The trial of the three white men accused of killing jogger Ahmaud Arbery began Oct. 18, 2021, as the defense and prosecution began jury selection. According to The Associated Press, prosecutors and defense attorneys spent hours Monday questioning the first panel of 20 potential jurors brought to the courthouse. Over 600 people were summoned for jury duty on the case on Monday and more than 400 are awiting to report next week as well if they are needed.
Gregory and Travis McMichael, a father and son, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., are accused of chasing and killing 25-year-old Arbery as he ran through a Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. The McMichaels pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after they spotted him running in their neighborhood. Bryan joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun.
Defense attorneys argue the three men committed no crimes and that the McMichaels suspected Arbery was a burglar after he was recorded by video cameras inside a home under construction. Travis McMichael’s lawyers say he shot Arbery, who was unarmed, in self-defense.
Eight potential jurors were dismissed and the status of four others who had undergone individual questioning remained unresolved when court adjourned Monday evening. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley also urged the lawyers to “streamline” their questions and expedite the process. He warned attorneys several times about their approaches of potential jurors as well, stating, “You do not ask a potential juror what their opinion on guilt or innocence is,” calling the question “inappropriate.”
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, spoke with “CBS This Morning” on Sunday, Oct. 17 and stated once again that she believed her son was killed because he was Black and she was concerned about the potential makeup of the jury.
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