The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In Arbery case, race a key factor in some jurors’ minds
Attorneys on both sides struggle to find people who believe they can be impartial in murder trial.
BRUNSWICK — For the fourth consecutive day, several potential jurors questioned about Ahmaud Arbery’s case made it clear they think race played a crucial role in the deadly shooting.
State prosecutors and defense attorneys representing the three men standing trial in the 25-yearold’s death must qualify a pool of 64 candidates from whom 12 jurors and four alternates will be chosen. But finding prospective jurors who believe they can be impartial in such a high-profile trial has proved challenging for attorneys on both sides.
Only 15 people were qualified through the first three days of jury selection, and court was still in session at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
As they had in previous days, some prospective jurors made it clear they have strong feelings about the case, which has dominated national headlines and local news coverage since early last year. Many say the widely shared cellphone video of the unarmed Arbery being chased and fatally shot in the Satilla Shores subdivision is what formed their opinion.
Arbery was Black. The three men charged in his killing are white.
The jurors ultimately selected will be tasked with deciding whether Travis Mcmichael; his father, Greg Mcmichael; and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, are guilty of murder and other charges in the February 2020 homicide. The defendants strongly contest the charges, contending they were trying to make a citizen’s arrest because they thought Arbery was responsible for a string of neighborhood break-ins.
Several prospective jurors questioned Thursday, however, said they didn’t think Arbery would
have been killed if he were white.
Juror No. 221 said she would try hard to remain impartial, though it would test her beliefs supporting the social justice movement. She was at least the second potential juror in three days to refer to the shooting as a “hate crime,” and said she believes the “system is broken.”
The woman said she took part in rallies supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, and even one vigil in Arbery’s memory.
“A young man was inappropriately shot walking around a neighborhood,” she wrote on her juror questionnaire. “Looked like a citizen’s arrest that went horribly wrong.”
She also wrote that she didn’t believe Arbery was a threat to the defendants when he was killed.
Laura Hogue, one of Greg Mcmichael’s attorneys, pressed juror No. 221, asking if she thought she would have been killed had she been in the same place that afternoon.
“I’m a white old lady,” the woman replied. “It’s my race, my age, gender. … That’s why I think they wouldn’t come after me if I was walking the neighborhood.”
Another juror, No. 218, wrote on her questionnaire that she believed Arbery was killed because of the color of his skin and that the men responsible nearly got away with it.
As daylong demonstrations raged outside, attorneys
representing the Mcmichaels and Bryan raised concerns that the protesters gathered in front of the courthouse could influence jurors’ answers and deny the defendants their right to a fair trial.
Juror No. 218 was told to leave the courtroom during questioning after Arbery’s father and two others walked into the gallery wearing social justice buttons on their lapels. One featured the likeness of the late civil rights
icon and longtime Georgia Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis along with his motto: “Make Good Trouble.” It also contained logos for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and other social justice groups.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley asked the three to remove their buttons after Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, raised objections. The judge said he admired Lewis but said the courtroom was not the place for such displays.
“I respect the fact this case has garnered a great deal of interest and a number of movements have been attached to it. I don’t have a problem with that,” he said.
Gough also raised concerns about the large group of demonstrators gathered on the courthouse grounds each day through the first week of trial.
He said Arbery’s slaying and similar cases “have really opened up a very important discussion. But it’s not a discussion
that’s appropriate for this courtroom right now.”
Other potential jurors told attorneys they didn’t think they could be impartial because they knew one or more of the defendants. One woman, juror No. 236, said she had known Greg Mcmichael for three decades.
She said she is worried there would be “an appearance of impropriety” if she served on the jury.
“I don’t want to be a distraction and be a problem for
a case that’s already caused problems in our community,” she said.
Another man, juror No. 242, said he knows the Mcmichaels and Bryan well, and that he had been in a local hunting club with the father and son for more than 20 years.
“I just feel like I know them too good,” he told attorneys during individual questioning. “I look at Travis and Greg and I’ve known them a long time.”