As the five-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder approached, his family had been awaiting the final stage in their pursuit of criminal accountability — but the trial of a former prosecutor took an unexpected turn. Just before the jury was set to receive instructions on Feb. 5, the presiding state court judge dismissed the indictment […]
Ahmaud Arbery
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Are in Prison. The Person Accused of Protecting Them Is Now in Court.
Jacquelyn Lee Johnson, the former district attorney accused of unethically meddling in the investigation of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder in 2020, was expected to face a judge this week for arraignment on a felony charge of violating her oath of office. But the hearing in the long-awaited case has been delayed at her attorney’s request, according to court records. […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
What’s Behind the Wave of Convictions for Police and Vigilantes? It’s More Than Woke Jurors.
Juries in recent months have been handing down guilty verdicts against police officers and white vigilantes in a series of rare convictions for a legal system that historically has failed to render justice for Black victims. Last month, three white men in Georgia were convicted of committing a hate crime when they murdered Ahmaud Arbery, […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Prosecutors Rarely Pursue Hate Crime Charges. Here’s Why Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder Was Different.
Two years after Ahmaud Arbery’s jog through a south Georgia neighborhood ended in his murder, the tragedy received a rare designation on Feb. 22, when the three white men who killed him were also convicted of executing a hate crime. A federal jury found that Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, along with their […]