Ga. Prosecutors' Handling of Ahmaud Arbery Shooting to Be Investigated
"We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset," Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said.
May 11, 2020 at 01:11 PM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Daily Report
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Sunday he has asked the U.S. Justice Department to review the handling of the Ahmaud Arbery case.
Carr's announcement came after he told Fox News on Friday that he was stunned and sickened by the video of the shooting that was leaked last Tuesday. Carr said he had questions, too, and planned to find answers to why it took months to make arrests in connection with the Feb. 23 shooting.
Arbery family attorney S. Lee Merritt recently said state and law enforcement officials knew about the video all along, yet the arrests didn't come until Thursday evening, two days after it was made public. "This case needs federal review," Merritt said in a tweet Saturday morning.
Before the weekend was over, Carr took the same position.
"We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset," Carr said in a written statement Sunday. "The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers."
The justice department investigation, Carr said, will be led by Bobby Christine, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Carr said he would turn over his entire file on the case to Christine.
Carr's request "includes, but is not limited to, investigation of the communications and discussions by and between" District Attorneys Jackie Johnson in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit and George Barnhill of the Waycross Judicial Circuit.
Neither of the DAs could be reached for comment Monday.
Four days after the shooting, on Feb. 27, with no arrests made, Johnson recused from the case and asked the AG's office to appoint another prosecutor. She said she had a conflict because one of the suspects was a former investigator for her office. Carr assigned the matter to Barnhill, who later recused because he has a son who works for Johnson. But that was not until April 7.
Carr said Barnhill provided no reason for the delay. Carr said Barnhill also did not mention he had sent an April 2 letter, now widely circulated, to Glynn County Police Captain Tom Jump, saying the DA found "insufficient probable cause to issue warrants."
Carr said his office reassigned the case on April 13 to Liberty County-based Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden. After the video became public on May 5, Carr and Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds offered the state's resources for the investigation. Reynolds said he called Durden. They connected that evening, and Reynolds offered the GBI's help. Reynolds said Durden immediately agreed. Reynolds announced his investigation the next morning and the arrests the next evening.
In a Friday morning news conference, Reynolds said his office found sufficient probable cause by Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, for the death of Arbery.
"If we didn't believe it, we wouldn't have arrested them," Reynolds said. "If we believe it, then we're gonna put the bracelets on them. And that's what we did."
They were both charged with murder and aggravated assault, taken into custody and booked into the Glynn County Jail.
Defense counsel has not been listed yet.
On Friday afternoon, Carr appeared on a Fox News show called "The Daily Briefing." Host Dana Perino asked his reaction when he saw the video leaked Tuesday.
"I was stunned. I was sickened. As a father. As a fellow human being. To see that video, it was just, it was, it was repulsive," Carr said. "We immediately started talking with the governor's office, with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and with folks in the community to see what we could do."
Perino asked Carr if he thinks "something is wrong with it taking this long" to make an arrest.
"There are a lot of a questions. I have questions, too. What I do know is, once the state got involved, it took 48 hours," Carr said. "But you know what, I want to look into it, too. The family deserves answers. The community deserves answers. The state of Georgia deserves answers."
Carr also released a statement on Twitter. "Gov. Brian Kemp immediately stepped in when he saw the video and directed the GBI to reach out to the DA to make sure that we got involved as quickly as the state possibly could," Carr said. "I look forward to working with the governor's office, I look forward to working with the GBI, to make sure we get the answers for the community and for the state."
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