Georgia Today: Ga. sheriff's offices to comply with HB 105; Arbery prosecutor meddling case dismissed

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Feb. 5. I'm Peter Biello. On this podcast, you'll hear the latest reports from the GPB news team. For feedback, suggestions or story tips, email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. On today's episode: Georgia sheriff's offices get ready to work with federal immigration law enforcement; The Georgia prosecutor accused of meddling in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial has her remaining charge dismissed; And the Rockdale County fire chief is stepping down.

Marion McDaniel: The chairperson, with the support of the other two commissioners, wants to go in a different direction and that direction does not include me being the fire chief.

Peter Biello: These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: As the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement nationally, sheriff's offices in Georgia are slowly doing the same as mandated by a state law passed last year. GPB's Grant Blankenship explains.

Grant Blankenship: Georgia's HB 1105 requires local law enforcement to tell federal officials when they have someone without legal status in their jail and, when they can, transport them to immigration detention. But so far, the idea that local law enforcement could perform immigration roundups in place of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appears to be unfounded. That's based on the handful of official agreements between ICE and local agencies under HB 1105. The agreements generally say this: Only jailers will be trained to have ICE arrest powers and they will only make immigration arrests of people who landed in jail on some local criminal charge. Bibb County Sheriff David Davis says that's not a fundamental change for his office, and his deputies don't have time for much else.

David Davis: You know, we've got gangsters and folks shooting up houses and doing things like that. That's kind of occupying our time right now. If I've got a person is that they're hardworking, whether they're illegal or not, and they're not breaking the law and not getting on our radar, then — then they're not going to be bothered by us.

Grant Blankenship: So far, ICE hasn't asked Davis for help in any large-scale raid. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Latin American advocacy group celebrated contributions from Latino Georgians at the state capitol today amidst federal immigration crackdowns. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: Democratic state Sen. Jason Estevez had recent immigration crackdowns on his mind as he addressed the crowd at a Wednesday event hosted by the Latino Community Fund.

Jason Estevez: Despite the fact that this president has attempted to divide us and to drive up fear, and has caused pain in our community, our community will continue to thrive.

Sarah Kallis: Conservative-leaning Latino groups held their own Latino Day celebration on Tuesday. Republican Rep. Ray Martinez said the immigration raids gave him sadness as well.

Ray Martinez: And what I told the Hispanic community is that you have to focus on what the Trump administration is saying. They want to get rid of the bad apples first.

Sarah Kallis: Immigration continues to be a topic of discussion during this year's legislative session. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state capitol.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A Southeast Georgia judge has thrown out a felony indictment against a former Glynn County prosecutor. The dismissal earlier today ends the trial of former District Attorney Jackie Johnson on charges that she abused her power to protect the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in 2020. Johnson was the county's top prosecutor when Arbery was fatally shot. Michael Hall of the Brunswick News spoke with GPB's Orlando Montoya.

Caption

Former Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson.

Orlando Montoya: Can you remind us what the charges against Jackie Johnson were and why her case attracted so much attention?

Michael Hall: Sure, sure. Johnson was indicted in September of 2021. It was one count of violation of an oath of office and one count of obstruction. And the allegations were that she interfered with the police investigation of Arbery's death. The claim that the attorney general's office made when they wrote the indictment was that she diverted the case on purpose to a neighboring DA who had already decided that the matter — it was a matter of self-defense. That was under the citizen's arrest law that's now been repealed after the Arbery case was concluded. So the obstruction charge she got because they claimed that she had verbally told some police officers at the scene of the crime not to arrest that day. And it gained a lot of attention because her indictment came down in 2021 and the case against Arbery's killers was still pending at that point. So it was part of this national attention that this case was getting.

Orlando Montoya: The events in question took place nearly five years ago. Why did it take so long for her case to come to trial?

Michael Hall: You know, I haven't seen many cases of any kind move very quickly, honestly. But in this case, it did take a lot longer. Usually four years, something like that, you would see for maybe a death penalty case. So this sort of case normally wouldn't take this long. But Johnson's lead defense attorney, Brian Steele, was representing Jeffrey Williams, who also known — is also known as Young Thug. And he was involved in one of the longest criminal trials in state history up in Atlanta. So as soon as that plea came down late last year and that case ended, it was within maybe two weeks that there was a scheduling order for this trial to begin in January.

Orlando Montoya: Now, the prosecution's case took a hit on Monday when Senior Judge John Turner made a rare directed verdict acquitting her of the obstruction charge. And now Turner dismissed the only remaining charge, the violation of oath of office. What reasons did the judge give for making these decisions?

Michael Hall: You know, the, the directed verdict — I believe he used the word "scintilla." He had not seen a scintilla of evidence that she had actually called the police that day, that — that came from some courtroom testimony from who is now the assistant police chief of Glynn County. She testified that she had never even spoken to Jackie Johnson during this case whatsoever. And her name was one of the two listed in the indictment as one of the two officers who had been directed not to arrest that day. They made it very clear that police do the arresting, district attorneys do the the stuff in court. It's sort of like Law and Order, the TV show. That was very clear in trial. So he threw that out on Monday. And then the general demure that he granted today, which essentially deems the indictment invalid, that came from arguments that Brian Steele made in his motion when he argued it orally, as well as the testimony that we saw in court, which showed that she could — Miss Johnson could actually admit to everything that the indictment said she did and still not have committed a crime. So that's where that decision kind of trickled down eventually through the trial to today, that he decided that it was time to end it.

Orlando Montoya: Let's talk about reactions to the case — first, from the parties involved. The prosecution was the Office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, and Johnson always denied the charges against her. How will these decisions be seen by the two sides and the community at large?

Michael Hall: Sure. The attorney general has — they issued an email statement to me, I'm assuming to other media as well, but — it said that that they believe that the charges they brought and the case that they presented with was good and strong. That's pretty much it as far as what they said pertaining to the case itself. You know, the mood from Johnson's camp after this was somber but, I think, relieved. They seemed to feel very strongly that this is a tragic case all the way around with what happened to Mr. Arbery. But they were relieved that they were able to show, you know, show that Johnson really had followed the rules and — and that she had not violated this law that she was accused of. And she had plenty of supporters with her in — in the courtroom. And as far as the community at large, you know, I think we're going to have some people that fall on both sides. We're already seeing some of that reaction coming out where some people say, "good, this should have — she shouldn't have ever been prosecuted in the first place." And there are other people who say, "no, this is part of a rigged, good ol' boy justice system."

Orlando Montoya: What about the family of Ahmaud Arbery?

Michael Hall: Sure. Yeah, His mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, would be one of those people who doesn't believe — doesn't believe any of it. Really. She said that she believes Jackie Johnson was a party to covering up her son's murder and that — and that he — that she tried to delay it. Marcus Arbery issued a written statement saying that while the family acknowledges the decision, they believe that inaction by the DA's office caused undue pain and stress to them and that even though it didn't meet the criminal justice system's burden of proof for having committed a crime, they're, they're still upset, but they say they're going to try to move on and — and deal with this as best they can.

Orlando Montoya: That's Michael Hall, a reporter with the Brunswick News. He was in the courtroom for the now-ended trial of former district attorney Jackie Johnson. Michael, thanks for sharing your insights with us.

Michael Hall: Thank you for having me.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Officials with Barrow County schools say they're expanding a weapon's detection program to the district's middle schools. This comes after it was implemented in the county's high schools. A shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder last September left four people dead. The district's top support services official, James Bowen:

James  Bowen: With the high school scanning program in place, we would now like to add middle schools. I'm happy to share that the middle schools will be receiving their devices in the next week, followed by a day of training on Monday, Feb. 17, and scanning will begin on Feb. 18.

Peter Biello: The board approved the weapons detection system last month, a day after a student brought a gun to Appalachee High School.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The fire chief in Rockdale County is stepping down. Marion McDaniel was appointed to the position in December 2020, becoming the county's first female and first Black fire chief. Her resignation comes four months after the county responded to a chemical fire at the BioLab facility in Conyers, east of Atlanta. Although county officials did not specify why McDaniel stepped down, they did say her resignation was not related to the BioLab fire. She spoke to GPB's Pamela Kirkland.

Marion McDaniel: I submitted my resignation after being advised that the chairperson, with the support of the other two commissioners, wanted to go in a different direction and that — and that direction did not include me being the fire chief.

Peter Biello: The fire prompted the evacuation of 17,000 residents and a shelter-in-place order for 90,000 others after the fire produced a plume of chemicals.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Budget writers in the state House approved a $40 billion mid-year budget today. The spending plan would take advantage of a huge surplus to improve state prisons and provide disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Helene. It would increase state spending by $4 billion over the budget lawmakers adopted last spring for the fiscal year that ends in June. It follows Gov. Brian Kemp's priorities for prisons and hurricane relief, adding spending to Kemp's budget presented last month.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: A North Carolina company that provides hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and related infrastructure plans to build a $33 million hydrogen truck fueling station west of Savannah. HydroFleet said yesterday that the facility in Pooler will help the region reduce its transportation-related emissions, serving as many as 50 trucks a day. Many of those trucks are expected to serve the Port of Savannah and the Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Bryan County. Hydrogen powered electric fuel cells are an emerging technology promising to recharge heavy electric vehicles quickly with fewer emissions than traditional fossil fuels.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: An LGBTQ business event scheduled to take place at the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank in April will have to take place somewhere else. That's after President Donald Trump ordered a review of programs targeting diversity, equity and inclusion. That's according to a statement today from the group sponsoring the event: the Out Georgia Business Alliance.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: Four Georgia universities have made U.S. News and World Report's most beautiful college campuses list. Berry College in Northwest Georgia is No. 3 on the list. From Atlanta, Georgia Tech and Spelman College are at No. 7 and 16, respectively. And Macon's Mercer University is No. 11. Georgia is the most represented state on the list. California is the next most represented with three universities.

Story 10:

Peter Biello: In sports and basketball, the Atlanta Hawks hope to stop a four-game home losing streak with a victory over San Antonio tonight. The Atlanta Dream have signed guard Holly Winterburn to a training camp contract. Winterburn is a guard from Northampton, England and a three-time BBL Young Player of the Year and 2024 Eurocup women's champion. She has represented Great Britain in multiple competitions, earning All-Star five honors at the U-20 European Championships. In baseball, outfielder Ramon Laureano is leaving the Atlanta Braves to join the Baltimore Orioles. ESPN reports Laureano signed a one-year, $4 million contract with Baltimore. Laureano hit .259 last year with 11 home runs. And in volleyball, the Atlanta Vibe are returning home for a game tomorrow night against the Orlando Valkyries. They're coming off a 3 to 1 loss against Las Vegas on Sunday.

Story 11:

Peter Biello: One more thing before we wrap up the news today. Ahead of Valentine's Day, Historic Hotels of America has announced its top 25 most romantic hotels list. Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, by the way. And on the list this year are two from Georgia, the Bellwether House of Savannah and the King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on Saint Simons Island. The latter offers a candlelit dinner experience that can be arranged on the beach or on one of the beachfront patios. In the former, in addition to luxury, you will also be assured a kid-free experience, as all guests must be 21 or older.

Story 12:

Peter Biello: And that's a wrap on this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for listening. We're going to have more news tomorrow, so make sure you subscribe to this podcast. And you can always check for updates at GPB.org/news. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. 

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