Only One Black Juror Selected to Hear Case of Former DA Accused of Hampering Police Investigation Into Ahmaud Arbery’s Death

Jury selection has concluded in the trial of controversial former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who prosecutors say tried to shield the men who shot and killed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery from ever being arrested, according to reports.

Despite the racial aspects of the case, only one of the 12 jurors seated to decide Johnson’s fate is Black. Nine of the jurors are women, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Greg McMichael, who used to work for Johnson as an investigator, and his son Travis McMichael were convicted of Arbery’s murder in 2021, along with neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, who filmed the fatal shooting. The McMichaels said they believed Arbery was responsible for a series of neighborhood thefts, and when they saw him jogging on a Sunday afternoon in February 2020, they chased him down in their truck. Travis McMichael shot Arbery, who was unarmed and cornered, after a brief scuffle.

The trio were convicted of hate crime charges in a federal trial held in 2021 after prosecutors successfully argued Arbery had been targeted due to his race.

Johnson is charged with violating her oath of office, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of hindering police as they investigated Arbery’s killing. She has denied any wrongdoing, saying she immediately handed the case to an outside prosecutor.

But not before receiving a voicemail from Greg McMichael roughly an hour after the shooting. “My son and I have been involved in a shooting, and I need some advice right away,” Greg McMichael told her in his message.

The indictment accuses Johnson of showing “favor and affection” toward Greg McMichael, who had retired from the DA’s office just a year before the shooting, and interfering with police by “directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest.”

Though she did recuse herself, Johnson violated protocol by recommending Waycross Judicial Circuit DA Roger Barnhill take over the case. Barnhill determined charges weren’t warranted even though he was one of the first to see Bryan’s damning video that ignited international outrage. He said Arbery initiated contact with Travis McMichael and then cited unrelated criminal cases against the victim’s older brother and cousin.

Barnhill eventually recused himself after Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, discovered on Facebook that the prosecutor’s son worked for Johnson and with Greg McMichael on a recent investigation.

Without Jones’ discovery, said her attorney at the time, Lee Merritt, Barnhill would’ve likely remained on the case, “and the McMichaels would’ve gotten away with murder.”

To assemble an impartial jury, the Superior Court clerk sent summonses to about 500 residents.

Judge John Turner had to dismiss two jurors on Tuesday after discovering they were personal friends of Johnson’s family, the Current reports.

Johnson’s parents and siblings, who own the Southeast Georgia bank chain FNB South, were in the courtroom. On the other side sat Arbery’s parents, Jones and Marcus Arbery.

Turner also dismissed several jurors who admitted they already believed Johnson was guilty based on news reports from the past three years.

“She didn’t want to prosecute those involved in the Arbery case,” said a middle-aged Black resident.

A young Black woman and military veteran wrote in her questionnaire that she distrusted prosecutors: “Lots of prosecutors are crooked and get caught doing wrong.” Both were excused.

Several jurors brought up Glynn County’s “good ol’ boy system” in relation to Johnson. Others believed she was being unfairly targeted.

“It smells like a witch hunt to me. I feel like she acted on trusted advice,” said a middle-aged white man. He was dismissed.

An elderly white woman, who later revealed she was friends with Johnson’s cousin, defended Johnson’s trust in police advice. She was also excused.

Judge Turner clarified that his goal isn’t to find jurors who have never heard of Arbery or Johnson but rather those who can remain open-minded and consider all the evidence.

Johnson was no stranger to controversy. An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News found that she had assisted two Glynn police officers in their defense against possible prosecution for the death of Caroline Small, shot and killed following a low-speed police chase, despite objections from several prosecutors in her office.

Assistant district attorney Keith Higgins, fired by Johnson due to his outspoken determination to prosecute the officers for what one GBI supervisor called the worst police shooting he’d ever investigated, defeated his former boss in 2020, ending her 10-year run as the Brunswick circuit’s top prosecutor.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is prosecuting the case against Johnson, with the trial expected to last about two weeks.