Ahmaud Arbery case: Former DA's trial delayed by threat of coastal snow

Shaddi Abusaid, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 21, 2025

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BRUNSWICK— The long-awaited trial of former district attorney Jackie Johnson officially began Tuesday morning as hundreds of Glynn County residents showed up for the start of jury selection.

But prospective jurors in the high-profile case were sent home at lunchtime and instructed not to return until Thursday as Coastal Georgia braces for rare winter weather.

Senior Judge John R. Turner took the precaution as locals here gear up for what could be the town’s first accumulation of snowfall since 1989. The latest projections show Brunswick could get an inch of ice and snow.

“Everybody’s going to get a little colder, I’m afraid,” Judge Turner told a prospective juror who complained about the temperature outside.

Johnson, the former district attorney in Glynn County, is accused of meddling in the police investigation into Ahmaud Arbery’s murder nearly five years ago.

The 25-year-old was chased down by three white men in pickup trucks and killed with a shotgun Feb. 23, 2020, while running through the Satilla Shores subdivision just outside coastal Brunswick.

Jury summonses were sent to about 500 Glynn County residents ahead of the start of trial, but more than a dozen prospective jurors were quickly excused Tuesday morning after revealing some of their strong opinions about the case.

“The facts I’ve gotten through the media, they lead me to believe that she did interfere,” said one prospective juror, who called it “cringe.”

“I don’t like what I’m hearing about this case, about this particular situation,” she said. “It makes me uneasy.”

Another man was excused after telling the judge he had reservations about serving as a juror on the case.

“Either verdict would concern me due to the high-profile nature of this case,” the man said.

Asked his thoughts on the killing itself, the prospective juror called it “the unjustified ending of a life.”

“We agree,” Johnson’s defense attorney Brian Steel said.

Two others were excused after referring to the case against Johnson as a “witch-hunt” and saying they sided with the former DA.

“I don’t really think what she did was wrong,” one woman said, blaming “progressives” for bringing the charges against Johnson.

The juror also said she didn’t think William “Roddie” Bryan, who filmed the shooting, should have been convicted of murder.

The cellphone footage of Arbery’s shooting sparked widespread protests in Glynn County and beyond after the shaky footage was leaked online more than two months later.

Travis McMichael, who fired the fatal blasts; his father, Greg McMichael; and Bryan, their neighbor, were convicted of murder and other charges in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison. All three men were convicted of federal hate crimes the following year.

Greg McMichael, who once worked as an investigator in Johnson’s office, called his former boss shortly after Arbery was killed and left her a frantic voicemail.

“Could you call me as soon as you possibly can?” he said. “My son and I have been involved in a shooting and I need some advice right away.”

The Georgia Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, has contended in court filings that the two exchanged phone calls in the days after Arbery’s murder.

Johnson was indicted by a Glynn County grand jury in September 2021 on charges of violating her oath of office, a felony, and obstructing law enforcement, a misdemeanor. She faces a sentence of up to six years if convicted of both counts.

The indictment alleges she instructed two Glynn County police officers not to arrest Travis McMichael after the shooting. It also accuses her of failing to treat Arbery and his family fairly and with dignity; showing “favor and affection” to Greg McMichael; and failing to disclose she had asked neighboring DA George Barnhill to take the case before telling the AG’s office she had to recuse from it due to a conflict of interest.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks. Jury selection is set to resume Thursday at 10 a.m.