A former Georgia district attorney was indicted by a grand jury Thursday for allegedly showing preference to the men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery last year.
Jaquelyn Lee Johnson was indicted on charges of violation of oath of public officer and obstruction of a police officer, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced. Johnson served as Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney when Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot last February. Johnson ultimately lost re-election in November.
Arbery was shot and killed on Feb. 23 after being followed by Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, his son, in their pickup truck. Arbery’s family has said he was out jogging, while the McMichaels, who are white, said they believed he was a burglar.
Days after the shooting, Johnson had recused herself from the case. She had noted that George McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer, had been an investigator in her office for more than 30 years before he retired in May 2019.
Johnson is now accused of “showing favor and affection to Greg McMichael during the investigation,” according to the indictment document released Thursday. She also allegedly hindered two police officers “by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest” following the shooting.
The indictment also alleges that Johnson sought help from Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George E. Barnhill, who she recommended to take the case after she stepped aside, without disclosing her previous conversations with Barnhill.
Barnhill recused himself in April and defended the McMichaels in his letter, stating to the police captain at the time that the father and son had “solid first hand probable cause” to believe Arbery was a burglar.
No further details regarding the allegations were released, with Carr’s office noting it will continue to investigate the case.
Johnson did not immediately return a voicemail requesting comment by NBC News Thursday.
Though Arbery died in February 2020, the case did not receive intense scrutiny until video was released of the shooting in early May 2020. The video circulated online and drew widespread outrage, and the case was referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations not long following its release.
In the video, posted by Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt, Arbery is seen jogging down a road as a white pickup truck is stopped in front of him. Arbery runs around the vehicle, and a shot is fired. The video then shows Arbery and another man appearing to tussle as two more shots are fired.
NBC News does not know what occurred before the events shown in the video.
The McMichaels have since been charged with felony murder, along with their neighbor neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 50. Bryan was with the McMichaels at the time and recorded the video but argued that he was just a witness to the shooting.
All three men entered not guilty pleas in the state’s case against them.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
