In the fall of 2006, 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston, an African American woman, was living a quiet life in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta, a residence she had occupied for 17 years. On the evening of November 21st, that peace was violently shattered. Under the cover of darkness, three plainclothes Atlanta police officers, part of a narcotics squad, descended on her home to execute a 'no-knock' warrant. Believing her home was being invaded by criminals, Ms.
Johnston armed herself with an old pistol. As the officers broke down her door, she fired a single shot over their heads. The officers responded with a fusillade of 39 bullets, striking and killing the elderly woman.
The raid, it would later be revealed, was based on entirely false information. An informant, coerced by the officers, had fabricated a story about drugs being sold at Ms. Johnston's house. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, finding no drugs in the home, the officers attempted to orchestrate a cover-up. One of the officers planted bags of marijuana that had been seized in an unrelated case earlier that day. They also pressured their informant to lie and claim he had purchased crack cocaine from her home. The injuries sustained by the officers during the raid were not from Ms. Johnston's single, unaimed shot, but were instead the result of friendly fire.
The ensuing investigation unraveled the web of lies spun by the officers. The three officers primarily involved were identified as Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier, and Arthur Tesler. Faced with overwhelming evidence, all three eventually pleaded guilty to a variety of state and federal charges, including conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death, voluntary manslaughter, and making false statements. Smith, who admitted to planting the drugs and pressuring the informant, received the longest sentence of ten years in prison. Junnier was sentenced to six years, and Tesler received a five-year sentence. The city of Atlanta later reached a $4.9 million settlement with Kathryn Johnston's estate for her wrongful death.
