1st day of trial wraps up in Ahmaud Arbery murder case after controversy over jury

The first defense attorney to give an opening statement was Bob Rubin for Travis McMichael.

"This is about duty and responsibility," Rubin said of the case. "It's about Travis McMichael's duty and responsibility to himself, his family and his neighborhood."

Months before the Arbery killing, the neighborhood of Satilla Shores was "on edge" due to a series of burglaries, Rubin explained.

He showed the jury a list of complaints lodged on online posts from neighbors saying, "This is ridiculous," "I'm nervous" and "lock your cars."

"People were on alert to suspicious behavior," Rubin said, describing the neighborhood of Satilla Shores as a quiet, middle-class neighborhood where parents allow their children to play outside after dark.

He said Travis McMichael was a former U.S. Coast Guard border officer working in security. He said the younger McMichael was trained and authorized to make arrests, conduct investigations and searches and "use his weapon when appropriate."

Travis McMichael was trained so well, Rubin noted, that his training became part of his muscle memory, adding, "Split seconds are often the difference between life and death."

A defense attorney for Gregory McMichael objected to a part of Dunikoski's opening statement in which the prosecutor mentioned that the investigation was "stalled" after Arbery's killing and that the defendants were "sent home."

Laura Hogue, a lawyer for Gregory McMichael, accused Dunikoski of violating a pre-trial agreement to not mention the more than two-month time lapse between the shooting and when the McMichaels and Bryan were arrested.

Hogue suggested that Dunikoski's statement could mislead the jury into believing the delay had something to do with the defendants.

Dunikoski denied that she violated the agreement and noted that she didn't mention that two district attorneys recused themselves from the case and former Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson was indicted on a felony charge stemming from her handling of the case.

Johnson, the first prosecutor to get the case and who once had a working relationship with Gregory McMichael, was indicted in September on a felony count of violating her oath of office by allegedly "showing favor and affection" to Gregory McMichael and a misdemeanor count of hindering a law enforcement officer. Johnson, who lost a reelection bid in November 2020, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, said in court that Walmsley should declare a mistrial, which he refused.

Dunikoski methodically went through the events of Feb. 23, 2020, the day Arbery was killed.

She said it started around 1 p.m. when Gregory McMichael saw Arbery run past his home and allegedly assumed Arbery was a burglar seen in security videos a neighbor showed him. Dunikoski said at no time did Gregory McMichael ever see Arbery at the house under construction or had any reason to believe Arbery had committed a felony, grounds for making a citizens' arrest.

Dunikoski said Gregory McMichael ran into his home, armed himself with a handgun and got his son, Travis. She said Travis armed himself with a Remington 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and that he and his father got into his pickup truck and chased after Arbery.

She said that Bryan joined the chase with his pickup truck, not knowing why the McMichaels were chasing Arbery. Dunikoski said that during the five-minute chase of Arbery, Bryan attempted to strike the man with his pickup on four different occasions and admitted to running Arbery off the road and into a ditch.

Dunikoski played a cellphone video of the moment Arbery was cornered between the McMichaels' pickup and Bryan's truck and when Travis McMichael got out of his vehicle and shot Arbery.

As the video was played, Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, who was sitting at the rear of the courtroom, broke down in tears.

Dunikoski also played a 911 call Gregory McMichael made at 1:14 p.m. and described an emergency: "I'm here in Satilla Shores. A Black male is running down the street."

"This was an attack on Mr. Arbery for five minutes and the only thing Mr. Arbery did was try to run away," Dunikoski said.

Dunikoski said the evidence will show that the defendants wrongly assumed Arbery was burglarizing a home under construction in their neighborhood.

The prosecutor played multiple videos of Arbery inside the unfinished home dating back to Oct. 25, 2019, to show that Arbery had a routine of running through the Satilla Shores neighborhood where the defendants lived.

But Dunikoski said none of the videos showed Arbery stealing or damaging anything. She said that after Arbery was captured on surveillance video on Feb. 11, 2020, the owner of the home under construction, Larry English, told the McMichaels through a sheriff's deputy that the unidentified Black man had been seen on security video at the home before and that he never stole anything.

Dunikoski also played a body-camera video of a sheriff's deputy speaking to the McMicheals outside the home under construction.

"At no time on this video do you hear the words burglary or attempted burglary," she said, referring to the reasons the McMichaels claimed they were attempting to make a citizen's arrest of Arbery.