There was never any dispute that the younger McMichael fired his shotgun three times at Arbery at close range. The defense rested its case after calling just one witness. Federal prosecutors presented testimony from 20 witnesses and other evidence they said showed that the three men had long histories of using slurs and making racist statements. ![]() The McMichaels insisted they did not act out of racial animus but out of self-defense and a belief that Arbery appeared suspicious when they saw him running through the streets after a series of neighborhood break-ins.īut trial testimony revealed there had been no burglaries. 23, 2020, by the younger McMichael after all three defendants had chased him down in pickup trucks as the victim was out for an afternoon jog through the community of Satilla Shores, near the southeastern coastal town of Brunswick. LAG TIME ON CHARGESĪrbery was shot to death on Feb. The family and supporters plan to hold a vigil on Wednesday in the neighborhood where Arbery was killed to mark the second anniversary of his murder. It wasn't because it's what they wanted to do." "What the DOJ did today, they was made to do today. "What we got today, we wouldn't have gotten today if it wasn't for the fight that the family put up," Cooper-Jones said. ![]() In a rare move, the judge last month rejected the plea deal after Ahmaud's family implored her not to accept it. Prosecutors in the state trial avoided characterizing the killing as racist, seeking only to prove that the McMichaels and Bryan were responsible for his death.Ĭooper-Jones on Tuesday railed against the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors, who had originally reached a plea deal with the defendants to avoid a trial, as typically happens in hate-crimes cases, such as with Derek Chauvin, the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck and was found guilty of murdering him. The three men were convicted last year of murder and other crimes in state court and sentenced to life terms for the shotgun slaying of Arbery, 25, a onetime high school football star who worked for a truck-washing company and his father's landscaping business. The judge has not yet set a sentencing date. The hate-crimes felony, the most serious of the charges the defendants faced, carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Bryan was not charged with a weapons offense. The McMichaels were also convicted of a federal firearms charge.
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