Race envelops the killing of Georgia

BRUNSWICK, Georgia – The trial hasn’t even started, and yet racial issues dominate the case where three white men are charged with murder for following and killing Ahmaud Arbery.

The murder of the 25-year-old black man has become part of the broader reckoning of racial injustice in the US legal system. Greg and Travis McMichael, a father and son, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, were not charged for more than two months until a cell phone video of the shooting was leaked online.

And Arbery’s family and their supporters had their faith shaken after the jury selection ended 2½ weeks on Wednesday when the judge agreed to set up a jury of 11 whites and one black.

“It is probably clearer than before that this race is at the forefront of this case and is likely to play a huge role in the deliberations of the jury,” said Page Pate, a Georgia criminal defense attorney not involved in the case.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley plans to have the jury sworn in today to hear opening statements from attorneys on both sides. He intends to have a total of 15 panelists: a main jury of 12 plus three deputies.

The total shrank by a Thursday when the judge dismissed a jury from the main panel, a white woman, on medical grounds. The breed of the assistant judge who replaced her was not known. The judge did not name the breeds of the alternate judges, and they were not asked about their breed when the jury selected.

The judge said he agreed with prosecutors that the expulsion of other potential Black jurors was considered “willful discrimination”. He also said Georgia law restricted his authority to intervene after defense attorneys did not provide racial reasons for the circumcision of those jurors.

The judge said the group of 48 used to narrow down the final jury included 12 potential jurors who were black. Prosecutors were allowed to knock out a dozen people from the jury pool and defense attorneys were allowed to cut 24, for virtually any reason but one exception. The US Supreme Court has made it unconstitutional to expel potential jurors based solely on race or ethnicity.

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“It is outrageous that black jurors were purposely disqualified in order to create such an unbalanced jury,” said Ben Crump, an attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery Sr., in a statement Thursday.

Black potential jurors appeared to be subject to greater scrutiny than whites because they were interviewed by attorneys during jury selection, and the resulting jury likely prefers the defense, said Pate, who practices in Atlanta and Brunswick.

“I’m not saying it’s deliberately discriminatory or if it was just the dynamics of this case, but it was a lot harder getting on that jury if you were black than if you were white,” said Godfather.

Many expressed strong opinions about the Arbery murder, believing that race was a factor. Some knew Arbery or other members of his family. Defense attorneys cited these reasons for knocking blacks out of the jury pool.

The McMichaels armed and chased Arbery after seeing him in their neighborhood. Bryan joined the chase and made a cellphone video of Travis McMichael who shot Arbery three times with a shotgun.

Defense lawyers say the men did not commit any crimes. They say Arbery was caught by security cameras in a nearby house under construction and they suspect him of theft. Greg McMichael told police his son opened fire in self-defense after Arbery attacked with his fists and reached for Travis McMichael’s shotgun.

Most of the last 16 jurors had previously told attorneys they had seen the video, and many had read news stories about the case. Everyone said they could stay open-minded during the process.

“I don’t think the video is the full story,” said one juror, a woman who works in retail, saying she didn’t know enough to form an opinion on the case.

Another juror, a retired government employee, described a conversation with her husband about the shooting as “probably something that was like, ‘That’s a shame that happened'”.

Other jurors had stronger reactions to Arbery’s death. Calling the cell phone video of the shooting “obscene”, one young woman said, “There’s no reason anyone should ever watch someone else die.”

An Air Force veteran who made up the final jury said it was his impression that Greg McMichael was “following” Arbery. Another judge, a woman who works with volunteers, told the lawyers that she was a little “afraid” of the defendants, adding, “They’re driving around with a gun.”

A railroad worker on the jury said he could well consider whether Travis McMichael shot Arbery in self-defense, although he also noted that Arbery was unarmed.

“He had no gun or nothing and he was alone,” the juror said of Arbery. “It was three people who attacked you and no weapon.”