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The jury begins to deliberate in the trial of three men for killing the young black Ahmaud Arbery when he was jogging down the street

2021-11-23T18:28:35.004Z


Only one of the 12 jurors is black, while all three defendants are white. They defend that they feared for their lives and persecuted the victim, believing that he was a thief, but he was not and no evidence has been presented that a crime had been committed.


By Daniella Silva -

NBC News

The verdict in the trial of the three white men charged with murder and other crimes in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man shot while jogging down the street in Georgia in 2020, is now in the hands of 12 jurors after the Prosecutors will present their final arguments Tuesday morning.

The three men face charges of

treachery,

aggravated murder, unlawful detention and attempted crime in the death of 25-year-old Arbery.

If found guilty of the most serious charges, they can face a

life sentence.

An

almost entirely white jury

- only one member is black - will determine their fate.

Travis McMichael;

his father, Gregory McMichael;

and his neighbor William Bryan chased Arbery in pickup trucks after they saw him jogging through their neighborhood outside Brunswick on February 23, 2020.

[Following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, will there be more recourse to 'own hand justice'?]

Travis McMichael shot Arbery with a shotgun at close range while Bryan filmed on his cell phone.

Defense attorneys said the men suspected that Arbery, who had been seen multiple times on security camera video at a home under construction in the neighborhood, was a thief.

And that they were trying to carry out a

citizen arrest,

which was legal in the state at the time, they added.

Dozens of protesters outside the Glynn County Courthouse where the trial is taking place, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga. Stephen B. Morton / AP

"A good neighborhood always watches itself,

" Laura Hogue, Gregory McMichael's attorney, told jurors Monday during closing arguments.

Each defendant has his own defense team.

But prosecutors said the men had "no immediate knowledge" that Arbery had committed a crime, a requirement of a citizen's arrest.

Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said the men made the decision to "attack" because Arbery "was a black man jogging down the street" and not because he was a threat.

Judge Timothy Walmsley instructed the jury Tuesday stating that "the arrest without a warrant of a private citizen must occur immediately after the commission of the crime or, in the case of serious crimes, during the escape." 

"If the observer does not make the arrest immediately after the commission of the crime, or during the escape in the case of serious crimes, his power to do so is extinguished," he said.

The judge indicated on Friday afternoon that under Georgia's citizen detention law, which has since been repealed,

the arrest would have to occur just after the commission of any serious crime, and not days or months later.

[The prosecutor alleges that the defendants killed Ahmaud Arbery because he was "a black man running down the street"]

Travis McMichael testified during the trial that he feared for his life before shooting Arbery and that he did so in self-defense.

Jason Sheffield, representing Travis McMichael, said Monday that his client had a "right to a citizen's arrest" and that he believed Arbery had committed a robbery. 

"You do have the right to have a firearm when you make an arrest," Sheffield said.

“You have the right to detain a person and detain him for the police.

And that carries a risk and can have tragic consequences, "he added.

Rittenhouse judge influenced his acquittal, says constitutional lawyer

Nov. 22, 202 105: 50

Kevin Gough, Bryan's attorney, tried to separate his client from the McMichaels and downplay his role in the father-son encounter with Arbery.

"Bryan's presence does not contribute directly or substantially to Arbery's death," Gough said, "because the McMichaels were certainly capable of reaching and shooting if that was their intention."

[Biden expresses his "anger and concern" over the exoneration of Kyle Rittenhouse and Trump claims he acted in self-defense]

Walmsley instructed jurors that they can consider simple battery, reckless conduct, and reckless driving as charges less than aggravated assault for Bryan.

Prosecutors have argued that the three men held a summary trial of Arbery after seeing him in his neighborhood, with the McMichaels confronting him with guns and Bryan brandishing his truck as a weapon.

The state has also said that the men were the initial assailants and

did not act in self-defense.

[The verdict in favor of Kyle Rittenhouse generates mixed opinions in the country]

“They committed four different crimes, including aggravated assault with a shotgun.

They started it, they can't claim self-defense, ”Dunikoski said Tuesday morning.

He added that the men were not justified in claiming they were making an Arbery citizen arrest because they did not witness him commit any crime or have immediate knowledge that he had just committed a crime. 

She said that if jurors found that the men did not have the right to make an Arbery citizen arrest,

"that means they are guilty of all charges."

"Everyone is equally responsible for the ultimate death of the victim," he said.

Dunikoski said the case was not about whether the three defendants were "good or bad people."

Ahmaud Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, left, along with her attorney Lee Merritt, center, in court on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Stephen B. Morton / AP

“It's about holding people accountable and responsible for their actions.

When they do something like this, they have to be held accountable and responsible, ”he warned.

Outside court, an attorney for the Arbery family said they were confident jurors would reach a guilty verdict. 

"We are confident that this jury will seriously consider all the evidence and will come back with a verdict that reflects what actually happened, which is

the brutal and unjustified murder of Ahmaud Arbery,"

said attorney Lee Merritt.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-11-23

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