‘Devastating’: Georgia Judge Throws Out All Charges Against Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Protecting White Father and Son Who Chased Down and Killed Ahmaud Arbery, Outraged Family Speaks Out

Georgia prosecutors sustained a humbling defeat in court Wednesday as the judge in the Jackie Johnson misconduct case tossed the final remaining charge against the former Brunswick Circuit district attorney accused of obstructing the investigation into Ahmaud Arbery’s killers. “Frankly, this is a decision I didn’t want to make,” Senior Judge John Turner said in court. But he said the defense’s challenge to the indictment “needs to be granted.” Ex-prosecutor Jackie Johnson on trial for obstruction police investigation into Ahmaud Arbery’s murder. (Credit: Glynn County, Faceboo) The felony charge of violating oath of office was vacated after Johnson’s attorneys argued the 2021 indictment was riddled with technical errors that ultimately failed to show she had violated the law. On Tuesday, Turner dismissed a misdemeanor count of obstructing police after he found “not one scintilla of evidence … that would authorize a verdict on that count.” Prosecutors from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office alleged Johnson sought to protect her former chief investigator and longtime friend, Greg McMichael, after he and his son Travis chased Arbery in their pick-up truck, thinking he was responsible for a number of neighborhood thefts. After a brief scuffle, Travis McMichael fatally shot Arbery, who had...