Woman who fell into the clutches of the discredited Glynn drug unit demands retrial

Earlier this month, defense attorneys filed a motion for a retrial for Mindy Lynn Johnson, arguing that the Glynn County woman's drug conviction was the result of violations of the law discovered during an investigation by The current in abuse by prosecutors and police.

But the attempt to overturn the young mother's 15-year prison sentence has hit a roadblock. The Brunswick District Attorney is fighting to stop the case from being reopened despite allegations that his predecessor and her team withheld key evidence of corruption within the special police drug unit that arrested the young mother.

Mindy Lynn's attorneys say prosecutors never disclosed the fact that the Glynn-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team (GBNET) informant and key witness in her arrest was using drugs and sleeping with a GBNET officer. Since Mindy Lynn's conviction, three officers from that now-defunct drug squad have pleaded guilty and have been declared unreliable witnesses by a Glynn County Superior Court judge.

In April The current revealed that Brunswick District Attorneys working under former District Attorney Jackie Johnson (no relation) failed to fully comply with a court order to review hundreds of cases involving these discredited former GBNET employees.

The same Superior Court Judge Roger Lane will now decide on the motion for a retrial. A hearing date has not yet been set.

Johnson learned for the first time that her case, along with over 450 others, could have grounds for legal review when The current I contacted her in the spring.

Current District Attorney Keith Higgins said at the time that his office would not preemptively review these cases because prosecutors had fulfilled their legal obligations.

Savannah-based attorneys Michael Schwartz and Karin Kissiah took on Mindy Lynn as a client in response to The currentand filed an extraordinary motion for rehearing on August 1. (Disclosure: Schwartz has donated twice to The currentany donation under $100. Read our ethics policy here.)

Johnson was taken advantage of, her lawyers argue, because prosecutors rushed her guilty plea without disclosing the unfavorable evidence and “deprived Ms. Johnson of her right to a fair trial.”

Higgins' office said the legal argument was “wrong.” The prosecutor in charge of the case filed a response arguing that Georgia precedent is clear: You can't ask for a new trial if there was no trial to begin with.

“A defendant who pleads guilty cannot make a motion for a new trial, extraordinary or otherwise,” argued Assistant District Attorney Benjamin E. Gephardt in his Aug. 15 motion. Gephardt also said the motion was outside the time frame allowed by law.

Johnson's lawyers argued that the “cover-up” of the evidence was the reason for the delay in her lawsuit.

“This attitude is not only heartless, it is a betrayal of the most basic principles of justice,” her lawyers wrote in a brief filed Monday, August 19. “This honorable court should right this injustice – by any legal means necessary – to restore the honor that the Glynn County District Attorney's Office took from the court when it sought Mindy Lynn's conviction.”

Mindy Lynn's involvement with GBNET and the Glynn County court system began years ago, when the local drug enforcement unit was known for its extremely aggressive arrest techniques and the district attorney's office, then headed by Jackie Johnson, boasted of its high conviction rate.

In January 2017, Mindy Lynn met with confidential informant #13 at a motel off I-95. During the conversation, the informant claimed Mindy Lynn had sold her meth. She was arrested two weeks later and remained in jail for six months because she could not afford bail. Mindy Lynn waived her right to a trial and pleaded guilty in July 2017. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which she served three years in prison and the remainder on probation.

The fact that Officer James Cassada took drugs and had sex with the informant only came to light in 2019, when another defendant's attorney discovered the evidence.

While Mindy Lynn Johnson was in prison, Cassada pleaded guilty and spent three to five months in a minimum security prison before being released on parole. Cassada's criminal record was expunged six years early.

Johnson was released from state prison in 2020 and began her parole. She “was unaware that her case had been flagged for possible review until a reporter contacted her in December 2023 while working on an article about these neglected cases,” her lawyers wrote.

Johnson was initially shocked to hear about the misconduct in her original case and was afraid to seek legal representation. She also feared that she would end up back in prison for missing her probation dates, it is said.

In March 2024, Glynn County police officers charged her with probation violations, including driving without a license. She is now in the Glynn County Jail awaiting a place in a state prison on drug charges.

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