After dismissing charges against the district attorney, a judge apologizes to the family of a jogger who was killed.
Criminal Justice
Judge apologizes to slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery’s family after tossing charges against district attorney
February 10, 2025, 9:21 am CST
Jackie Johnson, then the Brunswick district attorney in Georgia, campaigns for reelection Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo by Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via the Associated Press)
A Georgia judge has tossed the charges against a prosecutor accused of favoring a former white investigator in her office before he was charged in the 2020 death of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery.
Former Brunswick, Georgia, District Attorney Jackie Johnson had been charged with violating her oath of office and obstructing a police officer in the investigation that followed Arbery’s death. Judge John R. Turner, of Glynn county, Georgia, gave a directed verdict to the obstruction charge on Feb. 3, after concluding prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence to prove that Johnson obstructed an investigation into the death. Turner tossed the oath-violation charge two days later after defense lawyers argued that the indictment didn’t accuse Johnson of crimes in connection with the charge and listed the wrong oath of office.
Publications covering the tossed charges are Courthouse News Service, Law360 and the Associated Press.
Arbery, 25, was shot and killed after two white men pursued him in a pickup truck because they thought that he was a suspect in several break-ins in the area. A white neighbor, who was also in the truck, recorded the incident. Over two months, no arrests were made. Gregory McMichael was his father and a former Johnson police officer. William “Roddie Bryan” was the man who took the video. The jury convicted all three in November 2021 after rejecting arguments that Arbery had been shot in self defense when Arbery grabbed a gun. They were also convicted in August 2022 of federal hate crimes. Johnson testified she immediately recused from the case after learning that her former employee had been involved. When she saw the video, Johnson said, she thought that the slaying “looked like murder,” and she informed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation about calls that she had received from Gregory McMichael.
Turner apologized to Arbery’s family members after tossing the final charge, according to Courthouse News Service.
“This is not a decision I wanted to make, but feel like I must,” he said.
Turner also said he feels “sadness for the death of this young man and what his family has gone through.”
Johnson was represented by lawyer Brian Steel, who also represented rapper Young Thug in a high-profile criminal trial. Steel said Johnson should not have been charged.
“It’s a sad day. Steel told Courthouse News Service that Ahmaud arbery was killed for no reason and that then-Attorney general Chris Carr piggybacked on one of the worst tragedies in our nation and state by indicting an innocent woman.
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