ATLANTA—On Feb. 5, a judge tossed out the felony indictment against Jackie Johnson, former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney. She was accused of shielding the White men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a young, Black man in February 2020. She was indicted in 2021 and faced a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of hindering police.
Senior Judge John R. Turner dismissed the obstruction charge on Feb. 3 and the oath violation charge two days later. The judge blamed technical errors in the indictment as the reason for the dismissal.
Ahmaud Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr., expressed his hurt and devastation to reporters. The trial outcome shocked Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. “The evidence was there,” she said. “We all know that Jackie Johnson played a part in the cover-up of the death of Ahmaud.”
The felony indictment was thrown out before the case, which was held at the Glynn County courthouse, went before the jury, according to the Associated Press. Black news outlets reported that the majority of selected jurors were White with only one Black juror.
Gregory McMichael, one of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers, worked as an investigator in Ms. Johnson’s office when she served as district attorney. He called Ms. Johnson shortly after his son, Travis McMichael, shot Mr. Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, according to NewsOne.
The Black-owned media outlet documented portions of the recorded call included in the public case file.
“Jackie, this is Greg,” Greg McMichael said. “Could you call me as soon as you possibly can? My son and I have been involved in a shooting, and I need some advice right away.”
NewsOne reported that according to the indictment, Ms. Johnson returned the call, showed favor and affection toward her former investigator and interfered with police officers at the scene by “directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest.”
During the trial, one officer testified that the former prosecutor never interfered, and the other was not called as a witness, according to the Associated Press.
In previous reports, the Associated Press discovered that a legal filing listed 16 calls between phone numbers for Ms. Johnson and Mr. McMichael starting an hour after the shooting and ending on May 5, 2020, the day cellphone footage of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder leaked online.
Ms. Johnson recused herself from the case shortly after learning Mr. McMichael was involved. On that fateful day in February nearly five years ago, the armed father and son duo chased unarmed 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him jog in the neighborhood.
Their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined in and recorded the shooting incident on his cellphone. More than two months passed without arrests. Eventually, all three men were convicted of murder in late 2021 and found guilty of federal hate crimes in 2022.