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Officers involved in death of elderly woman to face charges

By by The Associated Press
Posted 12:07PM on Thursday 8th February 2007 ( 18 years ago )
ATLANTA - Fulton County prosecutors intend to charge three Atlanta police officers involved in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman in a shootout at her home with murder, according to the lawyer for one of the officers.

Rand Csehy said he received a letter today from District Attorney Paul Howard that said he will present a murder indictment to a grand jury on February 26 against Officer Gregg Junnier and the two other officers involved.

The letter said that Junnier would be charged with felony murder, as well as counts of violation of oath, burglary, criminal solicitation, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

Kathryn Johnston died and three officers were wounded in the November 21 shootout when police used a no-knock warrant to search for drugs at her northwest Atlanta home.

When officers raided her home without first announcing their presence, police say Johnston fired a handgun and officers returned fire, killing her. Narcotics officers said an informant had claimed there was cocaine in the home, but none was found.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Patrick Crosby, said his office and the FBI have not been contacted by Howard's office about the plans to seek an indictment. The FBI and the GBI have been investigating the shooting at the request of Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Johnston's family called for Howard to remove himself from the case. In a letter Tuesday, the Reverend Markel Hutchins accused Howard of ``a clear conflict of interest'' because his office works closely with the police.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/2/95511

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