Jury Selection Begins In Federal Hate Crimes Charges For Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers
Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William “Roddy” Bryan are facing federal hate crime charges for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Now, jury selection has begun for the convicted murderers.
According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood expects 12 main jurors and four alternates to be selected by Monday, Feb. 14. The judge and the attorneys have reportedly spent hours questioning potential jurors. One juror was dismissed for revealing she knew Bryan and felt “sorry” for him. Another was dismissed for saying she believed all three defendants were guilty.
Last week, the Associated Press reported McMichael, 36, who was convicted with his father, Gregory, 66, and neighbor Bryan, 52, reversed his plan to plead guilty in the federal case only days after a U.S. District Court judge rejected the terms of a plea deal. Arbery's parents objected to any such plea.
The McMichaels and a neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court last fall and sentenced to life in prison. Georgia did not have a hate crime law at the time of the killing. The U.S. Department of Justice handed down indictments charging that the three white men violated Arbery's civil rights and targeted him because he was Black.
The McMichaels saw the 25-year-old man jogging past their home on Feb. 23, 2020. They armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck, with Bryan joining the pursuit in his own truck. He recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael killing Arbery with a shotgun.
During the murder trial in state court, defense attorneys argued the McMichaels were justified in pursuing Arbery because they had a reasonable suspicion that he had committed crimes in their neighborhood. Travis McMichael testified that he opened fire with his shotgun after Arbery attacked him with fists and tried to grab the weapon.
