Trial of Accused Murderer of Standard Bartender Postponed

The trial of Jonathan Redding — accused of murdering popular Southeast Atlanta bartender John Henderson — was to have started Monday.

But the shooting of a key prosecution witness over the week-end pushes the trial's start date to March 7.

The vicitim is OK, but officials are not releasing any additional details regarding that witness.

Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said the APD has no indication that the shooting of the witness was “related to, for instance, witness tampering.”

Jury selection was slated to begin this morning, but the weekend shooting led the Fulton County District Attorney’s office to request a continuance from Fulton County Judge Kimberly Adams.

Redding was indicted last May in a 24-count indictment charging him with felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery among other crimes.

According to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, 19-year-old Redding is allegedly a member of the “30 Deep” street gang. He was 17 at the time of the crimes.

“The charges are connected to the Dec. 21, 2008 robbery of an employee outside of the Standard Food & Spirits Bar in Grant Park," said Yvette Brown, a spokeswoman for the Fulton Couty District Attorney's office.

"The subsequent murder of John Henderson who was gunned down on January 7, 2009 as he was leaving work at the establishment; and a home invasion in Southwest Atlanta two days later."

The case is being prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Gang Unit.

The shooting of the witness is being investigated by the Atlanta Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit, headed by Maj. Keith Meadows.

Benteen Park Resident Adam Brackman is one of many Southeast Atlanta residents who has followed the case from the time of John Henderson’s murder.

Brackman also is a long-time member of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Citizens CourtWatch program — where residents are notified about and encouraged to sit in on local cases of interest to their communities. He also is a member of a new, grassroots CourtWatch group, comprised of a smaller number of concerned neighbors.

Brackman, a few other CourtWatchers, Henderson’s family and friends and others were in the courtroom Monday this morning when the delay was announced.

“No one has ever said that the wheels of justice move swiftly,” Brackman said. “It can be very frustrating to sit back and see this case drag on as long as it has – myself included. But I also recognize that there are a lot of elements at play.”

Although Brackman wishes for closure for Henderson’s family, friends and the community, “at the end of the day, if the outcome is going to be good for the community, I’m okay with that,” he said.

Brackman added that some progress was made Monday: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Adams had reviewed the jury selection questions from both the defense and prosecution attorneys and shared her decisions on which questions would be allowed, which should be re-phrased and others that would not be allowed.

With approved questions in hand — and barring future unforeseen events — both sides should be able to begin jury selection March 7.

The trial is expected to take five to six days.