Current:Home > StocksJudge sets early 2025 trial for ex-prosecutor charged with meddling in Ahmaud Arbery investigation -BeyondWealth Learning
Judge sets early 2025 trial for ex-prosecutor charged with meddling in Ahmaud Arbery investigation
View
Date:2025-04-14 01:48:45
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A judge Tuesday set an early 2025 trial date for a former Georgia district attorney charged with interfering with the police investigation into the killing of Ahmaud Arbery,
Jury selection in the criminal misconduct trial of Jackie Johnson is scheduled to begin Jan. 21 in coastal Glynn County, according to an order by Senior Judge John R. Turner. He set a Dec. 11 hearing for attorneys to argue their final pretrial motions.
Johnson was the county’s top prosecutor in February 2020 when Arbery was fatally shot on a residential street as he ran from three white men chasing him in pickup trucks. While Arbery’s pursuers argued they mistakenly believed the 25-year-old Black man was a criminal and that he was shot in self-defense, all three were later convicted of murder and federal hate crimes.
Johnson recused her office from handling the killing because the man who initiated the deadly chase, Greg McMichael, was a retired investigator who had worked for her. His son, Travis McMichael, had shot Arbery at close range with a shotgun. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit and recorded graphic cellphone video of the shooting that leaked online more than two months later.
Johnson was voted out of office months later, a loss she blamed largely in outrage over Arbery’s killing. In September 2021, a grand jury indicted her indicted her on a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of hindering a police officer.
The case has moved a crawl since Johnson was first charged, reported to jail for booking and then released. She has yet to appear in court. The judge’s scheduling order Tuesday was the first action taken since last November, when Turner denied legal motions by Johnson’s lawyers to dismiss the case.
The judge told The Associated Press in September that the delays were unavoidable because one of Johnson’s attorneys, Brian Steel, had spent most of the past two years in an Atlanta courtroom defending Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug in a sprawling racketeering and gang trial.
Turner’s order moving ahead with Johnson’s case came less than a week after Young Thug pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges.
Steel and attorney John Ossick, who also represents Johnson, did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment Tuesday evening.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement that “we look forward to presenting our case in court.”
While the men responsible for Arbery’s death are serving life prison sentences, his family has insisted that justice won’t be complete for them until Johnson stands trial.
“It’s very, very important,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told the AP in September. She did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday.
veryGood! (37598)
Related
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Iowa woman wins $2 million Powerball prize years after tornado destroyed her house
- Jet Tila’s Father’s Day Gift Ideas Are Great for Dads Who Love Cooking
- 10 Best Portable Grill Deals Just in Time for Summer: Coleman, Cuisinart, and Ninja Starting at $20
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- In the San Joaquin Valley, Nothing is More Valuable than Water (Part 1)
- Titan investigators will try to find out why sub imploded. Here's what they'll do.
- Parkland shooting sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson found not guilty on all counts
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- 19 Father's Day Gift Ideas for Your Husband That He'll Actually Love
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- On the Frontlines of a Warming World, 925 Million Undernourished People
- ‘We Need to Be Bold,’ Biden Says, Taking the First Steps in a Major Shift in Climate Policy
- This $20 Amazon Top Is the Perfect Addition to Any Wardrobe, According to Reviewers
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Biden Puts Climate Change at Center of Presidential Campaign, Calling Trump a ‘Climate Arsonist’
- Utility Giant FirstEnergy Calls for Emergency Subsidy, Says It Can’t Compete
- Mother dolphin and her baby rescued from Louisiana pond, where they had been trapped since Hurricane Ida
Recommendation
Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner Set the Record Straight on Feud Rumors
Trump Administration Offers Drilling Leases in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, but No Major Oil Firms Bid
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Daughter Gracie Shares Update After Taking Ozempic for PCOS
Sam Taylor
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona: Affirmative action ruling eliminates a valuable tool for universities
Hunter Biden's former business partner was willing to go before a grand jury. He never got the chance.
Even With a 50-50 Split, a Biden Administration Senate Could Make Big Strides on Climate