Because the five-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s homicide approached, his household had been awaiting the ultimate stage of their pursuit of prison accountability — however the trial of a former prosecutor took an sudden flip.
Simply earlier than the jury was set to obtain directions on Feb. 5, the presiding state courtroom choose dismissed the indictment towards former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Legal professional Jacquelyn Lee “Jackie” Johnson.
She had been accused of abusing her authority in an effort to impede the investigation into Arbery’s homicide. The 25-year-old had been jogging in a Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020 when he was chased down by three white males and fatally shot. Johnson recused herself the day after the capturing to keep away from a perceived battle of curiosity as a result of one of many males as soon as labored for the district lawyer’s workplace. Johnson denied any wrongdoing and any interference within the investigation.
Senior Choose John R. Turner’s choice to throw out Johnson’s indictment hasn’t given the household the ultimate closure in prison courtroom they’ve been looking for. It additionally raises questions on how a grand jury was in a position to land an indictment primarily based on the proof introduced by prosecutors towards Johnson, just for the choose to throw it out years later.
“We’re deeply upset by the courtroom’s choice to dismiss the costs towards Jackie Johnson. Nonetheless, we stay grateful that the grand jury selected to indict Johnson and that the Georgia Legal professional Basic’s Workplace vigorously pursued a conviction,” Cooper’s civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt mentioned in a joint assertion with Arbery’s household earlier this month.
Regardless of the prison trial’s final result, it “reaffirmed the systemic failures and institutional racism that not solely led to Ahmaud’s homicide but additionally sought to protect his killers from accountability. We are going to proceed to struggle, utilizing the info revealed on this case in our ongoing federal lawsuit towards Glynn County, in addition to towards Jackie Johnson and George Barnhill individually,” Cooper’s civil rights attorneys mentioned.
Arbery’s household and their attorneys need the preliminary district attorneys within the case to be held accountable. George Barnhill was the primary neighboring district lawyer to take over the Arbery case after Johnson recused herself.
“This final result doesn’t mark the top of our pursuit for justice — it strengthens our resolve,” the attorneys mentioned.
Felony prosecution of a prosecutor for alleged misconduct is extraordinarily uncommon — very similar to submitting prices towards a police officer, elected official, or a lawyer or choose, LeRoy Pernell, professor and former dean at Florida A&M College School of Regulation, advised Capital B.
Pernell and Rima Sirota, a professor of legislation at Georgetown Regulation Heart, and ethics counsel to the D.C. Volunteer Legal professionals Challenge, break down why holding prosecutors accountable will be troublesome — however isn’t completely unimaginable.
Was Johnson’s prosecution justified?
Most authorities officers — equivalent to judges, and federal staff — are required to take an oath to uphold the U.S. Structure. Equally, attorneys should take an oath upon being admitted to the bar, pledging to uphold that state’s legislation, adhere to moral requirements, and fulfill their skilled obligations.
“Legal professionals, prosecutors like anyone else, have an obligation to report back to the suitable authority once they learn about misconduct from one other lawyer — that’s the usual,” mentioned Sirota, a former member of the skilled duty advisory workplace of the U.S. Justice Division, advised Capital B days earlier than Johnson’s acquittal. “And the legal professionals not often do it [report]. They not often do it.”
Pernell agreed with Sirota that prosecutors would have a “very robust” time to show to jurors that Johnson’s “selections to impede justice had no justifiable foundation for it, and actually, was a manifestation of an intent to do one thing criminally fallacious.”
To keep away from any battle of curiosity, the state lawyer common’s workplace investigated, and prosecuted her on two state prices: felony violation of oath of public officer and misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer.
Practically 18 months after Arbery’s dying, a Glynn County grand jury indicted Johnson for allegedly “exhibiting favor and affection” towards Gregory McMichael, a retired investigator along with her workplace and a former Glynn County police officer, in keeping with the indictment.
The indictment alleged that whereas Johnson recused herself from Arbery’s murder investigation to keep away from a battle of curiosity, she mentioned the case with McMichael and Waycross District Legal professional Barnhill, and made suggestions.
“Misconduct below any state’s bar guidelines contains all kinds of unhealthy conduct, together with issues that actually would apply in Johnson’s case, like dishonesty, fraud, deceit, conduct that’s prejudicial to the administration of justice,” Sirota mentioned.
It took 74 days to arrest the boys, who had been later convicted in 2022 of homicide in state courtroom and hate crimes in federal courtroom.
For months, Arbery’s household was led to imagine he was killed whereas allegedly committing a housebreaking. In Might 2020, a cellphone video taken by McMichael’s neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., leaked and led to their arrest.
Johnson served as district lawyer till she misplaced her reelection bid in November 2020.
Earlier than Johnson appeared in courtroom as a defendant for pretrial hearings in 2024, McMichael, his son Travis, and Bryan had already been convicted in state and federal courts and sentenced by August 2022. She “waived arraignment and pleaded not responsible on Dec. 21, 2022,” a spokesperson confirmed to Capital B in an e mail, which means she entered her not responsible plea with out showing in particular person.
What’s thought of misconduct?
Prosecutorial misconduct happens when a prosecutor deliberately breaks a legislation or a code {of professional} ethics whereas prosecuting a case.
“Prosecutors, once we take a look at what we require of them and the requirements they’re to reside by, the prosecutors themselves fairly often don’t perceive that their obligation will not be merely to win a case,” Pernell mentioned. “Their obligation — and that is totally different from the protection counsel — their obligation is to hunt justice. And so once they do issues that aren’t in line with looking for justice, all of us can characterize that as misconduct.”
In accordance with the Honest Struggle Initiative, a racial justice nonprofit group, examples of prosecutorial misconduct embrace failing to confess proof that will exonerate a defendant; influencing potential jurors by media; proof tampering; or making illegal arguments to the jury, like expressing their private opinions or alluding to info not represented by proof.
Since 1989, prosecutorial misconduct has contributed to greater than a 3rd of the three,659 recorded wrongful convictions — and over half of these exonerees are Black, in keeping with the Nationwide Registry of Exonerations database. Solely 4% of exonerations involving prosecutorial misconduct have confronted private or skilled self-discipline, in keeping with the registry.
Nonetheless, on the subject of Johnson’s case, “It’s important to show intent,” Pernell mentioned. If she instructed the law enforcement officials “to not arrest, what was the intent? Did she assume justice could be served by not charging them? How do you show that intent?”
“There’s not one scintilla of proof that I’ve heard that may authorize a verdict on that depend,” Turner, the choose, mentioned on the conclusion of the trial on Feb. 5.
Quickly after prosecutors rested their case earlier this month, the choose took the uncommon step of granting a directed verdict on the misdemeanor obstruction cost towards Johnson. The ruling means the choose discovered the case towards Johnson was too weak for any affordable jury to convict her, in keeping with the Related Press.
After the protection concluded their case, which included Johnson testifying on her personal behalf, Turner dismissed the felony violation of oath of public officer cost, in the end acquitting her of any prosecutorial misconduct.
“Intentional misconduct, versus a nasty choice, or perhaps a actually unhealthy choice — the bar to proving prosecutorial misconduct is so excessive — specializing in intentional or malicious misconduct, is admittedly arduous to show,” Sirota mentioned.
How can prosecutors be held accountable?
“Prosecutors have historically — due to the kind of immunity — have large discretion. They’ve very seldom confronted disciplinary actions, and a few of them are for outrageous habits, equivalent to faux proof, faux subpoenas,” Pernell mentioned.
There are some methods to hunt accountability for prosecutorial misconduct, together with submitting a civil lawsuit, pursuing prison prices, or reporting the prosecutor to the state’s bar affiliation.
“A prosecutor is an officer of the courtroom and enjoys the identical kind of safety from civil legal responsibility the choose does; that safety is ‘absolute immunity,’” Pernell mentioned, including, “We can not sue, or a person can not sue a choose, for selections {that a} choose makes, even when these selections are fallacious, as a result of we are saying that they’ve absolute immunity, and naturally they’ve prolonged that to prosecutors.”
Advocates for the wrongly convicted are more and more highlighting “Brady” violations — prosecutors’ failure to reveal favorable proof, equivalent to a written confession — as some of the dangerous types of misconduct. The time period comes from the 1963 Supreme Courtroom case Brady v. Maryland.
Learn Extra: Wrongful Convictions Reveal the Flaws of the Felony Justice System
“Underneath present United States Supreme Courtroom precedent, prosecutors are incessantly granted immunity from civil lawsuits … even once they deliberately violate the legislation, making oversight by public businesses and the courts all of the extra crucial,” in keeping with the Innocence Challenge.
Absolute immunity doesn’t all the time prolong to prosecutors.
“There are a variety of instances the place prosecutors have confronted civil legal responsibility for outrageous conduct that was not a part of the trial course of. Then it’s loads murkier whether or not or not the prosecutors would have that immunity from civil legal responsibility,” Pernell mentioned.
Cooper, Arbery’s mom, has an ongoing $1 million federal civil lawsuit filed towards the three convicted killers, Johnson, and Barnhill. They’re accused within the February 2021 courtroom paperwork of conspiring to cover-up Arbery’s homicide.
In a civil lawsuit continuing, that’s when certified immunity can come into play for prosecutors. The authorized doctrine doesn’t apply in prison legal responsibility investigations.
“However prison prosecution, that’s a tougher matter, that dates again for many years and many years. And it is a drawback confronted not solely by prosecutors, however with criminally prosecuting law enforcement officials as effectively,” Pernell mentioned.
In preparation for our interview with Capital B, Pernell mentioned he was shocked on the lack of accountability he present in instances of prosecutorial misconduct.
In some situations, “the utmost self-discipline appears to be a public reprimand, which suggests they will proceed to carry their place,” Pernell mentioned. “So no civil legal responsibility, no moral duty, and prison prosecution, sure, doable, however very, very troublesome to win.”
In Georgia, the lawyer common, Chris Carr, has prosecuted different elected or appointed officers for unprofessional and unethical requirements allegations since taking up his function in 2016, a spokesperson confirmed to Capital B in an e mail. These included convictions of former Paulding County District Legal professional Donald Richard “Dick” Donovan and former Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Legal professional Mark Preston Jones.
Submitting a grievance by a state’s bar affiliation, these proceedings can go on for years resulting from inside investigations, and in the long run might be a fruitless effort, Sirota mentioned.