Jury Selection Begins in Ahmaud Arbery Murder Trial
The trial for the three men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery has consumed the town of Brunswick, GA.
This week, 600 people were summoned to appear for jury selection. On October 20, 2021, one prospective juror was excused after giving a thumbs up to a member of the Arbery family, and others rattled off long lists of people they knew who are involved in the case.
Dr. Tracy Joseph, clinical and forensic psychologist, and Titus Nichols, trial attorney and former prosecutor, join Yodit Tewolde on “Making the Case” to break down the latest developments in this case.
Jury selection could last two weeks or more. Arbery’s father said he’s praying for an impartial panel and a fair trial, saying Black crime victims too often have been denied justice.
Three white men are accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year old Black man who was shot and killed as he was jogging down a residential street on Feb. 23, 2020, after being chased by pickup trucks.
There were serious questions about how Glynn County officials originally handled the case. Nothing happened until cellphone video of the killing, recorded by defendant Bryan, was released months later.
It took nearly three months before arrests were made, after mounting public pressure and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation taking the case from Glynn County police.
Prosecutors say Arbery was merely jogging when the McMichaels armed themselves with guns and chased him in a pickup truck. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded the now-infamous cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun.
Defense attorneys insist the three men committed no crimes. Greg McMichael told police they pursued Arbery suspecting he was a burglar after security cameras previously recorded him entering a nearby home under construction. He said Travis McMichael fired his gun in self-defense after Arbery attacked him, punching and trying to grab the weapon.
Investigators have testified that they found no evidence of crimes by Arbery in the Satilla Shores subdivision. He was unarmed.
