Ex-prosecutor charged with meddling in Ahmaud Arbery case appears in court ahead of trial

Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia district attorney charged with interfering in the police investigation of the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery has made her first court appearance more than three years after being indicted. Jackie Johnson spent a decade as the state’s top prosecutor for coastal Georgia’s Brunswick Judicial Circuit. She came to court Wednesday as a defendant, charged with violating her oath of office and hindering police investigating the fatal shooting of Arbery as the young Black man ran from armed white men on a residential street. Johnson was indicted in 2021 but waived a prior court appearance. The long-delayed case is now scheduled to go to trial early next year, with jury selection starting Jan. 21.