BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - A judge has refused to throw out an indictment alleging that a former police officer in a coastal Georgia county ignored evidence that another officer was consorting with a drug dealer.
Glynn County Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison upheld the indictment on Thursday, The Brunswick News reports. Harrison rejected an argument that former Glynn County Police Lt. David Haney didn’t have sufficient legal representation when he testified before a grand jury in February.
Attorneys for Haney argued that the charges should be dropped because one of his three attorneys was denied access to the grand jury room. Although Harrison said it was not clear why Adrienne Browning was barred from the proceedings, her absence did not warrant dropping the charges.
Harrison has not ruled on similar motions to quash charges by Haney’s three co-defendants.
Also charged are Glynn County Police Chief John Powell, former department chief of staff Brian Scott and former police Capt. David Hassler. The 20-count indictment alleges crimes including perjury, violation of oath of office and influencing a witness.
The charges stem from a scandal involving an undercover narcotics officer’s affair with an informant and allegations of subsequent internal attempts at a cover-up.
The scandal ultimately led to the dismantling of a drug task force. It’s also sparked an attempt by state legislators to abolish the county police department and hand law enforcement in parts of Glynn County outside Brunswick back to the elected county sheriff. Voters will decide that question in a November referendum.
The measure gained support in the Georgia General Assembly after critics said the police department also botched its investigation into the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.
Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23 when a white father and son armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man running in their neighborhood. More than two months passed before Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. Arrests came after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local prosecutors.
Powell is on paid administrative leave pending the resolution of the charges against him. Now the police chief of Vidalia, Scott also is on administrative leave. Hassler was facing termination when he resigned shortly after the scandal emerged in 2019. Haney resigned later that year.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.