Intentional discrimination Almost all-white jury to hear Arbery murder trial

By Russ Bynum November 4, 2021 â€" 2.26pmNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Brunswick, Georgia: A judge has ruled that he’ll seat one black and 11 white jurors to decide the trial of the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery, despite prosecutors’ objections that several black potential jurors were cut because of their race.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley acknowledged that “intentional discrimination” by lawyers for the three white defendants charged in the death of the black man appeared to have shaped jury selection. But he said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene.

Defence lawyers Franklin Hogue and Robert Rubin attend the jury selection in the trial of William “Roddie” Bryan, Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael, charged with the February 2020 death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.Credit:Reuters Pool

Race is a central issue in the case involving the death of Arbery. Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a ute on February 23, 2020, after they spotted the 25-year-old running in their neighbourhood in coastal Georgia. A neighbour, William “Roddie” Bryan” joined the chase in his own truck and took mobile phone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

A long, sometimes heated debate over the racial make-up of the final jury erupted in court on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday AEDT) as lawyers wrapped up a jury selection process lasting more than two weeks.

Arbery’s death became part of the broader reckoning on racial injustice in the criminal legal system after a string of fatal encounters between black people and police â€" George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, among others.

No one was charged in Arbery’s death until more than two months afterwards, when the video of the shooting leaked online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police and soon arrested all three men on charges of murder and other crimes.

Minutes after the lawyers had finished narrowing a panel of 48 to a final jury of 12 on Wednesday, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski noted only a single black juror made the panel.

She argued that defence lawyers had struck eight black potential jurors because of their race. The US Supreme Court has held that it is unconstitutional for lawyers during jury selection to strike potential jurors solely based on race or ethnicity.

Advertisement

Prosecutor Linda Dunikowski protested that only one of the 12 jurors was black. Credit:Reuters Pool

Laura Hogue, a lawyer for Greg McMichael, insisted those jury panellists were cut for other reasons â€" namely for expressing strong opinions about the case when questioned individually by lawyers.

“I can give you a race-neutral reason for any one of these,” Hogue said.

She noted one such juror had written on her juror questionnaire that Arbery was shot “due to his colour” and had told lawyers she felt the defendants were guilty.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley denied prosecutors’ request to reinstate those eight black potential jurors, though he said: “This court has found there appears to be intentional discrimination in the panel.”

The judge said his ability to change the jury’s racial make-up was limited because defence lawyers could give non-racial reasons for their decisions to strike the potential black jurors.

“They have been able to explain to the court why besides race those individuals were struck from the panel,” Walmsley said.

Travis McMichael, one of the defendants charged over the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Credit:Reuters

The judge said the jury, along with four alternates, would be seated and sworn in on Friday, when opening statements in the trial are expected. He did not give the races of the alternate jurors.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told reporters outside the courthouse she found it “devastating” that only one black juror will be seated. Still, she said of the final jury: “I’m very confident that they’ll make the right decision after seeing all the evidence.”

Her lawyer, Lee Merritt, said he still believed the trial would end in a conviction, though defence lawyers had “created a jury that was more favourable for their defendants, an almost entirely white jury.”

Ahmaud Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones said she was devastated by the jury choice. Credit:AP

Dunikoski noted that many prospective jurors questioned in open court expressed strong opinions about the case, but all who remained in the pool from which the 12 jurors emerged said they could be impartial and base a verdict solely on the trial evidence.

In Glynn County, where Arbery was killed and the trial is being held, black people account for nearly 27 per cent of the population of 85,000, according to the US Census Bureau. The judge said 25 per cent of the pool from which the final jury was chosen was black.

Defence lawyers say the McMichaels and Bryan committed no crimes. They say Arbery had been recorded by security cameras inside a nearby house and they suspected him of stealing. Greg McMichael told police his son opened fire in self-defence after Arbery attacked with his fists and grappled for Travis McMichael’s shotgun.

Investigators have said Arbery was unarmed and there’s no evidence he had stolen anything.

The slaying dominated news coverage and social media feeds in Glynn County, about 110 kilometres south of Savannah. That caused court officials to take extraordinary steps in hopes of seating an impartial jury.

They mailed 1000 jury duty notices and nearly 200 people were questioned by the judge and lawyers at the courthouse during jury selection.

AP

Most Viewed in World

Share this post