BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The trial involving a former Georgia district attorney charged with interfering in the Ahmaud Arbery investigation continued on Friday.
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Jackie Johnson was the chief prosecutor for coastal Glynn County when Arbery was chased by white men in pickup trucks in 2020 and fatally shot in a quiet subdivision nearly five years ago. She is standing trial on charges that she violated her oath of office and hindered police in the aftermath of the young Black man’s killing.
One of the key moments in court on Friday came when former Waycross District Attorney George Barnhill took the stand.
Barnhill explained the conversations he had with Johnson, who initially asked him to take over the case before he requested to be removed. Barnhill also explained one of the reasons he asked to be removed from the case was due to threats being made against him, his family, and his office.
Prosecutors focused on the conversations between Barnhill and Johnson about the case.
During Barnhill’s testimony, he explained Johnson wanted him in Brunswick the day after Arbery’s death.
Prosecutor: “What was the need for getting you there on Monday?
Barnhill: “They wanted to see me Monday I guess. I mean it wasn’t really said to me why it was so urgent. I made some assumptions.”
Prosecutor: “What assumptions did you make?”
Barnhill: “I had assumed the son of the investigator was in jail.”
When Barhill arrived at the Glynn County Police Department back then, he learned no one was in custody.
“My response to them was well...you’re going to need to put all of this in writing. You need to go out and get all this stuff done. You’re going to need to go ring those doorbells. You’re gonna need to go ask for this other stuff, and you’re gonna need to make a full report, just like you would any other murder case, and get that to us, and it’s gonna go to a grand jury,” Barnhill said.
Under cross-examination, Barnhill testified that Johnson never provided him with specific instructions about how to handle the investigation.
Defense attorney: “What was clear, though, is that she didn’t give you any instructions in terms of what to do, other than go meet with the Glynn County Police Department and talk to them right?”
Barnhill: “Correct. No, no, no instruction, or no, no one way or the other. It’s just listen when you handle this case. It’s like, you know what kind of case. And I don’t think she even, other than telling me Greg McMichael, I don’t know that she told me the victim’s name or she didn’t give me an officer’s name. It was just a go to Glynn PD and they needed to talk to us.”
Barnhill met with Glynn County police the day after the shooting.
In the courtroom on Thursday, prosecutor John Fowler asked Stephanie Oliver, Glynn County’s assistant police chief, about that meeting. She said that investigators presented evidence including cellphone video to Barnhill, who after about two hours rendered an opinion that the shooting appeared to be justified.
Travis McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, armed themselves with guns and pursued 25-year-old Arbery after he ran past their home on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded cellphone video of the shooting.
Greg McMichael had retired months earlier from his job as an investigator in Johnson’s office. He called her cellphone an hour after the shooting and left a voicemail asking for help.
Two months passed without arrests in the case after the McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a thief and that Travis McMichael shot him in self-defense. The video of the shooting leaked online two months later, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. All three men were arrested and later convicted of murder as well as federal hate crimes.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office indicted Johnson in 2021, arguing that she abused her power to delay arrests and influence the appointment of an outside prosecutor who had decided Arbery’s killing wasn’t a crime.
Johnson has denied wrongdoing, insisting she immediately recused her office and reached out to Barnhill, to advise police. He became the first of three outside prosecutors assigned to Arbery’s killing.
Court proceedings are expected to continue Monday we will hear from more people.