(CNN) In the weeks following the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, Greg McMichael, one of the men later convicted in Arbery's death, participated in 16 phone calls with the former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, according to court documents filed in the Superior Court of Glynn County on Wednesday.
Arbery, 25, was shot on February 23, 2020, while running from Greg McMichael, his son Travis and the McMichaels' neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.
The three were convicted last November of Arbery's murder. In February, a jury found that the three White men had chased Arbery as he was jogging because he was Black. It found them guilty of interference of rights, a federal hate crime; and attempted kidnapping.
The document filed Wednesday was the prosecution's response to two motions to dismiss criminal charges against Johnson for her role in allegedly mishandling the McMichael case. In the filing, government lawyers argue that Johnson's legal challenge is untimely, that the evidence supporting Johnson's indictment was sufficient, and that there was no flaw in the oath administered to grand jury witnesses.
In the wake of McMichael's conviction in Arbery's death, the state has also filed a misconduct case against Johnson claiming that she obstructed law enforcement "by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest, contrary to the laws of said State."
checker280 on May 6th, 2022 at 21:16 UTC »
This is not the first case where Jackie Johnson crossed a few lines. She absolutely needs to go to jail as a warning to all the other DAs out there.
https://investigations.ajc.com/caroline-small-shooting/
“Instead, Johnson undertook a highly unusual set of maneuvers. She cut a deal with the two officers, asking them to waive their right to a 15-day advance notice of any indictment. In return, she agreed not to offer an indictment for grand jurors to consider — unless they asked for one.
Almost unheard of in grand jury proceedings, Johnson also shared the state’s case and evidence with the officers’ attorneys two months before the grand jury met, according to court records.
The grand jury convened Aug. 17, 2011, and Johnson’s deference to the officers showed, according to GBI records and the depositions of witnesses who testified.
A PowerPoint intended to outline the state’s evidence did not include details about the two officers’ prior use of force, particularly helpful to Sasser, who had shot a drug suspect in a parking lot in 2005. In that case, Sasser said he heard an engine rev as if it were going to spring forward and he shot the suspect because he feared for his life.
Johnson did allow grand jurors, however, to learn about Small’s bouts with addiction and past run-ins with the law, including accusations of criminal trespass, theft and burglary. Traces of cocaine and alcohol, found in her system, were also presented to the grand jury.
Johnson also allowed the officers’ attorneys to cross-examine GBI Agent Smith in the grand jury chamber. Having already been granted access to the evidence, they came prepared.
Smith “described the two lawyers basically just taking over the grand jury from Jackie,” McDaniel told the AJC and Channel 2. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard of before.”
Agent Smith was also troubled by an animated re-enactment of the shooting that Johnson allowed to be shown to grand jurors. Created by the Glynn County police department, it showed the two officers standing between a wide gap between the patrol cars as they aimed their weapons. A shifting perspective showed how Small would have a clear angle to run them over. The animation concluded with Small’s car driving through the gap and running into the officers.
Smith had seen the animation and believed it presented a grossly inaccurate picture of the crime scene, she later said in a sworn deposition.
The animation also had a huge omission: Simpson’s SUV — inexplicably left off the crime scene diagram — was nowhere to be seen. At the time of the shooting, Simpson pulled up to the left of Sasser’s car and near Trooper Malone’s vehicle.
The tight space between the utility pole behind Small and Sasser’s vehicle in front of her — even without Simpson’s vehicle pictured in the animation — didn’t leave Small enough room to flee, Smith said.
jpiro on May 6th, 2022 at 18:38 UTC »
This should surprise no one. Remember, the police and DA had the same video we all saw for MONTHS and were doing everything possible to sweep it under the rug. If it didn't go public, they would never have brought charges.
ForgotToDieYoung on May 6th, 2022 at 16:23 UTC »
Never underestimate the presence of corruption and nepotism in politics, justice and commerce. Never.