Ex-Georgia DA on trial for obstruction in Ahmaud Arbery death case

Jury selection has begun for a former Georgia prosecutor accused of interfering with the investigation into the murder of an unarmed Black man. Jackie Johnson, the former district attorney for Georgia’s Brunswick Judicial Circuit, is charged with violating her oath of office and obstruction in connection with the 2020 shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

What’s the background?

Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores subdivision in February 2020 when three white men chased him down in an attempt to detain him at gunpoint for police. Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, claimed they suspected Arbery of stealing equipment from nearby homes under construction.

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During the confrontation, Arbery tried to run past Travis McMichael; they scuffled, and Arbery was fatally shot.

Here’s where Jackie Johnson comes in 

Greg McMichael had formerly worked for Johnson as an investigator for the DA’s office. Before that he was a police officer.

Though she recused herself from the case immediately, Johnson is accused of trying to shield the McMichaels from legal recourse. None of the men were charged in Arbery’s death until two months after it happened, when video of the incident was released, which raised public outcry.

Johnson denies any wrongdoing. Opening statements will begin once jury selection is over.

Where are the McMichaels and Bryan now?

Greg and Travis McMichael and Roddie Bryan are all serving life sentences on state murder charges and were all convicted on federal hate crime charges.

In March of last year, the trio appealed against the federal hate crimes verdict against them, and in October, they asked for a new trial on the state murder charges.

Arbery’s legacy

Arbery’s death, along with those of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, sparked a series of Black Lives Matter protests across the country in the summer of 2020, calling for an end to police brutality and racial injustice. The protests were the largest in U.S. history, with an estimated 15-26 million people participating.

It also spurred a slew of legal changes in Georgia. In June 2020, Georgia enacted a new bipartisan hate crime law. Previous versions of the legislation had passed the state House but failed in the Senate. Prior to Arbery’s murder, Georgia was one of just four states without any hate crime laws.

On Feb. 16, 2021, exactly a week before the first anniversary of Arbery’s murder, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, R, announced big changes to the state’s citizen’s arrest law, which dated back to the Civil War era. He said the law was outdated and vague.

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The McMichaels and Bryan said they were attempting to perform a lawful citizen’s arrest when Arbery was shot. Kemp said the changes closed numerous loopholes in the law, while still protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.

The outdated law was replaced with new legislation, allowing for certain people, like licensed private detectives, security guards, shopkeepers and restaurant employees, to conduct arrests under specific circumstances. The changes were signed into law with strong bipartisan support on May 10, 2021.