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Former Georgia prosecutor charged in Ahmaud Arbery case booked, released from jail

Mobile Home Slayings
Posted at 11:20 AM, Sep 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-09 13:20:15-04

A former Georgia prosecutor was booked on charges related to the alleged mishandling of the Ahmaud Arbery case.

On Wednesday, former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson turned herself in at the Glynn County jail and then was released on her own recognizance, so she did not have to post bail, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Last week, a grand jury indicted Johnson on charges of violating her oath of office and hindering a law enforcement officer.

According to the newspaper, Johnson allegedly instructed officers not to arrest Travis and Gregory McMichael for the alleged shooting on Feb. 23.

The Associated Press reported that the father and son remained free until the cell phone video that recorded the shooting was leaked to the public on May 5. After a national outcry, they were arrested two days later.

Arbery was fatally shot on February 23, 2020, after a white father and son armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man after spotting him running in their neighborhood.

Greg McMichael, who had worked for Johnson as an investigator, allegedly called her after the shooting.

He retired in 2019, the AP reported.

The AP reported that Johnson maintained she didn't do anything wrong, saying she recused her office from the case because of its relationship with Greg McMichael.

The indictment comes five months before the McMichaels and the man who recorded the fatal shooting, William “Roddie” Bryan's trial begins.