Trial begins for Atlanta Officer Charged in Cover-Up of Police Killing of 92 Year Old Black Woman

ATLANTA (AP) Jury selection is scheduled to start in the case of an Atlanta police officer who is charged in the cover-up of the police killing of a 92-year-old woman. She was shot by three undercover police in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006 where she had lived for 17 years.^[2] She opened fire on the officers after they pried off burglar bars and broke down her door using a no knock warrant. None of the officers were injured by her gunfire, but Johnston was killed by the officers. It was later determined that Johnston only fired one shot, which did not hit any officers. The police officers fired a total of 39 shots, six of which hit Johnston.

Arthur Tesler was one of the officers on the scene as Kathryn Johnston was shot during the surprise raid. The raid was based on wrong information that cocaine was stored there. Some officers tried to cover up the crime by planting drugs in Johnston's basement.

Tesler is charged with making a false statement to an investigator, violating his oath of office and unlawful imprisonment. He is the only officer involved with the raid who opted for a trial and faces a possible 15-year sentence.  Two former officers - Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith - have pleaded guilty to a state charge of voluntary manslaughter and a federal charge of violating Johnston's constitutional rights.

In an attempt to justify the no-knock warrant, the Atlanta Police Department initially claimed that the police were searching for drug dealers after a police informant was said to have bought crack cocaine at Johnston's home earlier in the day. However, both a federal and state investigation revealed that this was untrue. ^[10] In the affidavit police used to obtain a search warrant for Johnston's house, Atlanta, Georgia narcotics officers alleged their informant bought drugs inside Johnston's home earlier in the day from a man named "Sam", and that the home had video surveillance equipment justifying the no knock warrant. In an interview with Atlanta television station WAGA a few days after Johnston's shooting, the informant denied having gone to her house and said that after the shooting, the police pressured him to lie and say that he had.^[10] According to WSB-TV in Atlanta, Detective Junnier has told the FBI that some of the information used to obtain the search warrant on Johnston's home was false.[MORE]