Robert Hairless
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On April 21, 2006, Kathyrn Johnston was killed in Atlanta, Georgia. Johnston was either 92-years-old or 88-years-old.
Johnston was killed during a "no-knock warrant" raid by three police officers who swore that a confidential informant told them that she was selling drugs from her home. Immediately after they shot her the three officers swore that Johnston had pulled a gun on them wounding one officer and that they had no choice but to shoot in defense of their lives. They fired at her 39 times and handcuffed her as she was dying. Officers displayed a quantity of marijuana that they said was in Johnston's home.
Subequent events revealed that either there was no confidential informant and the officers lied to the judge to secure the warrant or that the confidential informant lied to them, that the police planted the marijuana, and that Kathyrn Johnston was fearful of intruders and was killed while trying to defend her life against them.
On April 26, 2007 one of the police officers--Gregg Junnier--pleaded guilty in state court to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements. A second police officer--Jason Smith--also pleaded guilty
On November 27, 2006, newspapers reported that the FBI and Georgia state authorities were investigating the case. Atlanta's police chief Richard Pennington placed eight narcotics officers involved in the "no-knock" raid on paid leave. Chief Pennington professed to be puzzled by conflicting versions of the incident, promised to cooperate with the investigators, and "said his department was reviewing its use of 'no-knock' raids after the shootout. The warrants are common in narcotics cases when officers fear suspects may try to dispose of drugs or evidence in the time it takes authorities to gain access to the home.
Yesterday, November 21, 2007, Kathryn Johnston's family filed civil suit against the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department, the police officers involved, and their supervisors. "The suit charges the corrupt practices of the Police Department led to violations of the U.S. Constitution and state law."
Let us not forget to give thanks for the many honest, diligent, and scrupulous law enforcement officers who do indeed serve and protect their fellow citizens: us.
Johnston was killed during a "no-knock warrant" raid by three police officers who swore that a confidential informant told them that she was selling drugs from her home. Immediately after they shot her the three officers swore that Johnston had pulled a gun on them wounding one officer and that they had no choice but to shoot in defense of their lives. They fired at her 39 times and handcuffed her as she was dying. Officers displayed a quantity of marijuana that they said was in Johnston's home.
Subequent events revealed that either there was no confidential informant and the officers lied to the judge to secure the warrant or that the confidential informant lied to them, that the police planted the marijuana, and that Kathyrn Johnston was fearful of intruders and was killed while trying to defend her life against them.
On April 26, 2007 one of the police officers--Gregg Junnier--pleaded guilty in state court to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements. A second police officer--Jason Smith--also pleaded guilty
On November 27, 2006, newspapers reported that the FBI and Georgia state authorities were investigating the case. Atlanta's police chief Richard Pennington placed eight narcotics officers involved in the "no-knock" raid on paid leave. Chief Pennington professed to be puzzled by conflicting versions of the incident, promised to cooperate with the investigators, and "said his department was reviewing its use of 'no-knock' raids after the shootout. The warrants are common in narcotics cases when officers fear suspects may try to dispose of drugs or evidence in the time it takes authorities to gain access to the home.
Yesterday, November 21, 2007, Kathryn Johnston's family filed civil suit against the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department, the police officers involved, and their supervisors. "The suit charges the corrupt practices of the Police Department led to violations of the U.S. Constitution and state law."
Let us not forget to give thanks for the many honest, diligent, and scrupulous law enforcement officers who do indeed serve and protect their fellow citizens: us.
Police shooting of elderly woman leads to federal probe
November 27, 2006
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Federal authorities will investigate last week's police involved shooting death of an elderly woman in Atlanta, the city's police chief announced Monday.
Richard Pennington also said the eight-member narcotics team tied to the incident will be placed on paid leave.
The move came after an informant -- named in a search warrant of the woman's home -- denied buying drugs at the residence, Pennington said.
But police spokesmen had initially said narcotics officers carried out a drug buy Tuesday from a man identified only as "Sam" at Kathryn Johnston's home west of downtown Atlanta.
Pennington said investigators found a small amount of marijuana there after the raid.
"The officers are saying one thing. The confidential informant is saying something else," the chief said.
The decision to turn the case over to the FBI, federal prosecutors, the Fulton County district attorney's office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, came in the middle of "intense speculation and suspicion" surrounding the shooting, said Pennington.
He promised to make "every document, every witness and piece of evidence" available.
Police said Johnston opened fire on police who tried to enter her home last Tuesday. Three officers were wounded, and Johnston was killed when police returned fire.
Neighbors and relatives said the raid had to have been a mistake. Johnston lived alone and was so afraid of crime in the neighborhood that she wouldn't let neighbors who delivered groceries for her come into her home, they said.
Relatives gave her age as 92, but Fulton County medical examiners put her age at 88.
Reviewing "no-knock" policy
The chief said his department was reviewing its use of "no-knock" raids after the shootout. The warrants are common in narcotics cases when officers fear suspects may try to dispose of drugs or evidence in the time it takes authorities to gain access to the home.
"There are many unanswered questions. I promise each and every citizen that the complete truth will be eventually known, whatever that might be," he said. "But we must all exercise patience while we examine and re-examine every single aspect of these tragic events."
A spokesman for Johnston's family, the Rev. Markel Hutchins, went to Washington to request a federal investigation Monday.
Hutchins said he had received assurance agencies involved would conduct a "swift and thorough" investigation into Johnston's death.
Hutchins said the three mid-level officials with whom he met also promised "all resources at our disposal" to help counter the fallout in the African American community from the fatal shooting.
And a Justice Department official in Washington confirmed the Civil Rights Division's interest in the case.
"We have begun a review of the matter, and are collecting information," spokesperson Cynthia Magnuson said. "The FBI has already begun its investigation and we are coordinating with other agencies."
Hutchins said he urged Justice Department officials to pressure local police departments to stop using "no knock" search warrants.
Family of shootout victim files lawsuit against Atlanta
92-year-old woman killed by police
By CAMERON McWHIRTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
November 21, 2007
The family of the 92-year-old woman fatally shot in a botched police raid filed a civil suit against the city and the Police Department Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of a police killing that shocked the nation.
"The filing of this lawsuit continues my aunt's journey to justice," Sarah Dozier, a niece of the victim, Kathryn Johnston, wrote in a letter read aloud by lawyers on the courthouse steps.
"While I cannot bring her back to life, I want to ensure that her legacy is the removal of unconstitutional practices by the Atlanta PD so that this never happens to anyone else," she said.
The suit, filed in Fulton County Court by Johnston's family, does not specify a dollar amount, but Markel Hutchins, an Atlanta minister who is serving as a spokesman for the estate, said the family would consider anything less than a multimillion-dollar settlement an insult.
As a comparison, Hutchins cited a reverse discrimination lawsuit that awarded $17 million to seven white Fulton County librarians who were ousted from their jobs, and said the circumstances in that case were "far less egregious."
"The [revised] policy and procedures [of Atlanta police following Johnston's death] is printed in black but written in red blood," he said. "There is a debt owed and the city ought to pay."
No family members were present at the news conference, nor at a vigil Wednesday night outside Johnston's Neal Street to commemorate her death on Nov. 21 last year.
Hutchins said he did not know why no family members attended the vigil, but said they are a private family that prefers to stay out of the public eye. He also said they have felt somewhat threatened and "feel like they could be a target."
"They take their privacy and safety very seriously," Hutchins said.
Johnson, who was a widower, did not have any children. The woman closest to her was her niece, 75-year-old Dozier, who also was her caretaker and lives in metro Atlanta, Hutchins said.
"This has really worked a toll on her," Hutchins said. "She is very much interested in her family not being out front, not in public."
City lawyer Beth Chandler would not comment on the suit.
Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington said at the vigil that he had heard of the suit but also didn't want to comment on it.
City, chief, officers sued
The suit charges the corrupt practices of the Police Department led to violations of the U.S. Constitution and state law.
It names the city of Atlanta, Chief Pennington, and individual officers involved in the fateful raid on Johnston's northwest Atlanta home on Nov. 21, 2006.
The officers named include Gregg Junnier and Jason Smith, who have both pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other state charges in the incident.
They face sentencing soon.
It also names Arthur Tesler, who has been indicted on federal charges in the case, and two supervisors involved in the raid, Sgt. W.T. Stallings and Lt. Stacie Gibbs. Stallings and Gibbs have not been charged with any crime.
A federal investigation into the shooting and misconduct within the Atlanta Police Department is ongoing.
William McKenney, Tesler's attorney, said he had not seen the suit but anticipated "that Mr. Tesler will be dismissed from the suit pretty soon."
John Garland, Smith's attorney, also had not seen the suit, but said his client "doesn't have any money."
Police had raided Johnston's house on Neal Street using a warrant obtained with false testimony from an informant. They obtained a "no-knock" search warrant, meaning they could enter the house without warning.
A fearful Johnston apparently thought the police were criminals and brought out an old gun to stop the intruders. She fired one shot and missed. Police fired 39 times, fatally injuring her and wounding other officers.
They handcuffed Johnston as she lay dying, and then several officers attempted to plant marijuana in the house to cover up the mistake.
They falsified reports to make it look as though drug dealing had occurred in the house.
The fiasco caused national headlines and led to a federal investigation of Atlanta police, and an almost yearlong hiatus on police efforts to shut down drug houses. The city's reborn narcotics unit, made up of entirely new officers, began investigating drug houses in October.
The suit charges the officers with violating Johnston's civil rights under the U.S. Constitution, by improperly and illegally searching her home and using excessive force.
The suit argues the city is liable because it was "aware of and deliberately indifferent to this widespread and systemic corruption with the Atlanta Police Department."
"We today call upon the city of Atlanta to accept full responsibility for what they have done," said family attorney Hezekiah Sistrunk, Jr.
Settlement rebuffed
The suit charges the defendants violated numerous state laws, including trespass, assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, racketeering and conspiracy.
Sistrunk said Johnston's family tried repeatedly to meet with city officials to get a settlement, but were rebuffed.
He said the family did not want to file a suit, but now feels they have no choice.
Even as the suit was filed, city officials, including Pennington, and Hutchins met Wednesday night for a community church service and candlelight walk to Johnston's boarded-up home.
The event was heavy on pageantry, with ceremonial candles lit and two white doves released into the air.
Hutchins called Johnston's Neal Street "a sort of Ground Zero for Atlanta," and Pastor Anthony Motley of nearby Lindsay Street Baptist Church dubbed Johnston a "patron saint of the English Avenue neighborhood" whose death was "untimely martyrdom."
At the ceremony, police brass in full regalia and politicians far outnumbered neighborhood residents. At one point, Motley looked into the crowd of about 100 people and asked how many were English Avenue residents. Only 17 stood up.
"It's a show, that's all it is," said Marie Thomas, who like several other residents stood at a distance with their arms crossed across their chest and dismissed the event. "I can't even walk to the store at night without a male neighbor. There's drunks on the corner and women prostituting themselves, and the police just sit in their unmarked cars and do nothing. Where's the change?"