Photo Courtesy of AP
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — On Wednesday, a jury watched video footage of a police investigator telling Travis McMichael, the man who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, that he wasn’t being arrested shortly after the incident. McMichael, along with his father, Greg McMichael, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, chased and shot Arbery after spotting him running through their neighborhood on February 23, 2020.
“You’re going home today,” Glynn County police investigator Roderic Nohilly told Travis McMichael about two hours after the shooting.
Nohilly testified as the first prosecution witness in the criminal misconduct trial of former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, the top prosecutor in Glynn County at the time of Arbery’s killing nearly five years ago. Johnson is charged with violating her oath of office and obstructing the investigation into Arbery’s death.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is prosecuting Johnson. However, Johnson’s defense team seized on moments in Nohilly’s testimony to challenge claims that Johnson had used her power to delay arrests or influence the appointment of an outside prosecutor who later concluded the killing was self-defense.
Arbery’s death went uncharged for over two months until cellphone video of the shooting surfaced online, prompting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to take over the case. McMichael, his father, and Bryan were arrested shortly thereafter. The three men were convicted of murder and federal hate crimes.
Greg McMichael had worked as an investigator for Johnson’s office and left a voicemail for her an hour after the shooting, seeking assistance.
Johnson maintains that she did nothing wrong and recused her office from the case, reaching out to neighboring District Attorney George Barnhill. Barnhill advised police the day after the shooting that it appeared justified.
Prosecutors argue that Johnson violated her oath of office by recommending Barnhill to oversee the investigation without disclosing that Barnhill had already determined the shooting was not a crime.
The jury also saw a letter from Johnson to the state Attorney General’s Office requesting an outside prosecutor, though it did not mention Barnhill by name.
Pete Skandalakis, Executive Director of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, testified for the prosecution. On cross-examination, he said there was nothing illegal about Johnson recommending Barnhill for the investigation, even if she knew Barnhill had already concluded that the shooting was justified.
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, played clips of Nohilly’s interview with Travis McMichael. In the video, Nohilly tells McMichael, “You’re not being charged with anything,” and assures him that the investigation was still in its early stages.
“I was trying to maintain rapport with him,” Nohilly explained, adding that he had not spoken with Johnson about the case at that point. He said police were still investigating and hadn’t ruled out bringing charges later.
Hours after the shooting, a Glynn County investigator called Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, with the grim news that her son had been killed. Cooper-Jones, visibly emotional on the witness stand, recalled receiving the call while at her mother’s house, three hours away from Brunswick. The officer told her that Arbery had been shot while committing a burglary.
“The officer shared that Ahmaud was committing a burglary,” Cooper-Jones said through tears. “He was confronted by the homeowner, there was a struggle over the firearm, and Ahmaud was shot and killed.”
This account echoed Greg McMichael’s claim that he and his son had seen security camera footage that led them to suspect Arbery of stealing from a nearby construction site. They later claimed Arbery was shot in self-defense, but when police arrived, they found Arbery unarmed and with no stolen property.
Like Cooper-Jones, Nohilly initially heard reports from other officers that Arbery had been shot while committing a “home invasion.”
Cooper-Jones testified that law enforcement and prosecutors had shared very little information with her about her son’s death until after Barnhill recused himself from the case in April 2020.
During cross-examination by one of Johnson’s attorneys, Cooper-Jones acknowledged that she had met Johnson briefly after the shooting, though she denied having hugged her.
Defense attorney Keith Adams asked Cooper-Jones if she had seen Johnson outside the courthouse after the shooting video was made public.
“You were driving by and you called to her, and she came over and gave you a hug,” Adams suggested.
Cooper-Jones responded, “I don’t think we hugged.”