Jury finds men guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery
A Georgia jury decided Wednesday to convict the three white men accused of murdering 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black jogger.
Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan each faced nine felony charges during the trial. All defendants face a minimum sentence of life in prison.
Travis McMichael, the only one found guilty of malice murder, was convicted on all nine counts, which included felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit felony.
Gregory McMichael was found not guilty of malice murder, but guilty on the other eight counts. Malice murder refers to when a person “unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either expressed or implied, causes the death of another human being.”
Bryan, the neighbor who took the video of the shooting and helped entrap Arbery, was found guilty of three counts of felony murder and one count each of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. He was acquitted on the other charges.
Related: What are the charges in Ahmaud Arbery's killing? >>>
“Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. After nearly two years of pain, suffering, and wondering if Ahmaud's killers would be held to account, the Arbery family finally has some justice. Nothing will bring back Ahmaud, but his family will have some peace knowing the men who killed him will remain behind bars and can never inflict their brand of evil on another innocent soul,” civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, an attorney for the Arbery family, said in a statement.
“Today certainly indicates progress, but we are nowhere close to the finish line. America, you raised your voices for Ahmaud. Now is not the time to let them quiet. Keep marching. Keep fighting for what is right,” Crump continued.
The 12 jurors took more than 10 hours over two days to come up with their unanimous verdict. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley thanked the jury for their service and said he will address logistical matters with them later.
The killing of Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, initially fell under the radar but drew national attention after a video of the killing was released that May.
The McMichaels told police they thought Arbery was a fleeing burglar when they armed themselves and pursued him in a pickup truck. The defense said Travis McMichael, 35, had encountered someone in a similar circumstance and that he and his father, 65, were concerned about recent break-ins.
“On this night, Travis is driving out of the neighborhood to go get some gas,” defense attorney Jason Sheffield recalled in his closing arguments.
“And on his way out, as he is driving down the road, out of the neighborhood, he sees a man run across the street and duck into the shadows.”
The Feb. 23 video recorded by Bryan, 52, shows Arbery running between the vehicles operated by Bryan and the McMichaels and briefly disappearing from view. The roughly half-minute video then shows Arbery in a scuffle with Travis McMichael, who then fatally shoots him. Arbery collapses after trying to run a few more steps.
Although Arbery was killed in February, Bryan and the McMichaels were not arrested until May, after the video was posted online, sparking public outcry.
The actions of law enforcement and local prosecutors came under scrutiny in the aftermath of the video’s release. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer, and two prosecutors recused themselves from the case due to conflicts of interest.
The makeup of the jury also caught heat during the selection process for its lack of diversity in a state still haunted by the memory of lynchings. Glynn County, where the trial took place in southeastern Georgia, is about a quarter Black, but only one Black juror was chosen. The state accused the defense of eliminating Black jurors based on race.
Walmsley said at the time that the “court has found that there appears to be intentional discrimination” in the jury selection process, but allowed the trial to move forward. He said the defense had met the legal standard necessary to dismiss the potential jurors, coming up with reasons beyond race for removing them.
The three men also face federal hate crime charges in a trial scheduled for February 2022.
In an interview with Yahoo News in early November, Ahmaud Arbery’s father, Marcus, said he hopes the verdict will alleviate some of their pain.
“We get justice and this is a lot of pain for us gone. We still struggling. And we still out here fighting for all our children. Not just mine. We don’t want nothing like this to happen to nobody else’s family.
“He died because of skin color. So that’s really, really hard for me and his mom and our family.”
EXPLAINER: Trio guilty of killing Ahmaud Arbery. What now?
ATLANTA (AP) — The killing was captured on video and shared around the world: Ahmaud Arbery running toward and then around an idling pickup truck before its driver blasted him at close range with a shotgun.
Soon after Travis McMichael fatally shot Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, his father, Greg McMichael, told police how the pair had armed themselves, chased the young Black man and trapped him "like a rat." Neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan told officers he joined the pursuit and helped cut off Arbery’s escape.
After a 13-day trial at the Glynn County courthouse in coastal Georgia, a disproportionately white jury found the three white men guilty of murder. Each man was also convicted on lesser charges.
ON WHAT CHARGES WAS EACH MAN CONVICTED?
A nine-count indictment charged all three men with one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony, in this case false imprisonment.
Travis McMichael was convicted of all nine charges. Greg McMichael was convicted of all charges except malice murder. Bryan was convicted of two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony.
HOW MUCH PRISON TIME ARE THEY FACING?
Malice and felony murder convictions both carry a minimum penalty of life in prison. The judge decides whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole. Even if the possibility of parole is granted, a person convicted of murder must serve 30 years before becoming eligible. Multiple murder convictions are merged for the purposes of sentencing.
Murder can also be punishable by death in Georgia if the killing meets certain criteria and the prosecutor chooses to seek the death penalty. Prosecutors in this case did not.
Each count of aggravated assault carries a prison term of at least one year but not more than 20 years. False imprisonment is punishable by a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.
WHEN WILL THEY BE SENTENCED?
That's not clear yet. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley will set a sentencing date.
WILL THERE BE APPEALS?
Appeals are almost certain in this case, said University of Georgia law professor emeritus Ron Carlson.
One likely basis for appeal could be the exclusion of certain evidence from the trial, he said. Defense attorneys had sought to introduce evidence of Arbery's criminal record, records on his mental health and the fact that he was on probation. They also wanted to have a use-of-force expert testify. But the judge ruled against admitting any of that evidence.
“They'll argue that relevant evidence helpful to the defense was excluded by the trial judge and that was an error,” Carlson said.
It's also possible that appellate attorneys could find other grounds for appeal after scouring transcripts and jury instructions, and speaking with jurors.
Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield, attorneys for Travis McMichael, said after the verdict that they plan to appeal. Sheffield said they had no second thoughts about trying the case in the community where Arbery was killed rather than seeking to move it elsewhere. But he said, “It could certainly become a part of the appeal.”
AREN'T THERE STILL FEDERAL CHARGES PENDING?
Yes. The McMichaels and Bryan still face federal charges.
Months before the three stood trial on state murder charges, a federal grand jury in April indicted them on hate crimes charges. It’s an entirely separate case that’s not affected by the state trial’s outcome.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood has scheduled jury selection in the federal trial to start Feb. 7. All three men are charged with one count of interference with civil rights and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
The federal indictment says the men targeted Arbery because he was Black.
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Brunswick, Georgia, contributed to this report. Find all of the AP's coverage of the case: https://apnews.com/hub/ahmaud-arbery
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