A judge ended the trial of a former Georgia prosecutor accused of using her influence to protect the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery by throwing out the felony indictment used to charge her, abruptly halting the weeklong case before it went to the jury. Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson denied influencing police who initially decided against making arrests when Arbery was fatally shot nearly five years ago in coastal Glynn County, where Johnson served as the top state prosecutor. The judge’s ruling closed the book on criminal charges that hung over Johnson for more than three years, reports the Associated Press. Johnson faced charges of violating her oath of office, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of obstructing police when her trial opened last week. It ended in her favor Wednesday without a verdict from the jury that heard five days of testimony from witnesses, including Johnson.
Senior Judge John Turner dismissed the oath violation charge after Johnson’s attorneys argued the 2021 indictment was fatally flawed by technical errors and ultimately failed to accuse her of any crimes. Turner said that the defense’s challenge to the indictment “needs to be granted.” Earlier, the judge had acquitted Johnson on the misdemeanor obstruction charge. He ruled after prosecutors rested their case, declaring they failed to show “one scintilla of evidence” that Johnson had directed police investigators not to arrest the man who shot Arbery. Arbery's parents still believe Johnson tried to protect the men who killed their son. His father, Marcus Arbery Sr., called the judge’s decision to end the trial “devastating.” Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves with guns and used a pickup truck to chase Arbery after spotting the 25-year-old Black man running in their neighborhood outside the port city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range with a shotgun. More than two months passed without arrests. Then the video of the shooting leaked online, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. All three men were convicted of murder and federal hate crimes. Georgia Attorney Chris Carr ordered an investigation of Johnson that resulted in her 2021 indictment.