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Evidence withheld from Arbery jury

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Nov 24 21:14:07 2021, in response to Arbery case - Jury says guilty, posted by TransitChuckG on Wed Nov 24 13:28:56 2021.

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Evidence the Arbery jury never heard: Storekeepers nicknamed Ahmaud 'The Jogger' for stealing and running away — while Travis McMichael (allegedly, hearsay) called him racial slur AFTER shooting him

The jury in Ahmaud Arbery's murder trial retired to consider a verdict after ten days of witness testimony and two days of closing arguments.

After being sworn in more than two weeks ago, the 12-member jury heard from more than two dozen witnesses, including gunman Travis McMichael — the only defendant to take the witness stand.

McMichael, 35, his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr., 52, pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment for the killing in the coastal suburb of Satilla Shores on February, 23, 2020.

After 11 hours of deliberations, gunman Travis McMichael was found guilty on the charge of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

His father, Gregory McMichael was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. He was found not guilty of malice murder.

Neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. He was found not guilty of malice murder and one count each of felony murder and aggravated assault.

The defendants told police they thought Arbery was running from a crime and they wanted to make a citizen's arrest — and claimed self defense during the trial.

The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole. Murder can also be punishable by death in Georgia if the killing meets certain criteria and the prosecutor chooses to seek the death penalty. Prosecutors in this case did not. Each count of aggravated assault carries a prison term of at least one year but not more than 20 years. False imprisonment is punishable by a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.

Before they reached their verdict, the jury — made up of 11 white people and one black person — was presented with hours of testimony, investigator evidence photos, police body camera video, autopsy reports and more, but five arguments were not allowed to be presented.

They included Arbery's mental health records and criminal history, and the fact that trace amounts of THC were found in his blood after his death.

The judge also refused to allow evidence that claimed Arbery was known as 'The Jogger' in the neighborhood because he would jog to convenience stores, and run out with stolen goods, according to witnesses.

The judge also banned the prosecution for presenting evidence* that the McMichaels had a history of sharing racist messages on social media, and that Travis McMichael called Arbery 'a f****** n*****' as Arbery lay dying on the street. * Hearsay; see below.

On the day of the killing, the jury heard that the McMichaels armed themselves and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after he ran past their home from a nearby house under construction.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Arbery was a fleeing burglar when they armed themselves and jumped in a pickup truck to chase him.

Bryan joined the pursuit when they passed his house and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery at close range with a shotgun as Arbery threw punches and grabbed for the weapon.

During the trial, the prosecution aimed to prove the defendants wrongly assumed the worst about Arbery and sought to rebut arguments that they were attempting a valid citizen's arrest, which required that someone have 'reasonable and probable' suspicion that a person is fleeing a serious crime they committed.

'They made their decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery in their driveways because he was a black man running down the street,' Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said during her closing arguments.

They killed him 'not because he's a threat to them, but because he wouldn't stop and talk to them,' she said.

The state claimed there was no evidence Arbery had committed crimes in the defendants' neighborhood.

Defense attorneys contend the McMichaels were attempting a legal citizen's arrest when they set off after Arbery, seeking to detain and question him as a suspected burglar after he was seen running from a nearby home under construction.

Travis McMichael testified that he shot Arbery in self-defense, saying the running man turned and attacked with his fists while running past the idling truck where Travis McMichael stood with his shotgun.

Defense attorney, Jason Sheffield, said his client had 'reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion' to follow the 25-year-old in his truck because he believed he was a burglar.

He added that although Arbery was not armed with a weapon, Travis McMichael said he had reached into his shirt as if for a weapon, and he was also armed with his fists.

'Travis felt something is not right...Aggravated assault is a felony that can be committed by the use of fists. Fists are a weapon. And right now as Ahmaud Arbery is running towards Travis McMichael he could have a gun and he definitely has fists,' Sheffield said.

On a 911 call the jury reviewed on day two of deliberations, Gregory McMichael told an operator: 'I'm out here in Satilla Shores. There's a black male running down the street.'

He then starts shouting, apparently as Arbery is running toward the McMichael's idling truck with Bryan's truck coming up behind him: 'Stop right there! Damn it, stop! Travis!'

Gunshots can be heard a few second later.

The defense, however, argued the defendants had a right and a neighborly obligation to jump in their pickup trucks and chase Arbery to detain him under Georgia's since-repealed citizen's arrest law because they had reason to believe he may have been connected to previous property crimes that had left the neighborhood on edge.

At one point during her closing argument, Gregory McMichaels' attorney, painted a picture of Ahmaud Arbery as a frightening criminal who had been running around the McMichaels' Satilla Shores neighborhood in 'khaki short, sneakers without socks and 'long, dirty toenails'.

They also allege McMichael fired his gun at Arbery in self-defense.

Arbery's killing became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice after the graphic video of his death leaked online two months later and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case, quickly arresting the three men.

A nearly all-white jury was selected, and one of the defense lawyers — Kevin Gough — repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought the removal of black pastors and civil rights leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson from the courtroom.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said he was required to accept the 'race-neutral' reasons defense lawyers gave for the removal of all but one potential black juror, but said at the jury's selection that it was 'discriminatory'.

These are the key points the 11 white and one black juror did not hear:

Judge ruled Ahmaud Arbery's mental health and criminal history were not relevant to the case

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley ruled the defense could not submit any information regarding Ahmaud Arbery's mental health or criminal history.

The black jogger was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2018 after a June incident in which his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, called 911 when he refused to hand over her car keys.

According to the filing from defense attorney Robert Rubin, Cooper-Jones told the dispatcher that Arbery would become violent if police were confrontational.

Walmsley also ruled the jury would not hear how Arbery was on probation for two crimes at the time of his death.

He had brought a handgun to school in 2013 and fled when confronted by police.

Six years later he was caught attempting to shoplift a television.

The defense argued that Arbery's criminal record demonstrated how he 'used running or jogging as a cover to commit crimes' and that he had a pattern of fleeing or responding aggressively to confrontation.

Walmsley ruled it was inadmissible because the defendants were unaware of Arbery's past at the time of the murder.

A trace of THC was found in Ahmaud Arbery's blood

The jury in Ahmaud Arbery's murder trial did not see the toxicology report revealing a small amount of THC, a psychoactive compound in marijuana, found in his blood.

Prosecutors from the Cobb County district attorney's office said initial tests on Arbery's body found no trace of drugs.

A second test found 3.2 nanograms per milliliter of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, in his blood, which they called a tiny amount.

Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said at the time of the ruling that the toxicology reports were irrelevant to the case: 'Why Mr. Arbery did anything he did is completely irrelevant. The question is about what the defendants did, and they knew nothing about what was in his system.'

The defense, however, argued that Arbery had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and that smoking marijuana can cause aggression in someone with this condition.

Travis McMichael 'called Ahmaud Arbery a racial slur after he shot him' (hearsay)

The prosecution pushed Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley to allow evidence that gunman Travis McMichael called Ahmaud Arbery a racial slur after he shot him to be presented to the jury, however the request was denied.

A special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr. said during a May 2020 interview that McMichael called Arbery as 'f***ing n*****' as the black jogger laid on the pavement, dying from the gunshot wounds.

Defense attorney Jason Sheffield has denied that his client, Travis McMichael, used the slur.

Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski has argued 'racial animus' behind the slaying throughout the trial and wanted to question McMichael about the comment.

It was not admissible in court as Bryan, who (claimed to have) heard the alleged comment, never took the stand to testify.

Ahmaud Arbery was known as 'The Jogger' by members of his community for 'in-and-out convenience store thefts'

Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot in February 2020, was known by members of his community as 'The Jogger,' according to Georgia court documents filed last December.

Witnesses claim Arbery would run in and out of local convenience stores, with some alleging he committed crimes while doing so.

'In 2019 and 2020, local convenience store witness interviews reveal Mr. Arbery became known as 'The Jogger' for his repeated conduct and behavior of running up, stretching in front, and then entering several convenience stores where he would grab items and run out before he got caught,' an excerpt from the document read.

Cell phone video from another witness, captured in 2020, revealed that Arbery was confronted by store employees about his alleged thefts.

'Mr. Arbery, concerned about his thefts, chose to fight a man who worked on location at the adjacent truck stop who tried to confront him about it,' the report stated.

Judge Timothy Walmsley ruled that Arbery's past, including the alleged convenience store thefts, were not relevant to the case because the defendants were not aware of it at the time of the shooting.

The prosecution also planned to show the jury Arbery's Nike running shoes during medical examiner Dr. Edmund Donoghue's testimony, in effort to support their argument that he was a jogger who was unfairly targeted.

However, the state ultimately changed course after the defense argued the presentation of Arbery's shoes could lead to arguments about his activities the day of the shooting.

Men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery had a history of racists posts and messages (alleged)

The court denied the prosecution's request to present all social media posts and text messages to the jury that allegedly demonstrated the men in Ahmaud Arbery's murder trial had a history of racism.

Prosecutors said they wanted to introduce into evidence against Travis McMichael a 'racial highway video Facebook post,' 'a Racial Johnny Rebel Facebook post' and a racial text message, all posted or sent in 2019.

They wanted to admit into evidence an 'Identity Dixie Facebook post' and 'Racial Johnny Rebel Facebook post' against Gregory McMichael.

They also wanted to include alleged racist text messages, including at least one that used the n-word, from William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr.'s cellphone.' During a bond hearing in July 2020, prosecutors said the texts contained 'a ton of filth.'

The prosecution alleged the social media posts offered 'proof of motive'.

Although some social media posts were presented in court, not all initially gathered during evidence collection were deemed admissible.

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