Cops admit planting marijuana to cover murder of 92-year-old woman

[Each Hit]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/22/wom....ap/index.html

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The niece of a 92-year-old woman shot to death by police said her aunt likely had reason to shoot three narcotics investigators as they stormed her house.

Police insisted the officers did everything right before entering the home Tuesday evening, despite suggestions from the woman's neighbors and relatives that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The woman, Kathryn Johnston, was the only resident in the house at the time and had lived there for about 17 years, Assistant Chief Alan Dreher said.

The officers had a legal warrant, "knocked and announced" before they forced open the door and were justified in shooting once fired upon, he said.

Sarah Dozier, the niece, told WAGA-TV that there were never drugs at the house. (Watch niece's fury at police shooting Video)

"My aunt was in good health. I'm sure she panicked when they kicked that door down," Dozier said. "There was no reason they had to go in there and shoot her down like a dog."

As the plainclothes Atlanta police officers approached the house about 7 p.m., a woman inside started shooting, striking each of them, said Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman.

One was hit in the arm, another in a thigh and the third in a shoulder. The officers were taken to a hospital for treatment, and all three were conscious and alert, police said.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights leader, said Johnston's family deserves an apology.

"Of the police brutality cases we've had, this is the most egregious because of the woman's age," Hutchins said.

Hutchins said he would try to meet with Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington and would also meet with lawyers.

this is yet another case of poor police work resulting in unnecessary injuries and death. i will try to find more detailed stories on the case.

Reputation Comments on this post:

A nice article, there are too many sad cases like this happening tho! If only the police cud get it right!

[darawk]

As much as i'd like to blame the cops for as much as possible, I can't blame them for this. The woman shot and hit at least 2 of them. I'd shoot the bitch too.

Reputation Comments on this post:

ROFL good point, well presented.

[fnord]

Originally Posted by darawk

As much as i'd like to blame the cops for as much as possible, I can't blame them for this. The woman shot and hit at least 2 of them. I'd shoot the bitch too.

i can blame them!someone kicks down your door you better reach for a gun,how did she know if they were cops/rapeist/robbers?swim just wishes she had better aim or a fully automatic gun(with those nifty safty bullets that dont go thru walls!).maybe when police read this they will think twice about what happens when they do sloppy/fabricated work?or even better hopefully this rallys the comunity to think more about whos incharge of protecting them?swim once heard a story from his state where the cops shot a man in a wheelchair at the top of a flight of stairs wielding a butter knife!what was he going to do tumble down and crawl over to butter their ankles?swim feels so bad for this lady and her family there all just more victims of the drugwar.

[Each Hit]

imgine you are a 92 year old woman, alone at home. 3 strange men kick in your door. what do you do?

the police say they "knocked and announced," but even if they really did, who is to say this woman could even hear them??

[darawk]

Originally Posted by Each Hit

imgine you are a 92 year old woman, alone at home. 3 strange men kick in your door. what do you do?

the police say they "knocked and announced," but even if they really did, who is to say this woman could even hear them??

Yea, and imagine you're a cop. You knock on the door and announce yourself. You kick down the door, and two of your fellow officers are immediately shot. You telling me you'd stop and think "wait, what if she didn't hear us?" before you start shooting back?

[Each Hit]

why is a narcotics agent even kicking in the door of a 92 year old woman?? how many 92 year old women do you know who manufacture, distribute, or even use illegal drugs?? there was nobody else at home, so either the police got the wrong house, came when their person was not there (which they should have known beforehand), or had some terrible information gathered on the place...

am i the only one who thinks it is wrong that 3 cops bust into this innocent woman's house and now she's dead??

[Fish Cookies]

Originally Posted by Each Hit

why is a narcotics agent even kicking in the door of a 92 year old woman?? how many 92 year old women do you know who manufacture, distribute, or even use illegal drugs?? there was nobody else at home, so either the police got the wrong house, came when their person was not there (which they should have known beforehand), or had some terrible information gathered on the place...

am i the only one who thinks it is wrong that 3 cops bust into this innocent woman's house and now she's dead??

Gotta agree with you there, armed police should not be entering a house in such a fashion without full information. If she was living there for 17 years, its pretty easy for them to find that out. If they suspect a person is there that could be controlling, dealing or manufaturing drugs or the like, why was a spotter not watching the house for days to determine routine, timing and full information of the place? Why did they not confirm that the suspect was in this house before breaking and entering? The 92 year old woman (92!!!!) had every rite to shoot at 3 non uniform men who are breaking down her door wielding guns!

[darawk]

Originally Posted by Fish Cookies

Gotta agree with you there, armed police should not be entering a house in such a fashion without full information. If she was living there for 17 years, its pretty easy for them to find that out. If they suspect a person is there that could be controlling, dealing or manufaturing drugs or the like, why was a spotter not watching the house for days to determine routine, timing and full information of the place? Why did they not confirm that the suspect was in this house before breaking and entering? The 92 year old woman (92!!!!) had every rite to shoot at 3 non uniform men who are breaking down her door wielding guns!

All of those questions may have answers in the details of the case. Details that we don't have.

[Fish Cookies]

Originally Posted by darawk

All of those questions may have answers in the details of the case. Details that we don't have.

This is true, although at the end of the day the police have fucked up because a 92 year old woman is dead, no drugs were found and no suspect was found. Things like this should not be happening!

[Trebor]

Guns are heavy, especially shot guns, how the fuck did a 92 year old woman
a: pick one up
b: get to it so fast?
c:be allowed to own one?

[Woodman]

Fucking wrongful-death lawsuit.
Lucky the lawyer that gets THIS case!

She's 92 years old and likely doesn't hear all that well. If cops broke into her house, it is likely that she didn't even hear them announce themselves.

Without any drug evidence, cops have no real means of justifying the break-in that lead to the shooting, outside of the initial probable cause that lead to issuance of the search warrant.

...a 92 Y/O woman against an assault team, and she managed to shoot three of them before they killed her!

I think she should be cited (and posthumously awarded) for performing an act of civic valor.

[Nagognog2]

Reminds me of a case in Boston where the cops invaded, guns out, the wrong address and a 79 year old (Black) retired minister ended up dead.

The state claimed it was done in good faith, so the lawsuits were thrown out of court. You can imagine the level of trust and cooperation this elicited in the community.

Good for this woman for defending herself.

"When they kick in your front door - how you gonna come? With your hands on your head? Or the trigger of your gun?" - The Clash - "Guns of Brixton."

[Lunar Loops]

Interesting article (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...13metdrug.html) that explores the possibility (no surprises here methinks) that officers are prepared to cut corners and fabricate evidence in order to get a 'big' collar. It makes particular reference to the 92 year old woman shot dead by narc officers in Atlanta last November (see http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25395). Do the ends really justify the means? Are mistakes, however costly, inevitable and acceptable? Be very interested to hear what our friend police officer has to say about this.

Big score holy grail for drug officers

While minor busts pad narcotics squad's statistics, heat from top for major haul may tempt agents to cut corners.

By BILL TORPY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/13/07

Atlanta narcotics officers cradled their bulletproof shield, battering ram, prying tool and guns as the van rolled to a halt. They anticipated a large haul, one of the biggest in the past three years.
Hours earlier on Nov. 21, police say, a suspected street dealer they arrested told them he had just seen a kilogram of cocaine in a squat brick bungalow on Neal Street. The officers wasted no time. They quickly secured a no-knock warrant from a magistrate, telling her a trusted informant bought $50 worth of crack cocaine at the house from a man named Sam who kept the house under electronic surveillance.
The outcome of that raid is now well-known. The elderly resident, Kathryn Johnston, frightened by her door getting smashed in, fired on the officers, who killed her. There was no cocaine in the house.
Almost immediately, questions emerged about the narcotics cops' story. A longtime informant came forward to say police asked him to lie to cover up what happened, saying he made a buy at the house. Earlier this week, a report surfaced that one of the officers involved in the raid had told federal investigators that a narcotics officer lied to obtain the warrant.
A person close to the investigation said one of the three officers wounded by Johnston, Gregg Junnier, told federal investigators there was no drug buy at the house.
While the truth of what happened that night remains hidden in official investigations, suggestions that the narcotics officers may have cut corners with such horrific results raise tough questions. "Why are they willing to risk their career for this?" asked retired Atlanta police Sgt. Faye Coffield. "What would have happened if they got this bust?"
The officers involved aren't speaking publicly about the incident or the atmosphere in which they work, nor is Police Chief Richard Pennington. But interviews with current and former Atlanta police officers, a review of a departmental critique, a look at last year's search warrants and an analysis of drug tests by the state crime lab show the cauldron in which the officers work — and why the prospect of a one-kilogram bust would have been enticing.
"The desire to show an increased arrest rate probably played a significant role in this, said City Councilman H. Lamar Willis.
'One rock at a time'
Forget the piles of cocaine cops seize on TV shows. Being a narc in Atlanta is a dangerous, often frustrating job of repeatedly busting two-bit dopers who are leaned on to give up others, usually small-timers themselves. The narcotics officers operate in a netherworld of pursuing shadowy criminals known only by street names, and they get approval from judges to raid homes on the word of equally suspect snitches who frequently make buys of $20 or less.
Unlike the nickel-dime busts that occupy most of the officers' time, the kilo of cocaine the officers said they expected to find at Neal Street would have been one of the year's best seizures — literally a thousand-in-one bust.
Over a nearly three-year period, 6,121 drug confiscations sent by Atlanta police to the GBI crime lab tested positive for cocaine. Just six were more than a kilogram, a little more than 2 pounds. On the other hand, more than 4,000, or 64 percent, were less than a gram, which is roughly the weight of a single raisin.
Coffield, a former police union leader, said a joke has circulated for years: "The Atlanta police narcotics unit is solving the cocaine problem one rock at a time."
"All they care about is numbers," said Coffield, expressing a complaint being voiced by current Atlanta officers and city officials. "It's not hard to lock someone up for drugs. The problem is getting people with large amounts."
Indeed, such deficiencies in Atlanta's 30-officer narcotics unit were cited in an audit of the department released in 2004 by the New York-based Linder & Associates, a law enforcement consulting firm. "Although drugs are driving violent crime in Atlanta, the Narcotics Unit has been so understaffed that it has had negligible impact on drug trafficking," the report noted. "Narcotics enforcement historically has prioritized lower-level, street activities, not narcotics distribution."
All about the numbers
In 2005, Pennington said he needed 100 narcotics officers to make a dent in the city's drug and gun problem.
The department has not approached that goal. Before the shooting, there were fewer than 30 narcotics officers, about half of them working the streets in two teams, said Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the Atlanta local of the International Brotherhood of Police.
Now there are even fewer on the streets. Eight officers on the team involved in the shooting are on paid leave pending an investigation by federal and state authorities. The department is reviewing its policy on executing search warrants in drug cases.
"There is only one [team] left on the street," Kreher said. "That's down from two before Neal Street and down from four [teams] two or three years ago."
"I'm told they are told tips but can't get to them," Kreher said. "It's all about the numbers game. In narcotics, you can't spend weeks and weeks investigating the mid- and higher-level" dealers.
"They're not trying to put the fire out, they're just trying to keep it from spreading."
Angling for the big fish
Atlanta police would not disclose how many detectives are in the narcotics division, but spokesman Officer Joe Cobb said the anti-drug work isn't limited to that unit. He said that making drug cases is a priority for all officers.
"The goal is to get the big fish but it's not that easy," he said. "It's not for lack of effort."
Officers fighting drug dealers are detached to the federally funded "Weed & Seed" and Project Safe Neighborhood units and regular detectives assigned to the zones work drug cases.
In addition, officers are detached to the federal-state-local High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area unit. Jack Killorin, a retired federal agent who runs that metro area drug unit, said Atlanta police usually fill about a quarter of the unit's 80 positions. The unit has the time and resources to work large cases with no geographic boundaries, making busts that are often not credited to APD's stats.
Still, pressure from Atlanta's numbers-driven command staff trickles down to the street cops, said Kreher and other officers who did not want to be identified for fear of punishment.
In 2002, Pennington implemented COBRA, a computer-centered accountability program that quickly tracks crime trends and targets areas for enforcement. In weekly meetings, commanders are grilled by higher-ups when crime numbers increase or arrests decrease.
Officers feel that pressure in their annual reviews, Kreher said. But Cobb said, there is no quota system, formal or informal.
Councilman Willis said several officers have told him they are constantly pressured to make more drug arrests, regardless of size.
"When you base what you do on statistics, the arrests become almost more important than the volume [of drugs] you garner from those arrests," he said.
Volume is the name of the enforcement game, one that is always changing.
"The more places you're knocking in, the more bad guys you're getting at," said former Atlanta police Deputy Chief Lou Arcangeli, who once headed the department's statistics unit and also worked as a narc.
Lack of follow-up
Enforcing the law "is cat and mouse" said Arcangeli. The city's RED DOG unit — for Run Every Drug Dealer Out of Georgia — sweeps dealers off the street, so they go inside and become the narcotics team's prey.
Atlanta police were busy last year, warrant records indicate. They executed more than 400 search warrants looking for drugs. The searches were based on tips from neighbors, police surveillance or criminals trying to gain favor with police by ratting out other dealers.
The work can be frustrating. Arthur Tesler, one of the detectives mentioned in the warrant for Johnston's home, had a two-week run in March when four of his search warrants turned up just 2.2 grams of crack and a business card from a clothing store, records show.
Other times, there's a healthy payoff. On May 8, a "cooperating defendant" told Officer W.B. Munson of the Safe Neighborhoods task force a large amount of marijuana was being stored at a southwest Atlanta home. The search found 1.45 kilos of cocaine, $69,740 in cash and a handgun. An analysis of records from the GBI crime lab indicates Atlanta has been getting some bigger cases — four of the six kilo-plus cocaine hauls in the past three years came in 2006. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined the GBI's log of drugs sent to be tested by APD from Jan. 1, 2004 to Nov. 28, 2006.
The widespread drug problem and lack of follow-up takes a toll, the 2004 audit indicates.
"According to the Department survey, 55.1 percent of officers agree that 'it is futile to arrest drug dealers since they end up back on the street the next day,' a slap at the perceived inability of the rest of the criminal justice system to keep arrested criminals off the streets," the report stated.
Making drug cases, like any vice enforcement, is often controversial and "just plain dirty," Arcangeli said. "When you get to court the defense attorneys always attack the character of the officer. You get your character assassinated. It stays with you."
Corners sometimes cut
Defense lawyers, such as Nicole Kaplan, complain narcotics officers sometimes cut corners. She accused Gregg Junnier of doing that in the 2003 arrest of Bobby Mabry, a career criminal, who, according to court papers, had 23 drug arrests.
In that case, Junnier testified he became aware Mabry when a snitch bought $50 of cocaine at his house.
In testimony, Junnier, who estimated he had served 300 warrants in his career, said he wrote the Mabry search warrant using a computer template but accidentally entered the address of a previous bust, though they went to the correct house.
Nonetheless, Mabry was convicted and faces a hefty prison term.
Junnier received a commendation for that bust. He retired from the force last week and, like several comrades, anxiously awaits what the federal investigation will bring.
Computer-assisted reporting specialist Megan Clarke contributed to this article.

[Nagognog2]

2 Plead Guilty in Police Drug Raid Death


ATLANTA - Two police officers pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter and other charges in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman during a botched drug raid. A third officer was also indicted in the woman's death.
Gregg Junnier, 40, who retired from the Atlanta police force in January, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements.

Officer J.R. Smith, 35, pleaded guilty to the same four charges and to perjury, which was based on making untrue claims in a warrant.

The state charges followed a Nov. 21 no-knock drug raid on the apartment of Kathryn Johnston. An informant had described buying drugs from a dealer there, police said. When the officers burst in without warning, Johnston fired at them, and they fired back, killing her.

Junnier and Smith had been charged in the indictment with felony murder, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation, burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and making false statements.

The third officer, Arthur Tesler, 40, was charged with violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process. His attorney, William McKenney, said Tesler expects to go to trial.

[LookingForHer]

Whatever happened to tact, eh?

It's gotta be all bravado and guns blazing in the US, eh?

No need to knock and wait, or maybe call her relatives first, or ring her up or something. I mean what's she gonna do if they have to wait 5 minutes to enter? Less haste more speed eh? Wasting 5 minutes in waiting for her to get to the door... might have saved them days in hospital.

Stupid bastards got what they deserved in being shot. Old people get very confused and vulnerable.

[fnord]

oops! maybe it happened a lil bit differently then swim heard thru the grapevine:


Police Department responded to a disturbance and possible assault at an apartment on 29 High Street
involving Weymouth and several of his drinking companions. Western World Insurance Company’s
Statement of Material Facts with Respect to Which There Is No Genuine Dispute (“Plaintiff’s SMF”)
(Docket No. 9) ¶ 1; American and Foreign Insurance Company’s Response to Western World’s
Statement of Material Facts (“Defendant’s Opposing SMF”) (Docket No. 21) ¶ 1. Shortly after the
officers entered the apartment, Weymouth quickly and without warning withdrew a previously
concealed butcher knife with an eight- to ten-inch blade. Id. ¶ 2. The officers made several failed
attempts to make Weymouth drop the knife without resort to deadly force. Id. ¶ 3.
The officers never attempted to use police batons to stop Weymouth because neither had one
available, which was alleged to have been in violation of the Town’s departmental policy. Id. ¶ 4.
General Order 95-3, section 3.07, required officers to wear among their “Belts and Equipment” a
“Department-Approved Impact Weapon,” which no one inspected on the day of the incident. Id. ¶ 5.
Despite the officers’ efforts to stop Weymouth, he repeatedly stabbed himself in the abdomen, moved
his wheelchair, ignored the officers and acted in a manner that threatened them. Id. ¶ 6. O’Leary shot
Weymouth three times. Id. ¶ 7.

from:


WESTERN WORLD INSURANCE )
COMPANY, )
)
Plaintiff )
)
v. ) Civil No. 01-105-P-DMC
)
)
AMERICAN AND FOREIGN )
INSURANCE COMPANY, )
)
Defendant )
)
sorry bout that swim normally double checks his info before hand!

[Police Officer]

I'm more curious than you all to see how this one plays out.

But, I have to say that you can't ever dismiss someone because of their age. Where I live there was a 81 year old man that was selling oxys. We managed to get someone that was going to testify against him.

About a month before the trial the guy's dog starts going apesht outside of his house in the yard in the wee morning hours. He calls the Police who search the area and dont find anything.

The next day he goes and searches his property. He finds a built up fighting position. Complete with a range card and all.

One of my favorite people in my area is a 99 year old woman. Whenever I need a question answered I go to her. She is sharp as a tack and see's and remembers everything that happens in her neighborhood.

Never dismiss the elderly. They have seen it all, and they have done it all. The elderly are cunning and wise. The old saying "With age comes wisdom" is one of the most acurate addages of all times.

[Micklemouse]

Fair point PO. Some of the biggest domestic busts in recent years in the UK have involved pensioners.

However, I think it is worth comparing the outcome of this story & this one - Woman, 80, Recieves Flowers After Police Raid.

[fnord]

police_officer whats this mean?:
the next day he goes and searches his property. He finds a built up fighting position. Complete with a range card and all.

[Police Officer]

Originally Posted by fnord

police_officer whats this mean?:
the next day he goes and searches his property. He finds a built up fighting position. Complete with a range card and all.

It means that he built a "foxhole" of sorts. A foxhole is a fighting position. Below are examples that I pulled off of Google.

Fighting position.

Range card.

[Veteran Joker]

The old saying "With age comes wisdom" is one of the most acurate addages of all times.

True of nuns and those that continue their mental conditioning into old life, senility sets in if the mind is not used, much like muscles go lax.

It will be interesting to see the motivation, intelligence, and if this is the modus operandi of the Atlanta police to break in, shoot first, don't bother asking questions, and try to pretend that whatever they did was lawful, like gunning down the retired minister.

I feel the problem with this is, despite a lot of Police officers having a genuine compassion and wanting to protect people from the more malicious, there are psychotics who should never wear a uniform, or good people ordered to do bad things (I can understand them working on self defense, despite how regretable it is). The problem with it is much like homophobic christians or violent muslims, by association people loose respect for that organisation, and distrust it's motives, seeing it as a malicious entity, rather than a force for good.

With religion, that's easily apparent that it's a form of population control. A police force is not so clear cut. It should exist to protect the people, but as it often the case the social problems are not dealt with, the symptons are dealt with some of the time, and the rest of the time it is used incorrectly as a form of population control.

[radiometer]

You may remember the 92 year-old woman who was shot to death in November 2006 in a botched drug raid:

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/sho...hlight=junnier

Two of the policemen have pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and the third is still facing charges.

http://presszoom.com/story_130341.html

Three Atlanta Police Officers Charged in Fatal Shooting of Elderly Atlanta Woman

ATLANTA - Two Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers pleaded guilty today to state and federal charges related to the fatal police shooting of Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman, in her Atlanta home during the execution of a search warrant in November 2006. A third officer was indicted yesterday by a Fulton County grand jury on charges related to the death of Ms. Johnston.

(PressZoom) - ATLANTA - Two Atlanta Police Department ( APD ) officers pleaded guilty today to state and federal charges related to the fatal police shooting of Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman, in her Atlanta home during the execution of a search warrant in November 2006. A third officer was indicted yesterday by a Fulton County grand jury on charges related to the death of Ms. Johnston. The pleas and indictment are the result of a joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and overseen by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Officer Gregg Junnier, of Woodstock, Ga., and Officer Jason R. Smith, of Oxford, Ga., pleaded guilty in state court to voluntary manslaughter, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation and false statements, and in federal court to a civil rights conspiracy violation that resulted in the death of Ms. Johnston. Smith also pleaded guilty in state court to one count of perjury.

The third officer, Arthur Tesler, of Acworth, Ga., was indicted on state charges of false statements, violation of oath of office by a public officer, and false imprisonment.

“Any act of police misconduct threatens to undermine public trust in the worthy goals of law enforcement,” said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “The overwhelming majority of law enforcement officials – men and women of strong integrity who risk their lives to protect ours – perform their essential duties with dignity and professionalism. We cannot allow misconduct of this nature to undermine the good work of so many others. I commend the dedicated efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division for working collaboratively with the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute these egregious wrongs, and the excellent investigative work done by the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and investigators of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.”

“The killing of Kathryn Johnston by Atlanta police officers was a horrible and unnecessary tragedy,” said David E. Nahmias. “While the police officers involved were attempting to rid the streets of drug dealers, their means toward that end violated their oath, the Constitution, and the civil rights of the citizens they are sworn to protect, and it was inevitable that one day someone would get seriously hurt. This conduct demands accountability. Beyond holding the officers responsible for their crimes, however, Ms. Johnston’s family has made clear that they want some good to come out of her death. We are committed to working with the FBI to find out just how wide the culture of misconduct that led to this tragedy extends within APD and to bring any other officers who have violated the law to justice.”

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard called the shooting of Ms. Johnston, “one of the most horrific tragedies to occur in our community. Moreover, our investigation showed that many of the practices that led to her death were common occurrences in this unit of the Atlanta Police Department. Cooperation between federal, state, county and local authorities has resulted in an unprecedented and swift dispensation of justice. When this terrible crime occurred—and that’s what it was, a crime—we promised the Johnston family and our community that we would get to the bottom of this and let the chips fall where they may. These charges and sentences represent a fulfillment of that pledge. And we will continue to keep this commitment to all of our citizens.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Jones said, “A few days following the police shooting and death of Kathryn Johnston, we promised to conduct a thorough and swift investigation. The conduct of these police officers is both troubling and deplorable. As law enforcement officers we take an oath to uphold the law and to protect the innocent. These officers chose to break the law and in doing so, they took the life of an innocent elderly woman. Although the Kathryn Johnston homicide is essentially solved, the FBI will continue to pursue additional allegations of corruption and violations of civil rights as we have learned through this investigation that other Atlanta Police officers may have engaged in similar misconduct.” Jones also commended Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington for “having the courage to refer this case outside of his department and for taking action to implement changes to police training and procedures as direct result of this investigation.”

Vernon Kennan, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said, “Investigations into police use of force are priority cases for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The community deserves a full accounting of the actions of police that result in serious injury or death.”

According to the information presented in court today, Junnier and Smith on several occasions while working as APD narcotics officers, made false statements in sworn affidavits to state magistrate judges in order to obtain “no knock” search warrants for residences and other locations where the officers believed illegal drugs would be found.

On the afternoon of Nov. 21, 2006, Smith, Junnier and Tesler executed a “no knock” search warrant at the home of Kathryn Johnston, knowing that the warrant had been obtained on the basis of false information that Smith had presented to a magistrate judge to procure the warrant. The victim, who was the only occupant of the house, fired through the door a single .38 caliber shot, which hit no one. Junnier, Smith and four other officers returned fire, hitting the victim with five or six shots, one of which was fatal.

Officers searched the home after the shooting, but found no drugs. Smith then planted in the basement of the house three baggies of marijuana that the officers had seized elsewhere earlier that day. Tesler then filed a false APD incident report stating that a purchase of crack had been made at Johnston’s home earlier that day, and Smith submitted two bags containing crack that falsely indicated the drugs were bought by an informant at 933 Neal Street, the home of the victim. The defendants also met to fabricate a story, which they later recounted to APD homicide investigators, falsely justifying the events leading to the shooting of Kathryn Johnston.

Junnier and Smith have resigned their positions with the APD and Tesler is on paid administrative leave.

Assistant District Attorneys Sheila Ross, Shukura L. Ingram and Peter Johnson; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yonette Buchanan and Jon-Peter Kelly; and Special Litigation Counsel Paige M. Fitzgerald, of the Civil Rights Division, are prosecuting the case.

[allyourbase]

Im glad theyre going to have to pay for their crime.

[fnord]

in swims state theres never been an "unjustified"police shooting,every one has been considered perfectly fine from a guy "armed" with a cellphone,or the guy in a wheelchair.

[Woodman]

Hmmmm....

Well, the initial AP story apparently got some parts wrong.

"The officers had a legal warrant, 'knocked and announced' before they forced open the door and were justified in shooting once fired upon, he said."

...and what about the wounded officers?

"As the plainclothes Atlanta police officers approached the house about 7 p.m., a woman inside started shooting, striking each of them, said Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman.

One was hit in the arm, another in a thigh and the third in a shoulder. The officers were taken to a hospital for treatment, and all three were conscious and alert, police said."