These were the main arguments in court that Travis McMichael’s father Gregory McMichael as well as William Bryan, his neighbor, were found guilty for his murder.
A disproportionately large jury of whites
In the trial for Ahmaud Abery’s murder, a jury consisting of eleven white people and one person of color was selected.
After summons to 1000 potential jurors, the jury selection at Glynn County Superior court took place over three weeks.
Cobb County prosecutor’s argued defense attorneys were refusing to accept many potential jurors due to their race.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said he found that ‘intentional discrimination’ by defense attorneys appeared to have shaped jury selection, but argued Georgia law limited his authority to intervene.
Travis McMichael (left), Gregory McMichael (center) and William ‘Roddie’ Bryan Jr (right) are charged with the same nine counts in Ahmaud Arbery’s death
Walmsley stated that they were able to show the court the reasons why these individuals, besides their race, had been removed from the panel.
He also alleged that the defense had race-neutral arguments for dismissing those potential jurors.
Defense attorney Kevin Gough also raised concerns that there weren’t enough ‘Bubbas or Joe six-packs’ on the final panel of 12 jurors.
He said, “We want a diverse jury.” He said, “But we’re missing one segment of what would normally exist here.”
Gough argued the panel lacked white men over 40 without a four-year bachelor’s degree.
Slowing down jury selection was the testimony of many possible jurors drawn from the County. They stated that they’d seen Arbery die virally and had made up their mind about the guilt of defendants.
Moreover, despite the fact that only 85,000 residents live in Glynn county, potential jurors have told the court that they know Arbery personally or some of the defendants.
Defence moves to mistrial, and offenly opposed black pastors in courtroom
Kevin Gough, defense attorney in Ahmaud arbery case trial, failed to win a mistrial five times.
Gough represented William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. and argued that the demonstrations outside of Brunswick’s courthouse were a ‘public execution’ of the defendants.
Repeatedly, he said that his client’s rights to fair trials were being violated because of the presence at the courtroom of prominent civil right leaders and black pastors. They could be influential on the jury, he stated.
Timothy Walmsley, Superior Court Judge, denied requests for a mistrial. He said that he was unable to accept some comments made by the lawyer while protesting the presence religious leaders.
Rev. Rev.
A rally of around 100 pastors was organized in response to Kevin Gough, defense attorney’s initial incendiary attempt at removing religious leaders from courthouse. He said that ‘we don’t have any more black pastors there’.
Gough complained that Rev. Al Sharpton was present at the Glynn county courtroom with Arbery’s father Marcus Arbery Sr. and Wanda Cooper Jones.
Gough also claimed Rev. Jesse Jackson consoles the weeping mother of a black jogger in court.
“We claim that Mr Bryan has been denied a fair trial because of the environment in which he is being tried, inside as well as outside of courtroom,” Bryan stated during his second week of testimony.
‘We have had civil rights icons sitting in here – in what the civil rights community contends is a ‘test case for civil rights in the United States’ – eyeballing these jurors.’
After a week in which a defense lawyer stated that he doesn’t wish to have “any more black Pastors” in the courtroom’, hundreds of people gathered on the courthouse steps.
Rev. Al Sharpton. Martin Luther King III. Rev. Jesse Jackson led the group of predominantly black ministers in Thursday’s rally at the Glynn county courthouse, as testimony was continued inside.
Sharpton said, “No lawyer is able to knock us out.” Sharpton stated that God exists no matter where one is. We will continue to come until we achieve justice.
Gough tried again on Monday, when members of an armed black militia as well as the New Black Panther Party (BLM) rallied outside the courtroom.
Jury sees footage from Ahmaud Arbery’s murder
The jury in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder trial was shown graphic photos and video of the black joggers last moments during the first day of testimony.
A cellphone video was shown by Gregory McMichael to Travis McMichael. The footage was taken by William Bryan Jr.
Bryan captured the video of Arbery being taken in the box by pick-up trucks. This video shows Travis and Arbery arguing.
Arbery can be seen looking for the shotgun Travis has pointed at him before being shot fatally three more times. He then turns around to run and lies down on the streets.
Bryan captured Arbery wrestling Travis McMichael with a shotgun in the video.
Arbery is seen collapsing on the sidewalk after being shot three times. The scene was fatal for Arbery.
Also, the jury received bodycamera videos and crime scene photographs from responding officers.
Officer William Duggan was the first to speak and went through the bodycam footage with the jury. This video shows Travis’ shooting of Arbery. Travis then chased Arbery, assisted by his father Greg McMichael as well as William ‘Roddie’ Bryan.
Duggan claimed that Travis had covered his face in blood when Duggan approached Travis and said: “I’m not okay.”
The officer who had almost 190 hours medical training determined that Arbery was dead due to ‘the blood loss and lack of rise or fall in the chest, and the gaping I would have seen in his chest.
EMS personnel arrived on the scene and he stated that ‘there was nothing I could’.
Both McMichaels stated that they believed Arbery was the serial criminal threatening their neighborhood.
Police photographs presented in court Monday showed bloodstains on the asphalt (left) and Travis McMichael’s pump-action 12-gauge shotgun lying on grass near Arbery’s body (right)
According to transcripts, Gregory McMichael stated that he had never seen Arbery in an interview with police headquarters shortly after the shooting.
McMichael asked McMichael to explain why he was following the man.
McMichael said, in accordance with the transcript: “Well that’s all it is, I don’t really know,”
Defense argued that the men tried to arrest a citizen under an unrepealed state law.
McMichael said that McMichael was describing McMichael as a “trapped rat”. McMichael said that McMichael believed he wanted to run, but he soon realized that he couldn’t escape.
Also, video from the police body camera showed Gregory McMichael consoling his son following Arbery’s shooting.
Gregory McMichael, an ex-cop told his son that he had to make a choice. McMichael placed his hands on Arbery’s shoulders while Arbery (25-year-old, who was shot twice) lay on the ground, bleeding.
Travis McMichael was told by Gregory McMichael as ex-cop, while he placed his arms on McMichael’s shoulders.
The jury received photos that police had taken of Travis McMichael following the shooting on Tuesday (pictured).
A photo of Travis McMichael, covered in Ahmaud Arbery blood was displayed to the jury
Additionally, body cam footage showed that McMichael had wanted to film Arbery.
McMichael said, “To be completely honest with you,” to Officer Jeff Brandeberry. According to the transcript of McMichael’s body camera footage, which was read aloud, McMichael also stated, “If I could get a shot on the guy, that’s all I can say.”
McMichael said, “This isn’t a shuffler.” This guy’s an a**hole.’
Glenn County Police Detective Parker Marcy testified at the trial. He claimed that McMichael confessed to carrying a gun and was ready to shoot Arbery hours later.
‘I said, ‘Stop, you know, I’ll blow your f*****g head off or something,” McMichael said, according to a transcript of the conversation of his conversation with Marcy.
I was trying to tell this man that we were not playing.
The jury received several photographs that were taken by police during the hearing.
Travis McMichael in the moments after he shot Arbery.
McMichael, the younger McMichael is seen with the joggers’ blood all over his arms and hands as well as spitting on his neck, shirt and face.
According to police, Gregory McMichael also had Arbery blood on the right side of his hand. The defendant told authorities he got the blood on himself because he moved Arbery’s arm – as he lay prone on the ground – to check him for a weapon.
I didn’t know if Arbery had a weapon. McMichael stated to the officer that he didn’t want to take chances. He also explained why he had touched the corpse, which an officer who was present at the trial recalled.
Travis McMichael was convinced he was in an ‘end or life’ situation after he shot Ahmaud Abery
Travis McMichael said that he shot Ahmaud Arbery in the head because McMichael thought the black man was attacking after McMichael and two of his co-defendants pursued Arbery around a predominantly white Georgia neighborhood.
McMichael was white and spent more than three hours in the witness stand.
Travis McMichael, the defendant in his murder trial, testified that he shot Ahmaud Arbery after McMichael chased Arbery through an mostly white neighborhood of Georgia.
His Coast Guard training in law enforcement was invaluable to him. He often used the police language and invoked U.S. Coast Guard-man mechanic’s law-enforcement training. Recovering his tears, he stated that Arbery was 25 years old and had terrified him.
He said that if you pull a gun on somebody, based upon what I have learned from my training, it usually tells them to back off. This is why he pointed his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun at Arbery.
Arbery however ran to McMichael during a chase that lasted about five minutes through Satilla Shores (a small cluster of houses inland from Brunswick).
“I shot him.” McMichael claimed that he had his gun. His voice was shaking and McMichael told of the moment when McMichael grabbed for the weapon. “It was an emergency situation.
McMichael shot at Arbery 3 times and left two severe, open wounds on his chest.
Travis McMichael then started to tear up as he said: ‘I was thinking of my son, it sounds weird but it’s the first thing…’ His voice tailed off as he fought back sobs.
McMichael, when asked by Jason Sheffield his lawyer what he did next said that he shot. He had my gun. He struck me. I was able to see that he was attacking my body. He would have taken the shotgun away from me. This is a matter of life and death.
“I tried to stop him doing that so I shot.”
McMichael was asked if Arbery stopped after he was killed and he replied, ‘No.
Travis McMichael, a gunman, believed Ahmaud arbery to be a burglary
Ahmaud Abery was shot to death by the man who killed him. He testified that he thought the 25-year old black jogger was an intruder lurking around the neighborhood. The defense claimed that there was a rise in crime.
Travis McMichael, a witness in Travis McMichael’s trial on Day 9, told jurors his motivation to pursue Arbery with a gun after he had seen Arbery wandering around the neighborhood at night 12 days earlier.
McMichael had been told by police that no property was stolen that day. They suspected Arbery of stealing on another occasion, and thought he might have been armed that night. This was based on his apparent reach for his pocket or waistband.
According to his lawyer, the property owner said that Arbery stopped drinking from a tap. Arbery was wearing only his running shoes and clothes on the day that he was killed.
Lawyers for the defense claim that Arbery was being stopped by these men under an unrepealed Georgia citizen’s arrest law.
On day 9, Travis McMichael explained to jurors that his decision not to chase Arbery with a gun was based on an encounter twelve days prior, in which he saw Arbery “creeping around the shadows” at night near a nearby house.
McMichael repeatedly stated that he pursued Arbery to only ask questions, and that his father called 911.
“I asked him, “Hey, how are you doing?” “What’s the matter?” McMichael, who testified that he pulled beside Arbery as he ran in the street, said so. McMichael stated that Arbery did not speak a word and was angry, with his teeth clenched.
McMichael stated, “He was mad which led me to believe that something had happened.”
Because it was the law at that time, the defense could use the abrogated law to defend themselves.
Georgia law allows people to detain someone if they have’reasonable suspicions’ the suspect has just been convicted of a felony.
The lawmakers have now limited citizen detention to certain circumstances like shopkeepers seeing theft, or workers at restaurants who are working on a “dine-anddash.”
Video footage from police bodycams shows Gregory with gun-toting Travis McMichael looking for Ahmaud Abery in a partially-constructed home 12 days prior to his shooting and death
In the sixth day, the jury was shown dramatic police footage showing Gregory and Travis McMichael chasing Ahmaud arbery twelve days before the victim was shot.
After Travis (35), had called 911 six minutes ago claiming he was confronted by a black man at his home, the night-time video captures both the men and Larry English at their partially-constructed home on February 11, 2020.
A 24-minute video was presented to the jury by Robert Rash of Glynn county police, who responded in white Satilla Shores, Brunswick, Georgia. He took the witness stand.
Gregory, who is 65 years old, says to the cop at one point that Travis just walked down the street. He refers back to the back property. He adds, “He’s arm by the way.”
Gregory and Travis McMichael, who were filmed by police using bodycams in court, are shown searching for Ahmaud Abery in the Satilla Shores area of Brunswick in Georgia. This was on February 11, 2020.
The jury heard Travis (pictured) had chased Arbery – although his identity was not known at the time – after seeing him at the property
Arbery was hunted by the McMichaels in their truck twelve days before they shot him.
The court was informed that he then returned with his cellphone and pistol, before going back to his house to meet his father.
Diego Perez, a neighbor and the couple were present at the house when Officer Rash came to investigate. Two other neighbors followed.
Rash is seen with his gun drawn as he enters the house and begins searching. Back-up officers arrived shortly after.
Arbery wasn’t found in the house. The searchers speculated that he might have vanished at the back.
Rash informed the court that McMichaels had spoken with him about the possibility of a black man being present at the property on Oct 25, 2019. He also provided them with a screen shot of Arbery from the location.
He did this as part of his search to locate Arbery and to speak with him over any possible trespass.
Ahmaud Abery was filmed visiting a semi-constructed home FIVE times during the six months prior to his death.
As the fifth day of Ahmaud’s trial began, Grainy footage showing Ahmaud wandering through a partially-constructed home at night five month prior to his shooting death was shown in front of the jury.
This is also the home that Travis McMichael, a 25-year old ex-cop, spotted him wandering in and which sparked the fatal chase with McMichael’s son Gregory McMichael.
As the McMichaels were building their dream second home, Larry English, 51 (construction boss), showed the footage to the jury. The deposition lasted four hours.
On the fifth day, the jury heard Grainy footage of Ahmaud Albery wandering through a partly constructed home five times in the month before he was killed.
The 45 second clip was taken on October 25, and shows him walking around the backyard at night. Larry English called 911 while he was working on his “dream home” to report the ‘trespasser”, who he thought was either drunk or using drugs.
According to the property owner, he added eight security cameras to his site after receiving numerous reports about people breaking in. These cameras were remotely activated by motion sensors that sent images to English-speaking cell phones.
Arbery photographed the partially-constructed waterfront house five times in the weeks leading up to his death.
His first visit to the property took place on October 25, 2019. He then visited again two weeks later, on December 17th and February 11th 2020.
The last time he saw the house was on February 23rd, which was almost exactly two weeks after he had been chased by and was eventually killed.
Jury shown horrifying photographs of Ahmaud Abery’s dead body
The state medical examiner Dr. Edmund Donoghue who conducted the autopsy of Arbery’s corpse testified that the Jogger was struck by two shots from three guns.
Both gunshots were so severe that Arbery, who was 25 years old at the time of each blast, would have died.
Donoghue explained that the second shot from close range pierced Arbery’s right wrist and made a huge hole in his chest. He suffered several broken ribs as well as heavy internal bleeding. Unfortunately, the second shot was completely missed. At point-blank distance, the third shot ripped through an important artery and vein close to his left armpit. It also fractured bones in his upper arm and shoulder.
According to Dr. Edmund Donoghue, just the bullet that hit Arbery on the left chest (pictured) was enough to cause the death of the jogger.
A Tuesday x-ray showed Arbery suffering from injuries.
Pictures of Arbery’s clothes were displayed to the jury, which was torn up by bullet holes.
Linda Dunikoski, the prosecutor shows Ahmaud’s body with photo shotgun pellets. This was taken during Dr. Edmund Donoghue’s testimony
“Is there any law enforcement or EMS that could have saved his life on the spot?” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski asked.
“I’m not sure.” Donoghue said, “No.”
Donoghue did an autopsy one day after Arbery was killed. Close-up photographs of Arbery’s injuries were shown to the jury. They included large, severe abrasions on his face that occurred after he was shot three times. His clothing was photographed showing that his shirt had turned bloody red. The cellphone footage of the shoot shows that it was actually white.
The prosecutor asked Arbery how he was able fight back from such severe injuries sustained by him in the chest. He said it was “fight or flight” and that adrenaline was coursing through his body.