 300,000 pages, along with dozens of audio and video recordings and significant data from electronic devices, would have required more time than one month to properly prepare a defense.
This and other trials relating to the Breonna Taylor raid potentially will expose alarming facts. However, since the USA prosecutors have forbidden the defense to “retain any discovery materials inside any jail or detention facility”— that may not occur.
The DOJ rules further state: A defendant may review discovery materials in his home for the purpose of assisting in the preparation of his defense, but he must return or destroy all copies of the materials at the conclusion of this case. A defendant may not share any discovery materials with any person outside the defense team. (Ref. on Pacer.gov case docket)
The C-J reported in September that Attorney Clay “filed an objection to the proposed order, saying many of the documents are already in the public record and that it conflicts with a Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) ethics opinion that recommends attorneys keep client records for five years.”
The point of this post
Since Fastzone’s mission is to help fill the deficit in conservative news investigative journalism, some may wonder: What is the point of this post? After all, since Attorney Clay has defended criminals (though perhaps not knowingly), and we conservatives are opposed to crime, why would his KBA run-in be of interest?
Conservatives are aware that America’s FBI and DOJ are “not your father’s” investigative nor justice systems. Times have changed. In this particular focus, we need to look into the KBA’s motive.
What is the current state of America’s professional organizations? We hope to address this question in future posts, and keep tabs on Clay’s status as a barrister.
Bravo, Brazil
If you are keeping up with the Brazil presidential election fallout, you will enjoy this very brief clip on the NEW Twitter.
