In Session: Defense attorney claims former Savannah Police officer threatened key witness

This column is part of a weekly round-up of notable grand jury indictments and court decisions, following through on cases reported by Savannah Morning News public safety and courts reporter Drew Favakeh. If there are cases you're curious about, email Drew at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

Attorney claims former Savannah Police officer threatened key witness in murder trial

Three hours into a jury trial at the Chatham County Courthouse on Thursday morning, defense attorney Gregory Crawford played a 35-minute video of then-Savannah Police Department Det. Ashley Wood interrogating Mikayla Johnson, a key witness in the trial of Victor McMillar, who has been charged in two separate murders. Crawford alleges Wood intimidated and entrapped Johnson, and is asking the court dismiss the case against McMillar altogether.

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“Shut your mouth,” Wood can be heard saying in the video of the interrogation. “You’re gonna get wrapped up.”

“The detective on the left just said that, ‘You’re gonna get wrapped up,’” Crawford said, pausing the video. “And they use that phrase more than once. Did you take that as a threat?”

“Um, it was pressurizing,” said Johnson.

“At this point, you’ve given them names as to who was outside. You’ve given them the same names two or three times. They want more names. So, at this point, you’re trying to come up with more names. At this point, do you want to go home and go to bed?”

“Yes,” replied Johnson.

“Do you know whether you were free to leave?” Crawford asked Johnson.

“They said, 'no,'” said Johnson.

Crawford is the defense attorney for McMillar, who is charged with murdering Donte Chisolm on Nov. 3, 2018, in front of 210 W. 61st St, and with murdering Jamall Chris Johnson two days later, Nov. 5, 2018, on the 2200 block of Bolling Street. McMillar has been incarcerated in the Chatham County Detention Center since Dec. 17, 2018, according to jail records.

The hearing comes days after Crawford filed a motion to dismiss the case against McMillar. On Oct. 11, Crawford filed another motion for mistrial.

In the Oct. 9 motion to dismiss the case, Crawford alleged that Wood “redacted police reports without legal authority to hide the identity of witnesses, made false statements to obtain search warrants.”

In late-July, SPD fired Wood after an internal investigation revealed that she had falsified information, including security footage and text messages, in multiple search warrant applications tied to the 2021 murder of Charles Vinson on the 2900 block of Julia Law Street. In mid-June, prosecutors dropped murder charges against Marquis Parrish, a suspect in the Vinson murder.

“Investigation by SPD showed that certain misconduct had become institutionalized within the homicide division of the Savannah Police Department,” Crawford wrote in the Oct. 9 motion.

Chatham County prosecutors announced that Wood would not be called as a witness in the McMillar case.

In a motion filed on Oct. 11, Crawford claimed that McMillar had been “denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the 1983 Constitution of the State of Georgia.” He also alleged that he had tried to serve subpoenas on the four SPD officers who investigated the murders, which Crawford said had been unsuccessful and that none of the officers were still employed with the department.

Jury selection begins in Rashaun Padgett murder trial

At voir dire in the Chatham County Superior Court on Oct. 9, 22 prospective jurors were questioned by defense counsel and prosecuting attorneys to decide whether they could be fair and impartial during the trial of Rashaun Padgett.

On Sept. 20, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Padgett for the Feb. 8, 2020, murder of Alexis Devoe, aged 17 at the time of her death. Padgett faces charges of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

One juror, a 20-year-old man, said he didn’t belong to a second amendment organization, but he grew up hunting. Another juror, an older woman, said she was a victim of a vehicle theft, and that she was a true crime junkie and that she believed there is a gun violence issue in the community. One juror, a middle-aged man, said he had two bicycles stolen when he lived in Houston, Texas. He also said he was armed with a 40-caliber semi-automatic rifle when he worked for Loomis from 2006 through 2008, and still owns the same gun, though he has never had to use it. Another juror, a middle-aged man, said his dad has worked in law enforcement, transporting prisoners and serving as a corrections officer for Ware State Prison for 18 years.

Still, those jurors believed they could remain fair and impartial. Others weren’t so sure, either due to scheduling difficulties, language barriers, or past experiences.

One juror, a younger man, said he is a self-employed real estate agent and has clients flying in on Monday, but should be able to attend the trial anyway, as long as it doesn't last too late into the evening. He admitted that he is a true crime buff, having watched the TV show Dexter, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and his favorite, 48 Hours.

“Understood, keeping note of all that, some great choices in there,” said Padgett’s defense attorney and assistant public defender Kaitlyn Walker. “I ask that, as you can imagine, do you think because since you have a particular interest in these shows, that anything you picked up there is gonna filter into your decision-making as a juror?”

“No, I do not,” the juror responded.

“I’m scared,” said another juror as she approached the lectern. She was born in the Philippines and had difficulty understanding Walker.

Another juror, a middle-aged woman, has worked in the Candler Hospital for the past 15 years, regularly treating victims who are shot and injured in Savannah.

“I’m coming in with the bias and sympathy for those who have gone through that pain and suffering in that situation,” said the juror. “Given the facts of the case, I believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I’m coming in with an open mind…I’m not leaving my experiences aside, that’s all I’m saying.”

Another juror, a younger woman, said her mother’s best friend was murdered on Halloween 2011 in Bradley Point on the southside of Savannah by a man she was dating.

Chatham Assistant District Attorney Bonnie Jones asked whether that experience would influence her decision should she be chosen as a juror in the case.

“To tell you the truth, somewhat," said the juror. "Because I think the simple fact is that I think the system is about whether they have a good lawyer and is not true and fair."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Defense attorney files motion to dismiss case against man charged in two murders