The State Bar of Georgia has dismissed complaints filed by Georgia lawmakers against former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson and Waycross Judicial Circuit DA George Barnhill.
Democratic state representatives filed a handful of complaints against attorneys involved in the Ahmaud Arbery death investigation. A complaint was also filed against Kevin Gough, who represented defendant William “Roddie” Bryan.
State Reps. Sandra Scott (D-Rex), Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta), Rhonda Burnough (D- Riverdale) and Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain) contacted the state bar to file grievances against the lawyers in January 2022.
In their formal complaints, these legislators requested:
- the disbarment of former Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson and Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George E. Barnhill,
- the bar to censure defense attorney Kevin Gough.
- a review of other cases overseen by Johnson and Barnhill for acts of discrimination and conflict of interest.
NOTE: A full review of cases handled by Jackie Johnson was published during her re-election campaign in 2020.
These legislators believe “the trial of Arbery’s death”:
- demonstrated abuse of the judicial process
- disenfranchised Arbery’s civil and constitutional rights
- exposed racial disparities in the law relating to hate crimes and African Americans receiving justice under the law
Monday, the lawmakers said the State Bar of Georgia recently notified them of the fact that the complaints were dismissed. The lawmakers subsequently released the following statements:
State Rep. Sandra Scott:
“I am troubled by the letter that I received from the State Bar of Georgia, which informed us that the State Bar of Georgia could discipline attorneys only if they violate any of the rules set forth in the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.
“If the attorney has not violated one of these rules, the bar is unable to take action against him or her. Therefore, the State Bar of Georgia ruled our complaints insufficient and dismissed them. There is no way the State Bar of Georgia read our complaint.”
State Rep. Viola Davis:
“Every American, especially Georgians, have a constitutional right for equal protection under the law. However, these attorneys displayed conduct unbecoming of officers of the court and need to be held accountable for first violating the constitutional rights of Ahmaud Arbery.”
“They have displayed acts of racial discrimination, conflicts of interest and violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. Until these attorneys are held accountable to the full extent of the law, the nation will be slow to heal.”
State Rep. Kim Schofield:
“Their actions not only violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct in the handling of the Ahmaud Arbery case, but the overwhelming evidence also exposes a fatal flaw in this system of filing for disbarment. Accountability should always be an acceptable standard.”
Rep. Rhonda Bournough:
“We did our research and presented our findings to hold these attorneys involved in the Ahmaud Arbery case accountable, and it was still not enough.
“Those attorneys denied Ahmad Arbery a fair trial because they did not want to investigate those white men. It is time for all Georgians to be protected under the Constitution that was written for all Americans.”
The three complaints are below.
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-Against-Jackie-Johnson-01-05-2022.pdf
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-Against-George-Barnhill-01-05-2022.pdf
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-Against-Kevin-Gough.pdf
Nowhere do I see what particular rules were violated.
Here in the Philippines we have a Code of Professional Responsibility:
Rule 1.02 – A lawyer shall not counsel or abet activities aimed at defiance of the law or at lessening confidence in the legal system.
and certainly telling (counseling?) the cops to not arrest those men, now convicted murderers, lessened confidence in the legal system. Apparently Georgia has no such rule.
The DA and attorneys did their job. Ahmaud Arbery was caught trespassing on video multiple times, chased after Travis McMichael, who did not shoot at 100 feet, 50 feet, 10 feet, or even 5 feet until Ahmaud attacked and punched him, tried to grab his shot gun barrel, pulled and shot himself in the hand. And still came after Travis requiring him to shoot in self defense. The trial was influenced by the Black Panther Army outside the Court House, and Jesse Jackson glaring at the jury.
The GA Bar dismisses 99.5% of all attorney complaints in a given year. A person has better odds in Vegas than the GA Bar disciplining an Attorney. It’s an organization that should have independent citizen review panels.
That’s also why GA attracts loser attorneys from other states. This state does not care about its’ citizens. Georgia needs better leaders who actually care about the people in this state.
I just received a dismissal from the GA Bar that I filed. The atty in question represents estate heirs that stole from the estate and threatened with bodily harm the executor for trying to stop the theft. This GA atty not only filed a motion to remove the executor without cause after this, knowing his clients broke the law, but then claimed “what they stole was only worth $400.” He was trying to install his client that stole as executor…giving them access to $250K in cash. There are about 15 other clear Ethics issues that GA Bar just completely ignored; the atty representation and continued representation is a clear violation of GA Bar Ethics yet GA Bar claims they “don’t get involved in pending litigation.” That is a major conflict of interest. How convenient for GA Bar and the atty. This atty is also a part-time judge and was reported to JQC.