Atlanta cop convicted in Kathryn Johnston’s death

In cities and towns across the U.S., every year hundreds of people are killed at the hands of police. Almost without exception, the deaths are ruled justified no matter how questionable the circumstances. It is a rare case when the facts are even revealed in a public courtroom.

On May 20, a Fulton County jury found Arthur Tesler, one of the members of the Atlanta drug squad involved in the death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston, guilty of lying during an official investigation. He was acquitted of two other charges including violation of oath of office.

Two days later, Judge Michael Johnson rendered the sentence before a packed courtroom. The former police officer will serve four years and six months in prison, 6 months of probation and perform 750 hours of community service. This was the maximum penalty for the charge.

Previously, two other police members, Gregg Junnier and J.R. Smith, pled guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and federal civil rights violations. Faced with possible murder charges, the conditions of their deal reduced their maximum jail time to 10 and 12 years respectively. They have yet to be sentenced.

The truth surrounding the killing of Ms. Johnston only came to light because of the actions of Alex White, a confidential informant who refused to go along with the coverup story devised by Smith, Junnier and Tesler.

In the early evening of Nov. 21, 2007, the three cops secured a “no-knock” warrant based on deliberately false information provided to the judge for a house at 933 Neal St. Within an hour, the bogus drug raid had taken place and the elderly woman lay dead with six bullets having struck her down. In the barrage of 39 shots, three members of the drug squad were also hit.

The coverup story began immediately. The fatally wounded woman was handcuffed. Drugs were planted in the basement. The panicky cops repeatedly called White, pressing him to verify their story that he had bought drugs from that location earlier in the day, a key element contained in their phony warrant.

Instead, White called federal agents and exposed the web of lies on local TV news.

The revelations of corruption and illegal procedures caused the drug unit to be disbanded and the FBI took over the investigation of Ms. Johnston’s death.

For weeks, Tesler and the other two continued to lie to investigators with elaborate details of how they had observed drugs being bought at Ms. Johnston’s house. White’s credibility was challenged since he had an arrest record as a small-time drug dealer.

The Atlanta police hierarchy claimed to have no knowledge of the routine abuses committed, such as planting seized drugs to boost arrest and conviction rates. However, at community meetings following the shooting, residents of the poor and working-class area spoke bitterly about the tactics of the mask-wearing drug squad unit, threatening and harassing people of all ages.

On the day the jury convicted Tesler, dozens of Atlanta police as well as members of other state agencies were racing their cars through Ms. Johnston’s neighborhood; stripping the clothes off African-American youth, allegedly looking for gang tattoos; and stopping people on the sidewalks and in their yards, demanding identification. Just up the hill from 933 Neal St, the rampaging police killed a man’s dog when they came onto his property. According to the residents, this went on from morning until night.

An angry Diana Meyers, who lives not far from Ms. Johnston’s street, stated, “We’re tired of this police terrorism. They’re trying to scare us into not speaking out. Justice wasn’t done in this case. Ms. Johnston’s life should mean more than a slap on the wrist to a few cops.”

Meanwhile, the families of other victims of police killings in metro Atlanta, including 12 shot by Dekalb County police in a single year and a youth killed last week in Cobb County, continue to demand justice for their loved ones.