May 11, 2020 | 6:41am
A national association of district attorneys is assailing the actions of a Georgia prosecutor who recused himself from the Ahmaud Arbery case after he told cops the unarmed black jogger’s killing was “justifiable homicide.”
The National District Attorneys Association issued a strongly worded statement in which it slammed George Barnhill for exonerating suspects Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, on April 3 after he had concluded he had a conflict of interest, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The group, which has 5,500 members, represents two-thirds of state and local prosecutors’ offices.
“We must strongly disagree with District Attorney George Barnhill’s decision to share his opinion of whether Greg and Travis McMichael should be arrested after he decided to recuse himself from the case,” the association said.
The group said Barnhill’s five-point letter could influence jurors and make another prosecutor’s job tougher.
“No prosecutor should inject his or her opinion into a pending case to the point where she or he becomes a potential witness and risks compromising the just outcome of a case,” the association said.
Barnhill told police after the Feb. 23 fatal shooting that there was insufficient evidence to charge the two white men after they chased down Arbery, who was gunned down with a shotgun, according to the Glynn County Police Department.
“Detectives met with DA George Barnhill Sr. of the Waycross Judicial Circuit the following day and reviewed their findings with him,” said the statement, published Saturday by The Brunswick News.
“DA Barnhill, Sr., advised the detectives before noon on Feb. 24, that the act was justifiable homicide and for detectives to continue their investigation and provide him with lab reports and any additional information.”
Barnhill withdrew from the probe on April 6 because his son is a prosecutor in the Brunswick DA’s Office, where Gregory McMichael, a former cop, also worked as an investigator.
But Barnhill didn’t bow out until after he received the autopsy report on Arbery’s death and wrote the letter to police explaining why the McMichaels should not be charged, the report said.
After a two-day investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Thursday charged both men with felony murder and aggravated assault.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said it could not reached Barnhill for comment Sunday.
