Arbury, 25, was shot dead on February 23, 2020, while fleeing Greg McMichael, his son Travis and McMichaels’ neighbor, William Roddy Brian, in the Satila Shores neighborhood of Brunswick, Glyn County, Georgia.
The three were convicted last November of Arbury’s murder. In February, a jury found that the three white men had chased Arbury while fleeing because he was black. He found them guilty of interfering with rights, a federal hate crime; and attempted kidnapping.
The document, filed Wednesday, was a response from prosecutors to two requests to drop criminal charges against Johnson for her role in the alleged mismanagement of the McMichael case. In the file, government attorneys say Johnson’s legal challenge is untimely, that the evidence in support of Johnson’s accusation is sufficient, and that there is no error in the oath given to witnesses on the grand jury.
Following McMichael’s conviction for Arbury’s death, the state also filed a lawsuit against Johnson, alleging that she obstructed law enforcement by “ordering Travis McMichael not to be arrested, contrary to the state’s laws.”
The McMichaels were arrested on May 7, 2020 – two days after a video of the shooting – and Brian was arrested two weeks later.
The register of calls included in the State’s response to the request for rejection shows that 16 conversations took place between McMichael and Johnson from 23 February, the day of the shooting, to 5 May 2020, with the longest call taking place on 30 April and lasted 21 minutes and 4 seconds.
Court documents also show that McMichale left a message for Johnson the day after Arbury’s death, in which he asked Johnson to call him, saying in part that “my son and I were involved in the shooting and I need advice immediately. “.
The document states that some calls were made while Johnson was still the district attorney in the case.
McMichael and Johnson know each other because he worked as a police officer and investigator in the district attorney’s office.
“Evidence shows that Johnson was sympathetic and affectionate to McMichael during the pending case – including when she was making decisions as a prosecutor in his case,” the government letter said.
The government report also cites conversations Johnson had with other officials, suggesting that Johnson tried to influence the McMichael case instead of immediately withdrawing because of their past acquaintances.
CNN tried to contact Johnson’s lawyer for comment.
In the past, Johnson has denied any wrongdoing in the case, instead telling his constituents during his re-election campaign that she has been falsely accused.
“This case is a terrible tragedy for the community,” Johnson said in October 2020 during an online debate between candidates running for Brunswick District Attorney. “It’s a tragedy for the family. I’m sorry about how things happened. I’m sorry I started a lie and I couldn’t bring it back.”
After serving a decade as Brunswick County Attorney, Johnson was removed from office.
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