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Ahmaud Arbery death trial live updates: 3 found guilty of murder
Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, in Satilla Shores, Georgia.
A Georgia jury resumed deliberating on Wednesday the fates of three white men charged with trapping Ahmaud Arbery with their pickup trucks and fatally shooting him.
"Your oath requires that you will decide this case based on the evidence," Judge Timothy Walmsley told the jury before sending the panel off to begin their deliberations on Tuesday.
The jury got the case after Linda Dunikoski, the Cobb County, Georgia, assistant district attorney appointed as a special prosecutor in the Glynn County case, took two hours to rebut the closing arguments made on Monday by attorneys for the three defendants.
The jury, comprised of 11 white people and one Black person, heard wildly different summations on Monday of the same evidence in the racially-charged case. Dunikoski alleged the defendants pursued and murdered Arbery because of wrong assumptions they made that the Black man running through their neighborhood had committed a burglary, while defense attorneys countered that Arbery was shot in self-defense when he resisted a citizen's arrest.
Travis McMichael, the 35-year-old U.S. Coast Guard veteran; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, a retired Glynn County police officer, and their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, 53, each face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted on all the charges.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to a nine-count state indictment that includes malice murder, multiple charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a 12-gauge shotgun and aggravated assault with their pickup trucks.
The McMichaels and Bryan were also indicted on federal hate crime charges in April and have all pleaded not guilty.
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'This isn't the Wild West': Prosecutor
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski went through the felony counts against the defendants, telling the jury that the evidence shows they are guilty of each charge, including malice murder.
"This isn't the Wild West," Dunikoski said, referring to the actions the McMichaels and Bryan allegedly took.
"But for the criminal intent at false imprisonment, but for the false imprisonment, but for the assault with the motor vehicles, but for the aggravated assault with the shotgun, he (Arbery) wouldn't be dead. That's how you think about it," Dunikoski said. "You can't take out any of these crimes. You take out any one of these crimes that they committed and he's still alive."
Dunikoski added, "All of the underlying felonies played a substantial and necessary part in causing the death of Ahmaud Arbery."
'Ignorance of the law is no excuse': Prosecutor
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski began her rebuttal argument by telling the jury she wants to make sure "we are on the same page as far as the facts and the law goes."
She said the law requires "a fair-minded and impartial juror to honestly seek the truth."
"In other words, do you think they committed the crimes? That's all you need. Oh, if you go, 'Yeah, I think they committed the crimes, you're good. That's all you need."
Dunikoski's statement prompted objections from the defense attorneys that she was misstating the law. Judge Timothy Walmsley told the jury he will instruct them on the law once Dunikoski is finished.
The prosecutor then told the jury that "ignorance of the law is no excuse."
"If you're going to take the law into your own hands, you better know what the law is," Dunikoski said, referring to the laws of self-defense and citizen's arrests that the defendants are claiming.
"The state is not saying that Greg and Travis McMichael ran out of their house to go murder him," Dunikoski said. "It started out as one thing and it escalated and it escalated until it became murder."
Jury sent home for the night
After Kevin Gough, the attorney for William "Roddie" Bryan, wrapped up his closing argument, Dunikoski informed the judge that she'd need another two hours to present her rebuttal argument.
Judge Walmsley polled the jury and they said they didn't want to stay longer.
Dunikoski will present her rebuttal argument on Tuesday morning before the jury is given final instructions on the law and sent to begin deliberations.
Court will resume at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, about a half-hour earlier than usual.
Bryan was led by 'divine providence' to record shooting, attorney says
Gough took the jury almost frame-by-frame through Bryan's cellphone video of the shooting. Stopping and starting the footage, he pointed out that Bryan at one point was only driving 2 mph during the chase of Arbery, that his leg was shaking and his breathing was labored due to fear.
He said at another point in the video that Bryan is heard saying "I'm gonna keep going." Gough suggested that Bryan was giving up the pursuit and heading home after Arbery had run past his truck followed by the McMichaels.
Gough showed the jury a part of the video in which Bryan appears to be driving in the opposite direction of Arbery before turning around and taking a shorter route toward his home only to find himself in a position to document the shooting.
"I'm going to suggest to you that perhaps, and I know I'll get grief for this, I would say to you that you can call it karma, you can call it fate, I would call it divine providence, somebody is guiding Mr. Bryan," Gough said. "Whether it's a conscious thought process or not, something is guiding Mr. Bryan down this street to document what's going on."
Defense attorney alleges Arbery was assaulting Travis McMichael with his fists
Defense attorney Jason Sheffield said that when Travis McMichael and his father got into their truck and chased Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, they had probable cause that Arbery had committed a felony break-in based on the totality of evidence they had at the time.
The defense attorney cited the increase in crime in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, the confrontation Travis McMichael had with Arbery 12 days earlier at the unfinished home in which he believed Arbery was armed, that he had previously been shown security video of the young Black man in the home on several occasions and that suddenly there was a neighbor pointing in the direction the same man was running after he left the construction site.
"Travis believes he's committed the offense of burglary," Sheffield said.
Sheffield said that under the law, the McMichaels had the right to make a citizens' arrest and to be armed with firearms to make the arrests.
He said Travis McMichael was keeping an eye on Arbery to tell police the man's whereabouts when Arbery found himself between Bryan's pickup truck and the McMichaels' truck.
Sheffield said that as Arbery ran directly at Travis McMichael, he was told the stop and even turned around when Travis McMichael reached into his truck and pulled out his shotgun.
Sheffield said the second time Arbery allegedly charged at Travis McMichael, the defendant raised his weapon as a deterrent and that he was fearful Arbery had a gun and was just hoping he would keep running by.
The defense attorney then told the jury that when Arbery came around the front of Travis McMichael's truck and physically confronted the armed man and was using his fists as a weapon.
"Fists are that weapon," Sheffield said, adding that at that time, Travis McMichael fired three shots at Arbery he was afraid Arbery "would beat him with his fists," take his gun and kill him.
Playing a video Bryan took that partly showed the fatal struggle, Sheffield asked, "Is there any question that Ahmaud Arbery is assaulting Travis McMichael right before that third shot? Not one single bit of question."
"It is absolutely horrific and tragic that this has happened and this is where the law becomes intertwined with heartache and tragedy," Sheffield said. "You are allowed to defend yourself, you are allowed to use force that's likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if you believe it's necessary."
He asked the jury to acquit Travis McMichael on all charges.