Judge rejects effort to dismiss case against former DA charged in Ahmaud Arbery killing’s aftermath

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge has refused to dismiss misconduct charges against a former prosecutor accused of hindering the investigation into the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The one-page ruling Tuesday comes 20 months after attorneys for former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson filed a legal motion arguing there wasn’t enough evidence to support the case. Johnson was the top prosecutor for Glynn County in February 2020 when white men in pickup trucks chased and killed Arbery as the Black man ran in their neighborhood. Johnson was indicted in 2021 and accused of using her office to shield Arbery’s pursuers from prosecution. One of them had worked for her as an investigator. All three were later convicted of murder.