Posted on 04/30/2007 10:37:19 PM PDT by FreedomCalls
Feds detail woman's death, officers' plea
Published on: 04/27/07
According to federal documents released Thursday, these are the events that led to Kathryn Johnston's death and the steps the officers took to cover their tracks.
Three narcotics agents were trolling the streets near the Bluffs in northwest Atlanta, a known market for drugs, midday on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Eventually they set their sights on some apartments on Lanier Street, usually fertile when narcotics agents are looking for arrests and seizures.
Gregg Junnier and another narcotics officer went inside the apartments around 2 p.m. while Jason Smith checked the woods. Smith found dozens of bags of marijuana — in baggies that were clear, blue or various other colors and packaged to sell. With no one connected to the pot, Smith stashed the bags in the trunk of the patrol car. A use was found for Smith's stash 90 minutes later: A phone tip led the three officers to a man in a "gold-colored jacket" who might be dealing. The man, identified as X in the documents but known as Fabian Sheats, spotted the cops and put something in his mouth. They found no drugs on Sheats, but came up with a use for the pot they found earlier.
They wanted information or they would arrest Sheats for dealing.
While Junnier called for a drug-sniffing dog, Smith planted some bags under a rock, which the K-9 unit found.
But if Sheats gave them something, he could walk.
Sheats pointed out 933 Neal St., the home of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston. That, he claimed, is where he spotted a kilogram of cocaine when he was there to buy crack from a man named "Sam."
They needed someone to go inside, but Sheats would not do for their purposes because he was not a certified confidential informant.
So about 5:05 p.m. they reached out by telephone to Alex White to make an undercover buy for them. They had experience with White and he had proved to be a reliable snitch.
But White had no transportation and could not help.
Still, Smith, Junnier and the other officer, Arthur Tesler, according to the state's case, ran with the information. They fabricated all the right answers to persuade a magistrate to give them a no-knock search warrant.
By 6 p.m., they had the legal document they needed to break into Kathryn Johnston's house, and within 40 minutes they were prying off the burglar bars and using a ram to burst through the elderly woman's front door. It took about two minutes to get inside, which gave Johnston time to retrieve her rusty .38 revolver.
Tesler was at the back door when Junnier, Smith and the other narcotics officers crashed through the front.
Johnston got off one shot, the bullet missing her target and hitting a porch roof. The three narcotics officers answered with 39 bullets.
Five or six bullets hit the terrified woman. Authorities never figured out who fired the fatal bullet, the one that hit Johnston in the chest. Some pieces of the other bullets — friendly fire — hit Junnier and two other cops.
The officers handcuffed the mortally wounded woman and searched the house.
There was no Sam.
There were no drugs.
There were no cameras that the officers had claimed was the reason for the no-knock warrant.
Just Johnston, handcuffed and bleeding on her living room floor.
That is when the officers took it to another level. Three baggies of marijuana were retrieved from the trunk of the car and planted in Johnston's basement. The rest of the pot from the trunk was dropped down a sewage drain and disappeared.
The three began getting their stories straight.
The next day, one of them, allegedly Tesler, completed the required incident report in which he wrote that the officers went to the house because their informant had bought crack at the Neal Street address. And Smith turned in two bags of crack to support that claim.
They plotted how they would cover up the lie.
They tried to line up one of their regular informants, Alex White, the reliable snitch with the unreliable transportation.
The officers' story would be that they met with White at an abandoned carwash Nov. 21 and gave him $50 to make the buy from Neal Street.
To add credibility to their story, they actually paid White his usual $30 fee for information and explained to him how he was to say the scenario played out if asked. An unidentified store owner kicked in another $100 to entice White to go along with the play.
The three cops spoke several times, assuring each other of the story they would tell.
But Junnier was the first to break.
On Dec. 11, three weeks after the shooting, Junnier told the FBI it was all a lie.
Sometimes, the only difference between the criminals and the cops is that one of them carries a badge.
That's not always the case, but often enough to really get my hackles up.
I was briefly a LEO, over 15 years ago. In my experience, around 10-15% of the officers were "integrity challenged."
If you disagree, just avoid calling a cop next time you are assualted or need help. Just handle it yourself.
If I need to help the government prosecute a criminal, I call a cop.
Don’t forget health insurance, vacation time, and retirement program.
Nicccceeeeee. Did he get a medal for his wound???
Actually, having chosen to serve the public under color of authority, a state actor should be held not to the same standard of conduct and accountability, but a STRICTER ONE WITH SIGNIFICANTLY HARSHER PENALTIES.
These cops are some of the most worthless pieces of crap on earth, and basically murdered a poor old lady. And for what......to bust someone with some pot? Wow, great use of resources there.....great justification there.
After Ramparts, I'd bet money the cops realized their error and planted said evidence.
Freaking spot on.
A couple of years ago my parents house was burgled while they were away on vacation. They of course called the police. After promising to be there within the hour, no officers showed up that day, or the next, or the next. After calling repeatedly they finally showed up three days later. They were rude and mocking. My father suggested they take fingerprints on the door where they broke in. They laughed in his face. Needless to say, that is one crime that was never solved. I have no faith that they could have solved it even if the perp had been sitting in their jail and all my parents belongings had been sitting in their evidence lockers. Morons.
PS. please explain how calling a police officer is going to help if you are assaulted? Do you think they have super powers and will be able to swoop down like superman and rescue you before your attacker is finished attacking you? All a cop will be able to do is attempt to catch your attacker after the fact, that is, if they feel like it, and if they aren't too stupid. Thats hardly going to do you any good. Better to call for an ambulance.
There's two types of cops in this world --those who've been caught in their lies and those who have yet to be caught lying.
So, you're saying that if a thug is breaking down my door, all I have to do is call 9-11 and a cop will be there in time to save me from the thug?
Or, will the cop show up later to call the coroner and write the report?
They arent my “scumbos.”
“The problem I have with these posts is a blanket insinuation that all cops fighting the war on drugs are bad that that they kill people on a daily basis. I for one am glad there are men and women willing to take the risk of being a LEO and stand between us and these thugs who prowl our streets. If you disagree, just avoid calling a cop next time you are assualted or need help. Just handle it yourself.”
“There’s two types of cops in this world —those who’ve been caught in their lies and those who have yet to be caught lying.”
Thank you for proving my point.
I’ve been reading this story on some other forums, and what’s sad is that there are still a minorirty of people, most if not all of them who identify themselves as law enforcement (whether they really are or not, I have no idea), who think ‘yeah, well the cops may have gone a little overboard but I still don’t think the lady was entirely innocent.’ What that tells me is that cops will defend their own brotherhood to amazing lenghts, even when all the facts of the case are obvious to everyone else.
Howdy TNP! Good question. I was going to ping you as I just found this thread. I see you beat me again.
The Police were just doing their job; following standard procedure. There is no evidence of any policeman violating a citizen.
/s
These guys should never see the light of day again. Matter of fact, they should be tried for murder and if appropriate, given the death penalty, just like they did to some innocent old lady.
Then the families should sue the pants off everyone involved and live happily ever after. I’m no fan of winning life’s lottery in most cases, but this? No one could make this stuff up.
You reckon a couple of punks who had murdered a cop in his home and then tried to frame him as a drug dealer would just go to jail for 10 or 12 years?
The third who is charged with far less serious crimes, false official statments, etc, is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.
If there's any justice to be found in Georgia, all three will be killed in prison. It certainly won't be found in an Atlanta courtroom.
Five or six bullets hit the terrified woman. Authorities never figured out who fired the fatal bullet, the one that hit Johnston in the chest. Some pieces of the other bullets — friendly fire — hit Junnier and two other cops.
The original story had granny wounding the LEOs.
The original story was based on the word of the cops involved who as it has now been proven were desperately lying to try to cover up their actions.
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