A police officer testifies that an ex-prosecutor never obstructed her in the Ahmaud Arbery case
A police officer testifies that an ex-prosecutor never obstructed her in the Ahmaud Arbery case
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The case against a former Georgia district attorney charged with discouraging police from arresting the man who killed Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 took a blow Thursday as a police supervisor testified that the accused prosecutor never obstructed her during the investigation.
Jackie Johnson was the chief prosecutor for coastal Glynn County when Arbery was chased by white men in pickup trucks 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.
Stephanie Oliver, Glynn County's assistant police chief, is one of two officers named in the indictment that charges Johnson with “directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest.” McMichael is the man seen in a cellphone video shooting Arbery point-blank with a shotgun.
Called as a prosecution witness Thursday, Oliver denied under cross-examination any effort by Johnson or anyone in her office to obstruct her when she was supervising investigators assigned to Arbery's killing. “Tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury how Jackie Johnson knowingly and willfully hindered you and directed you not to arrest Travis McMichael,” defense attorney Brian Steel asked Oliver, quoting the language in the indictment.
Oliver replied: “I never had any interaction with Ms. Johnson during this case.”. 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.
