Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023
Grim anniversary
Three years ago today, Ahmaud Arbery was killed while going for a run in Brunswick.
The death of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, on Feb. 23, 2020 set off a local and national racial reckoning. It took 74 days for authorities to arrest the three white men responsible for his killing and only did so after a video of Arbery’s final moments spread online.
The ensuing controversy led to murder charges for the three men who killed Arbery. A sitting district attorney was indicted and swept from office. A culture of policing in Glynn County was thrust into the national spotlight and calls for reform followed.
So, since then, what’s changed?
The men convicted of killing Arbery – Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and neighbor William Bryan – are fighting their life sentences in Georgia state prisons. All three were sentenced to life in state court for felony murder and both McMichaels received additional life sentences in federal court. Only Bryan received the possibility of parole for his state case and an additional 35-year sentence, instead of life, in his federal case.
Bryan and both McMichaels have each filed motions for new trials.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, of Savannah, will hear their motions once court reporters finish typing the lengthy transcripts of their trial. Once there is a hearing, lawyers can introduce new evidence into the record to be considered – outside of any issues they may have had about the trial.
Those issues, based upon a legal defense page and website by Greg McMichael’s wife, could include allegations that during the trial, jurors were intimidated by “groups of heavily armed men and women carrying flags that read ‘Black Panthers’ (who) used bull horns to taunt the police and people inside and outside the courthouse … Threats ‘to burn it down’ were repeated in unison in response to someone hollering for ‘justice.’”
It could also include an argument that Travis McMichael was trained on appropriate “use of force” from his time in the Coast Guard and it applied in his case (despite Travis McMichael not being a law enforcement officer at the time), according to an affidavit Travis McMichael’s lawyer filed after his conviction.
DA case slowdown
Little movement and a lot of delays have marked Jackie Johnson’s case since the former district attorney was indicted on Sept. 2, 2021.
The former Brunswick Judicial Circuit DA did not have her arraignment scheduled until more than a year after she was charged. Arraignments —where the accused pleads guilty or not guilty — are largely procedural but do typically occur soon after charges are filed.
Johnson is accused of interfering in the investigation of Arbery’s death in order to protect her former employee, Greg McMichael, prevent Travis McMichael’s arrest, and shape the outcome of the prosecutorial decision, an indictment alleges. Her lawyers called the allegations false and politically motivated.
An indicted chief and repeated history
The criminal case against former Glynn County Police Chief John Powell and three of his officers is on hold while Powell fights in court to get his case dismissed on technical grounds.
At issue, more slow court: Powell’s team is arguing that his right to a speedy trial – enshrined in both Georgia state law and the U.S. Constitution – was violated as several court periods have passed with no trial.
He was first indicted on Feb. 27, 2020, four days after Ahmaud Arbery’s death, on charges he ignored blatant misconduct in his agency’s troubled drug unit.
The Glynn County judge in the case denied Powell’s lawyer’s arguments, and the case has been taken to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Appeals court judges will decide on the merits of the speedy trial issue but no hearing has been scheduled.
Last December, The Current‘s Jake Shore reported on the charges against Powell and the red flags officials missed or ignored when hiring him.
It appears old habits die hard.
This month, Glynn County hired a new public safety director, the same job they hired Powell for in 2016.
The Brunswick News reports that the new director, Scott Ebner, previously served as an officer in New Jersey State Police, where he was named in two lawsuits alleging gender discrimination in promotions and retaliation against a disabled employee. The suits are still ongoing and a lawyer for Ebner has sought dismissal of the case.
Glynn County Manager Bill Fallon told the News that they knew about the lawsuits and that they did an extensive background check on him. Fallon implied that Ebner was only named in the lawsuits because he was a leader in the agency, not because of the allegations in them, according to the article.
We’ve uploaded a copy of the gender discrimination suit to read for yourself.
Other news around the coast
ICYMI: ‘Family of man who hanged himself in Savannah Police custody demands restitution’ Savannah Morning News: The family of William Zachary Harvey is demanding $12 million in restitution from the city after Harvey hung himself in a Savannah Police Department interrogation room two years ago. He was “consigned to a death sentence” because he was having a mental health episode and law enforcement did not follow protocol, the family’s letter states.
‘Republican state lawmaker renews effort to divert 17-year-olds to juvenile court system’ Georgia Recorder: 17-year-olds in Georgia accused of a crime stand alongside adults in superior court. There’s a renewed effort to send them to juvenile court instead, where they can be placed in rehabilitative services. Georgia is among three states that still does this, despite a body of scientific evidence showing the brains of 17-year-olds are not fully developed to understand the full consequences of their actions.
Have a question, comment or story idea? Email me at jakeshore.thecurrent@gmail.com.
Three years after Arbery’s death, no arraignment for indicted DA. Here’s where it stands
Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who’s been indicted and swept from office, has not had an arraignment in the criminal case against her. She may not have one. She’s alleged to have tried to influence the outcome of the Ahmaud Arbery death investigation to help her former employee.
As Arbery trial starts, Glynn County seeks accountability
A six-month investigation of Glynn County police, court and government documents show a persistent lack of accountability among local law enforcement and district attorney’s office that stretches back a decade.
As trial approaches, indicted former Glynn County police chief’s history shows controversies
When John Powell took over in 2018 as Glynn County police chief, officials hoped he’d work to build community trust. Now he faces trial on charges stemming from an out-of-control narcotics unit.
Republican state lawmaker renews effort to divert 17-year-olds to juvenile court system
Proposals are on the move that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for gang recruiting and other crimes, add bail requirements for more offenses and create a way to punish local prosecutors accused of being soft on crime.
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