OFFICERS PLEA GUILTY IN KILLING OF ELDERLY WOMAN IN HER HOME

Murder Charges Dropped Because Men Agree to Help Federal Investigation Of APD

By Rhonda Cook and Bill Torpy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two Atlanta police officers made a second appearance in court today
to plead guilty to felonies in the fatal shooting of a 92-year-old
woman in her home.

Officers Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith made their second stop
Wednesday afternoon to plead guilty to violating the civil rights of
Kathryn Johnston by killing her during a botched drug raid at her
home Nov. 21. 2006.

Earlier in the day, the men were in Fulton Superior Court where they
admitted to voluntary manslaughter charges along with several other
state felony counts.

Sentencing in both courts has been deferred until later to allow the
men to cooperate with a federal investigation into the Atlanta police
department's narcotics unit. The men are expected to serve at least
10 years in prison on the federal charges alone.

Before the hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes the
two officers sat side-by-side on a bench. Junnier stared ahead while
Smith read silently from a Bible opened to the book of John.

Junnier was direct and spoke clearly as he answered Carnes' questions.

Smith, with a few tears, could barely be heard as he agree he was
guilty to the federal charges.

Atlanta police chief Richard Pennington sat in the back corner of the
courtroom watching his officers admit they had broken the law.

"Justice was served," Pennington said after the pleas. "We don't
condone criminal misconduct. It's unfortunate any time you have a
police officer [who feels] that they have to create false reports to
enforce the law. It's a terrible day. And it's a sad day for them."

Federal officials said in court documents that the narcotics agents
may have falsified records to increase their arrest numbers.

Pennington said he did not understand that.

"We don't have quotas," he said. "You still have to do it [the job]
within the confines of the law."

Junnier and Smith will be processed into the Fulton County Jail later
today. Their lawyers said they expected their clients to be released
on $50,000 bond this evening.

After the state court pleas, Rand Csehy, Junnier's attorney, said,
"It's a case where the fish rotted from the head down," referring to
police brass not properly training narcotics officers and turning a
blind eye to improper procedures of that unit. "Hopefully [the pleas]
will reverberate through the police department" and help the
narcotics unit clean up its act.

The multi-count indictments were returned late Wednesday but were not
made public until Thursday morning.

Smith was charged with 13 felonies, including four counts of felony
murder, violation of an oath by a public officer, two counts of
giving false statements, two counts of burglary and one count each of
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and perjury.

Junnier, who has retired, was charged with three counts of felony
murder, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation,
two counts of burglary and one each of aggravated assault with a
deadly weapon and making a false statement.

A third officer, Arthur Tesler, is charged only with three felony
counts involving making false statements. Tesler, with eight months
on the job, has vowed to fight charges against him.

The three officers were among a team of eight narcotics officers who
raided Kathryn Johnston's home Nov. 21 hoping to get a cache of
cocaine. They are accused of lying to get a warrant to get into the
home. All eight were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

Though only one person died during the raid -- Johnston --
prosecutors brought multiple felony murder charges against Smith and
Junnier using other felony counts -- the charges of burglary,
aggravated assault and false imprisonment of Johnston -- to support the counts.

Investigation to Continue

At a late afternoon press conference held at Lindsay Street Baptist
Church, a few blocks away from the Neal Street home where Johnston
was shot, officials lauded the cooperation between local, state and
federal agencies during the investigation.

The federal agent in charge of the investigation, Greg Jones, said
the FBI will now pursue "additional allegations of corruption that
other Atlanta police officers may have engaged in similar conduct."

"The conduct of these officers is both troubling and deplorable," he said.

Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said Junnier and Smith's
actions were not an accurate reflection of the department.

"It's very egregious. I agree what they did was wrong, it was not
appropriate. An innocent person was killed as a result of it. That's
not indicative of our department. What would make police officers
make up a story, lie about a senior citizen, plant drugs on a senior
citizen? That's the thing I have been waiting on for the last five
months. There's no rhyme and reason why these officers did what they did."

[sidebar]

FEDS: ATLANTA POLICE OFTEN LIE TO OBTAIN SEARCH WARRANTS

U.S. Investigators Say Pressure of Quotas Helped Lead to Elderly Woman's Death

Atlanta police narcotics officers often falsified search warrants to
make busts and pad their arrests records hoping to satisfy goals set
for them by upper brass, federal investigators said.

That accusation was noted in the guilty plea agreements of narcotics
officers Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith and confirms what police
union members and other critics have long said: that pressure on
quotas caused officers to bend the rules.

They bent the rules on Nov. 21 when getting a warrant and 92-year-old
Kathryn Johnston was killed when officers burst into her home. The
two officers pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and federal
charges of conspiracy to violate a person's civil rights ending in death.

"Junnier and other offices falsified affidavits for search warrants
to be considered productive officers and to meet APD's performance
targets," according to a federal exhibit released Thursday. "They
believed that these ends justified their illegal 'Fluffing' or
falsifying of search warrants.

"Because they obtained search warrants based on unreliable and false
information, [the officers] had on occasion searched residences where
there were no drugs and the occupants were not drug dealers."

That mode of business came to a tragic conclusion at Johnston's home.

After getting a tip from a suspected low-level drug dealer that a
kilo of cocaine was in a home at 933 Neal St., Atlanta police
narcotics officer Gregg Junnier said they could get a confidential
informant to make a buy at the home to prove there were drugs there.

"Or not," said officer Jason R. Smith, one of Junnier's partners,

The officers chose to not use an informant, and instead just got a
no-knock warrant. The terrible outcome of that decision are now well
known. A 92 year-old woman, terrified by the sounds of officers
taking two minutes to break through her burglar bar door, fired a
single shot from a revolver at intruders. The bullet missed, tearing
through the door and into the porch roof.

The officers bursting through didn't miss. They fired 39 shots, five
of six striking the woman and killing her.

[sidebar]

KEY EVENTS IN KATHRYN JOHNSTON CASE

NOV. 21

4 p.m. -- Narcotics officers arrest Fabian Sheats, 23, for third time
in five months and charge him with intent to sell marijuana.
According to the report written by police investigator Arthur Tesler,
Sheats was looking to curry favor and "wanted to take us to a house
that had a kilo of cocaine. Sheats directed us to 933 Neal Street."
Sheats said he had been in the house about 3 p.m. that day. That
turned out to be the home of Kathryn Johnston, about five blocks from
where Sheats was arrested. Tesler's report says a buy of crack
cocaine was later made at that address.

Between 4 and 6 p.m. -- Officers try to reach longtime confidential
informant Alex White to make a controlled buy at the house, but they
couldn't reach him, a person familiar with the investigation has said.

6 p.m. -- In an affidavit, narcotics officer Jason R. Smith told a
magistrate that he and Tesler worked with a confidential informant
who had just bought $50 worth of crack cocaine from a man named Sam
at the house. Magistrate Kimberly Warden signs a no-knock search
warrant, giving police permission to break down the door without
announcing themselves first.

7 p.m. -- Police raiding the house take a minute or two to tear down
Johnston's front-door burglar bars, giving the cautious elderly
woman, who rarely let even neighbors into her house, time to find a
rusty revolver. Her niece had given her the gun for protection. She
shoots officers as they burst through the door and is killed when
they return fire, investigators say. Top police brass say officers
shouted "police" as they broke in. The raid did not produce the
cocaine, money, computers or other equipment related to the drug
business, as alleged in the affidavit for the warrant.

10 p.m. -- Tesler writes the arrest report on Sheats. He reports that
a controlled buy of crack cocaine was made at 933 Neal St., which led
officers to seek the search warrant. It does not say who made the
alleged drug buy at the house.

NOV. 22

A caller identifying himself as Alex White calls 911, saying he
jumped out of police car and is running from "dirty" police officers.
White takes his story to authorities, saying officers told him to lie
and say he bought drugs at the Neal Street house.

NOV. 27

The informant, Alex White, tells WAGA-TV news that police asked him
to lie about buying drugs at Johnston's home.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias announces investigation by the FBI, the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Fulton County district
attorney's office.

APRIL 10, 2007

Officer Gregg Junnier completes plea agreement with federal and state
authorities.

APRIL 24

Officer Jason R. Smith also reaches a plea agreement with federal and
state authorities.