The trial of Jackie Johnson, the former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney, got underway this week as attorneys began the arduous task of winnowing a jury from the pool of hundreds of Glynn County residents summoned for jury duty.
Tuesday marked the first day Johnson is standing trial on charges of obstruction and violating her oath of office. An indictment says she meddled in the murder investigation of Ahmaud Arbery on behalf of her former employee, Gregory McMichael, and his son, Travis. The men were convicted of murdering Arbery while the 25-year-old Black man was out for a run in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. The McMichaels are white.
The case is being prosecuted by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office, led by one of his top prosecutors, John Fowler. Johnson, who has pleaded not guilty, is represented by the Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney, Brian Steel.
The first day of jury selection illuminated some of the challenges facing prosecutors and defense lawyers in selecting an open-minded jury where a well-known defendant is on trial. Other issues made apparent include a lack of institutional trust in Glynn County’s criminal justice system and the amount of time that has transpired since Arbery’s death.
To select an impartial jury, the Superior Court clerk sent jury summons notices to about 500 residents.
In true small-town Glynn County fashion, semi-retired Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Senior Judge John Turner was forced to excuse two jurors on Tuesday after learning they were personal friends with Johnson’s family.
Johnson’s parents and siblings, who run the Southeast Georgia bank chain FNB South, were in the courtroom Tuesday. The other side of the courtroom hosted Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, as well as his father, Marcus Arbery.
Turner excused several jurors who voiced that they felt like Johnson was guilty based upon news reports they read in the last three years.
“She did not want to prosecute those involved in the Arbery case,” one middle-aged Black resident of the county said.
A young Black woman of Glynn County, who had previously served in the military, wrote in her questionnaire that her view of prosecutors was dim: “Lots of prosecutors are crooked and get caught doing wrong.”
Both potential jurors were excused.
Multiple jurors mentioned the “good ol’ boy system” at work in Glynn County, in relation to Johnson.
The county has suffered numerous breaches of trust due to law enforcement and courts scandals. Those include the pending case against Johnson, guilty pleas and cleared records by officers involved in the Glynn County Police Department’s disbanded drug unit, a troubled cop allowed to stay on the force before his violent end and thousands of untouched yet potentially tainted drug cases as revealed in an investigation by The Current last year.
Some potential jurors believed Johnson was being set up and that they had not heard her side of the story yet.
“It smells like a witch hunt to me. I feel like she acted on information on trusted people,” said a middle-aged white man from Glynn. He was excused.
One elderly white woman, who later disclosed she is friends with Johnson’s cousin, said that “Jackie Johnson trusted the police giving her the advice.” She was excused too.
Turner said he is not trying to achieve the impossible: select a jury of residents who have never heard of Arbery or Johnson.
The judge said his intention is instead to have a jury of Glynn residents who have not yet made up their minds about Johnson and will consider all the evidence.
After Tuesday’s selection panel and a Wednesday break in court due to the winter storm, attorneys are expected to begin questioning potential jurors again on Thursday.
At least four more panels of jurors are scheduled to be questioned by Friday. That’s the desired deadline for the selection of 12 jurors and alternates.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.
