After eight days’ worth of witness testimony, the prosecution in Ahmaud Abery’s trial for the death of Ahmaud Arbery decided to rest its case.
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan have been accused of killing Arbery, a 25-year-old black man on February 23, 2020. This case came to light after a video showing the incident that led to Arbery’s death went viral on social media. It took place in Satilla Shores (a Georgia suburb) and has since become controversial due to its white men.
It Washington Post reported:
McMichael is not able to claim self-defense. The accused chased an unarmed man for five minutes, and then confronted him with guns. They have emphasized the elder McMichael’s statements to police that he threatened to “blow” Arbery’s “head off” and that the defendants trapped Arbery “like a rat.” They contend the accused had no grounds to detain Arbery, pointing to their comments expressing confusion about what exactly the man was doing in their neighborhood.
The prosecution, led by prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, interviewed 23 witnesses to build the state’s case against the three men. Richard Dial, Assistant Special Agent-in Charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) was one of these witnesses. He explained both the evidence and the sequence of events.
GBI forensic pathologist Dr. Edmund Donoghue, who performed Arbery’s autopsy, discussed the young man’s injuries. Jurors viewed graphic photos of Arbery’s injuries.
Kevin Gough who represented Bryan caused even more controversy by objecting the civil rights leader Al Sharpton being present at the trial. “We don’t want any more black pastors coming in here,” the lawyer said, claiming it could influence the jury. Later, he apologised for his remarks.
He balked at Reverend Jesse Jackson’s presence at the trial the week following, complaining that it would influence the jury. The judge rejected Gough’s complaints, pointing out that he had already rebuffed his requests to have Sharpton removed and that he didn’t even know Jackson was in the room until the attorney brought it up. “It’s almost as if you’re just trying to continue this for purposes other than just bringing it to the court’s attention,” Judge Timothy Walmsley said.
Attorneys for the McMichaels claim their clients were attempting to conduct a citizen’s arrest on Arbery, because they suspected he had just committed a burglary. Bodycam transcripts reveal that both men confessed they never saw Arbery commit any crime.
CNN reported:
Minutes after an anonymous neighbor reported that Arbery had been at the site all day, police responded. Gregory McMichael, investigators testified, said he initiated the pursuit after seeing Arbery run speedily by McMichael’s home, and he believed Arbery matched the description of someone who’d been recorded at the construction site before.
Arbery is seen on videos at the site numerous times including on the day that he was shot to death. However, the video footage shows him not breaking into the building and with no incident.
Larry English Jr., who owned the home that was under construction, testified in a deposition that was played for jurors that he “probably” told the McMichaels about incidents involving his property, but never authorized them to confront anyone who entered the construction site. Bryan and the McMichaels did not see Arbery arrive at the construction site until they started giving chase.
The charges against each defendant include malice, felony murder and aggravated assault. False imprisonment and criminal attempt. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges and could spend life behind bars without parole if they are convicted.
Already, the defense has given their opening statement. Travis McMichael who was responsible for firing the fatal shots at Arbery took the stand as the first witness. It is anticipated that the prosecution will resume cross-examination with the shooter on Thursday.
The prosecution will likely focus its cross-examination of the defense’s witnesses on trying to establish that the three men did not have any business chasing Arbery on that day. There is also speculation that racist comments made by the three men – especially Travis – will be brought up by the prosecution to indicate he had an anti-black bias.
It was revealed in court proceedings that authorities discovered racist messages and social media posts on each defendant’s accounts. As I have written previously:
When Villafranca asked Gough if Bryan held similar views, the lawyer answered, “Roddie Bryan doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body.” However, investigators found that his phone was full of racist texts. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he texted, “I bet y’all are having a Monkey parade over there.” Law enforcement also compiled multiple pages of Bryan using the N-word. Gough claimed that the messages were not taken from context.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent named Richard Dial also found similar text messages on Travis’ phone. When asked if he had seen other evidence that he used the N-word on other occasions, Dial answered, “Yessir, many times.”
So far, the situation does not look positive for the three defendants, but the defense seems ready to do its best to poke holes in the prosecution’s arguments.
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