The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police and the McMichaels and Bryan were soon jailed on charges of murder and other felony counts.ĭefence attorneys say the men committed no crimes. No arrests were made until the graphic video of the shooting leaked online more than two months later. A neighbour, William 'Roddie' Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun. 23, 2020, Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck, as he ran in the Satilla Shores subdivision just outside the port city of Brunswick, Ga. (Glynn County Detention Center via The Associated Press) No arrests until video leaked They are being tried together for murder. 'It's probably clearer than before that race is going to be at the forefront of this case and will probably even play a big role in jury deliberations' at the end of the trial, said Page Pate, a Georgia criminal defence attorney who isn't involved in the case.Ī composite of booking photos provided by the Glynn County, Ga., Detention Center, shows from left, Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr. The judge has not given the races of the alternate jurors, and they weren't asked their race in court during jury selection.īut the judge said he agreed with prosecutors that the exclusion of other Black potential jurors appeared to be 'intentional discrimination.' He also said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene after defence attorneys stated nonracial reasons for cutting those jurors. The race of the alternate juror who replaced her was not known. The total number shrank by one Thursday when the judge dismissed a white woman from the main jury panel, citing medical reasons. He intends to seat 15 people total: a main jury of 12 plus three alternates. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley plans to have the jury sworn in Friday to hear opening statements from lawyers on both sides.

legal system and whether Black victims get treated fairly.Īrbery's family and their supporters had their faith rattled Wednesday when two and a half weeks of jury selection ended with the judge agreeing to seat a jury of 11 whites and one Black man. The trial of the white men who spotted Arbery running in their neighbourhood and shot the 25-year-old Black man has become part of the broader reckoning about racial injustice in the U.S. The selection of a nearly all-white jury in Georgia to decide the fate of three men charged with murder for chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery last year has forced concerns about racial fairness to the forefront of the case before the trial even begins.

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