Cobb DA appointed to prosecute Brunswick murder case

Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes has accepted an appointment by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to take over the prosecution of a father and son charged with the murder of a Brunswick man in February.

Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes

The shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man jogging in a neighborhood near Brunswick, has galvanized nationwide attention since video of the incident was made public.

In a release issued by the DA’s office Monday, Holmes said that “the call to serve will not be taken lightly.”

Last week the Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael with aggravated assault and murder.

The GBI, headed by former Cobb DA Vic Reynolds, took over the investigation after the Glynn County prosecutor recused herself because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in that office.

“Our office will immediately gather all materials related to the investigation thus far and continue to seek additional information to move this case forward,” Holmes said in a statement issued by her office. “We appreciate the confidence that Attorney General Carr has in our office’s ability to bring to light the justice that this case deserves.”

The release said her office has been given investigative files by the GBI, as well as “all facts and circumstances” stemming from the Feb. 23 shooting. All of that information “will be reviewed and all appropriate charges under Georgia law will be presented to a Glynn County Grand Jury for indictment,” the Cobb DA’s office statement said.

According to the video of the incident, Arbery, 25, was jogging in a neighborhood in Satilla Shores, outside of Brunswick, when two white men confronted and blocked him on the street. The video—taken by another man, a neighbor of the McMichaels who was trailing Arbery in a vehicle—then shows Arbery being shot.

No charges were brought by local law enforcement and no arrests were made, even after the video surfaced in late April. The GBI was asked to get involved last week, and on Thursday the McMichaels were arrested.

A Glynn County commissioner is alleging that Glynn DA Jackie Johnson stopped police from arresting the McMichaels, but the prosecutor denies those claims.

Holmes, a former Cobb Chief Magistrate judge, was appointed Cobb District Attorney by Gov. Brian Kemp in July 2019, after Reynolds resigned to become GBI director.

 

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New Cobb District Attorney appointed by Gov. Kemp

Current Cobb Chief Magistrate Judge Joyette Holmes has been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp as the new Cobb District Attorney.Joyette Holmes, Cobb District Attorney

She succeeds Vic Reynolds, now the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and will serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in December 2020.

Holmes, a Republican, is the first woman and the first African-American to serve as Cobb DA. She is a former Assistant District Attorney in Cobb County, and also served in the Cobb Solicitor’s Office.

She has been the Chief Magistrate for the last four years and also has been in private law practice in Marietta.

A native of Valdosta, Holmes earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Baltimore.

At a press conference, Kemp said that Holmes “is able and ready to lead” the Cobb DA’s office. “She is certainly one of our best and brightest in Georgia.”

John Melvin, who has been the acting Cobb DA since Reynolds’ departure, is expected to join him soon at the GBI.

The DA’s office said this afternoon that the transition may take another couple of weeks because Holmes’ swearing-in has not been scheduled.

 

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