Ahmaud Arbery murder: suspects' lawyers ask court not to use 'victim' at trial
Lawyers for a Georgia father and son accused of pursuing and shooting dead an unarmed black man in street ambush have asked a court to forbid prosecutors from using the term “victim” at their murder trial.
In a motion filed with the superior court of Glynn county on 30 December, attorneys for Gregory and Travis McMichael insist that use of the word to describe 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery would be prejudicial to their defense.
“The purpose of this motion is to prevent the prosecution from ignoring its duty to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that crimes were actually committed and that the McMichaels committed the crimes as charged,” states the four-page motion, signed by lawyers Franklin and Laura Hogue, Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield.
“Due process requires minimal injection of error or prejudice into these proceedings. Use of terms such as ‘victim’ allows focus to shift to the accused rather than remain on the proof of every element of the crimes charged.”
Arbery was killed on 23 February last year in Brunswick, Georgia, while out jogging. Prosecutors allege that Gregory McMichael, 64, a retired police detective, and his son Travis, 34, chased Arbery in their truck and initiated a confrontation that ended with Travis McMichael shooting Arbery dead.
The McMichaels, who are white, deny charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. They remain in jail without bond.
A neighbour, William Bryan Jr, who recorded the shooting on his cellphone, denies charges of murder and an attempt to commit false imprisonment.
All three men remain in jail without bond.
Arbery’s killing sparked outrage in the local community and nationally, particularly after it was revealed that local law enforcement initially refused to arrest the suspects and a prosecutor, who later recused himself, wrote a memorandum explaining why he believed the killing was legally justified.
The McMichaels told detectives they believed Arbery, a trained electrician, was responsible for a string of burglaries in their neighbourhood, and merely wanted to ask him about them. They were arrested on 7 May, more than two months after the shooting, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
took over the case.
In May 2020, the Guardian obtained video of an incident involving Arbery and police at a park in Brunswick in 2017, in which officers attempted to tase him after finding him alone in his car. Arbery complied with instructions. Lawyers for his family accused Glynn county police of harassment.
Along with the motion asking for the exclusion of “prejudicial” terms, the McMichaels’ lawyers filed a document pertaining to “safety and decorum of the courtroom” and requesting that spectators be forbidden from wearing attire containing perceived political or racially charged slogans.
The motion cites previous hearings in which “spectators who have aligned themselves with the prosecution” attended court wearing masks featuring the words “Black Lives Matter”, “I can’t breathe” and “Justice for George Floyd”.
Previously, the lawyers have asked for only one photograph of Arbery to be allowed to be shown to jurors, and that the prosecution turn over “Arbery’s disciplinary, criminal, and mental health records” along with his cellphone records and contents of his social media accounts.
No trial date has been set. The Guardian was unable to reach the Cobb county district attorney’s office, which is handling the prosecution, for comment.