Former Georgia prosecutor Jackie Johnson’s trial was abruptly ended by a judge, who threw out the felony indictment used to charge her for allegedly using her influence to protect the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery. Johnson had long denied influencing police who initially decided against making arrests when Arbery was fatally shot nearly five years ago. The Jack ruled that the 2021 indictment was fatally flawed by technical errors and failed to accuse her of any crimes, dismissing the felony charge against her. He also acquitted her of the misdemeanor obstruction charge, stating there was no evidence she directed police investigators not to arrest the man who shot Arbery. Arbery’s parents believe that Johnson tried to protect the men who killed their son, with his mother Wanda Cooper-Jones stating that the evidence was there to convict Johnson. The men who killed Arbery, Greg and Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, were later charged and convicted of murder and federal hate crimes in separate trials. Georgia Attorney Chris Carr ordered an investigation of Johnson, leading to her indictment. Prosecutors struggled to build a case, with their witnesses failing to establish that Johnson had acted illegally. Johnson was voted out of office in November 2020 and largely blamed her defeat on the controversy surrounding Arbery’s killing. Carr regretted the jury’s inability to decide on the case but stood by the case presented by his office. Johnson left the courthouse without speaking to reporters after the trial was ended.
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