Local

Did Jackie Johnson help Ahmaud Arbery’s killers? Attorneys give clashing accounts

Jackie Johnson in court Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson speaks to people Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia, prior to a pretrial motions hearing in her violation of oath office case. (Michael Hall/Pool Photo via AP) (Michael Hall/AP)
(Michael Hall/AP)

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Opening statements got underway in the trial against a former Georgia district attorney accused of illegally interfering with the police investigation into the deadly 2020 shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

Jackie Johnson is also accused of slow-walking the prosecution of the three men who killed Arbery.

In court on Tuesday, her defense team said that never happened.

Johnson’s lead attorney, Brian Steel, insisted she’s innocent. Steel said that Johnson immediately recused herself and handed the case to an outside prosecutor. He also blamed local police for jumping to the false conclusion that Arbery had been caught committing a crime and was shot in self-defense.

“Jackie did not stop the arrest of anyone,” Steel said. “Jackie has done nothing to put her finger on the scales of justice.”

He told the jury that Johnson only knew what police had told her, that Arbery was a burglar, and was stunned two months later to see the leaked video that told a very different story.

The state told a very different story, telling the jury that Arbery’s family was left in the dark when it came to prosecuting the murder case, especially after Johnson recused herself.

John Fowler, a prosecutor for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office, claimed Johnson intentionally withheld information.

RELATED STORIES:

“She put the interest of her former chief investigator and her longtime friend ahead of a victim,” Fowler said.

Senior Judge John R. Turner seated a jury of 12 plus three alternate jurors at the Glynn County courthouse a week after jury selection began in the port city of Brunswick. It was delayed by a rare winter storm that left the coastal community coated in snow and ice.

The judge said he expects Johnson’s trial to last two weeks or more. It’s being held at the same courthouse where Arbery’s assailants were convicted of murder in 2021.

Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him run past their house. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of the shooting.

Prosecutors say Johnson abused her power by getting the attorney general to appoint an outside prosecutor whom Johnson knew had already advised police against making arrests. Fowler said Johnson never disclosed that George Barnhill, the first of three outside prosecutors assigned to the case, had concluded Arbery’s killing wasn’t a crime.

“She intentionally withheld information so that nobody would know that George Barnhill had already decided the case,” Fowler said.

Steel said that Johnson had enlisted Barnhill the day after the shooting to advise police because her relationship with Greg McMichael posed a conflict of interest. But he denied that Johnson recommended Barnhill when she later asked the attorney general to appoint an outside prosecutor.

“Jackie doesn’t recommend anybody,” Steel told the jury. “You’ll see the letter.”

Johnson was also charged in a September 2021 indictment with hindering police by “directing” them to not arrest Travis McMichael.

Fowler in his opening statement made no reference to Johnson telling police not to arrest anyone. Steel said the jury will later hear recorded interviews with police investigators saying they received no such directive from Johnson.

All three men were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder in 2021. They were also found guilty of federal hate crimes in a separate trial the following year.

Johnson was voted out of office in November 2020 after 10 years as district attorney for the five-county Brunswick Judicial Circuit. She largely blamed her defeat on controversy over the case, which erupted months earlier.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

0