Former Atlanta Cop Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

Arthur Tesler, 42, a former police officer with the city of Atlanta, Georgia pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to a federal conspiracy charge of "conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death." The charge is based on Tesler's role in a misguided drug raid that resulted in the fatal shooting of a 92-year-old woman, Kathryn Johnston. 

Botched Drug Raid

The October charge follows Tesler's conviction and sentencing in May 2008 for lying to FBI investigators about the incident. Atlanta police had originally described the drug raid as follows: 

On November 21, 2006, after an informant said he'd bought drugs at Johnston's home in northwest Atlanta (in a neighborhood ridden by crime), Atlanta plainclothes police officers arrived at the home and burst in through the front door, using a "no-knock" warrant to enter the home to search for drugs. Tesler was in Johnston's backyard when the officers went in through the front door. 

Kathryn Johnston fired a single shot at the unannounced intruders, hitting no one. Police officer fired 39 bullets at her, hitting her five or six times. 

A Cover-Up by the Police

Tesler's former partners, police officers Greg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, covered up by planting drugs in the home (none were found there). Junnier and Smith pleaded guilty to both state manslaughter and federal civil rights charges; they never went to trial. They have been cooperating with investigators in other cases and have not been sentenced. 

When Tesler was the only participant tried and sentenced (4-1/2 years), many local residents and officials were outraged, calling the treatment of the officers another example of the Atlanta Police Department's discriminatory treatment of the city's poorer neighborhoods. 

(Source: MSNBC) 

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