INDICTED COP WAS 'SYMPTOM,' SAYS LAWYER

Atlanta police narcotics officer Gregg Junnier loved the hustle and
danger of roaming the streets at night in search of criminals.

"He loved the chase," and he was able to make his own rules, his
attorney Gino Brogdon said at a news conference Friday.

But in that universe, he learned shortcuts that led to the tragic
death of Kathryn Johnston on Nov. 21. Johnston was killed by a team
of narcotics officers who burst into her house after dark, expecting
to find a kilo of cocaine and a man named Sam. Instead, they found a
frightened 92-year-old shut-in who opened fire on what she thought
were intruders.

The officers were led into the raid by a tip from an unreliable
source, and they were armed with a warrant based on lies.

Brogdon and another Junnier attorney, Rand Csehy, reviewed the
situation within the Atlanta Police Department a day after Junnier
and fellow officer Jason R. Smith pleaded guilty to killing Johnston.
The pleas included explosive charges of systemic lying and deceit
that threaten to rock the department.

In return for having murder charges dropped, they pledged to guide
federal investigators sort through the culture of the department.

"He was a runny nose to the cold," Brogdon said. "He is a symptom."

The two attorneys were asked where the investigation goes and who
bears the responsibility.

"Ulitmately, the buck stops with the senior guy," said Brogdon, a
former Fulton County judge, referring to Police Chief Richard Pennington.

Csehy said Pennington may not have created the problem but still is
responsible for any continuing patterns.

"Chief Penninngton inherited a police department," he said. "But you
keep putting the Band-Aid on it, putting the Band-Aid on it, putting
the Band-Aid on it, and doesn't heal.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."