FILE -
In this
Feb. 23,
2021,
file
photo,
Ahmaud
Arbery's
father,
Marcus
Arbery,
bottom
center,
listens
to Jason
Vaughn
speak
during a
memorial
walk and
candlelight
vigil
for
Ahmaud
at the
Satilla
Shores
development
in
Brunswick,
Ga.
Arbery's
son was
shot and
killed
while
running
in a
neighborhood
outside
the port
city.
Jury
selection
in the
case is
scheduled
to begin
Monday,
Oct. 18.
(AP
Photo/Stephen
B.
Morton,
File) |
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FILE -
This
combination
of
booking
photos
provided
by the
Glynn
County,
Ga.,
Detention
Center,
shows,
from
left,
Travis
McMichael,
his
father,
Gregory
McMichael,
and
William
"Roddie"
Bryan
Jr. On
Friday,
Oct. 1,
2021, a
Georgia
judge
has
ruled
that
Ahmaud
Arbery's
mental
health
records
can't be
used as
trial
evidence
by the
men who
chased
and
killed
him.
(Glynn
County
Detention
Center
via AP,
File) |
|
Jury
selection
to start
in trial
over
Ahmaud
Arbery's
death
By RUSS
BYNUM
apnews.com
GLYNN
COUNTY,
GA -
Hundreds
of
people
were
ordered
to
report
for jury
duty
Monday
in
Georgia
for what
could be
a long,
laborious
effort
to find
jurors
to hear
the
trial of
three
white
men
charged
with
fatally
shooting
Ahmaud
Arbery
as he
was
running
in their
neighborhood.
The
slaying
of the
25-year-old
Black
man
sparked
a
national
outcry
fueled
by
graphic
video of
the
shooting.
Father
and son
Greg and
Travis
McMichael
and
their
neighbor
William
“Roddie”
Bryan
are
charged
with
murder
and
other
crimes
in
Arbery’s
death on
Feb. 23,
2020,
just
outside
the port
city of
Brunswick.
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.
“This is
2021,
and it’s
time for
a
change,”
Marcus
Arbery
Sr. said
in an
interview.
“We need
to be
treated
equally
and get
fair
justice
as human
beings,
because
we’ve
been
treated
wrong so
long.”
Before
the
selection
process
begins,
Superior
Court
Judge
Timothy
Walmsley
first
planned
to hold
a
morning
hearing
to
address
legal
issues
that
must be
resolved
before
the
trial
starts.
Court
officials
in Glynn
County
mailed
jury-duty
notices
to 1,000
people,
expecting
a
potentially
slow
process
to find
jurors
in a
community
where
the
slaying
dominated
news
coverage
and
swamped
social
media
feeds.
The case
will be
followed
closely
outside
Georgia
too.
Arbery’s
killing
stoked
outrage
in the
summer
of 2020
during a
period
of
national
protests
over
racial
injustice.
More
than two
months
passed
before
the
McMichaels
and
Bryan
were
charged
and
jailed,
only
after
the
video of
the
shooting
leaked
online
and
state
investigators
took
over the
case
from
local
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 took
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
filmed
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.
As a
precaution
against
the
coronavirus,
600 jury
pool
members
were
ordered
to
report
Monday
to a
gymnasium
to
provide
room for
social
distancing.
They
will be
summoned
to the
courthouse
in
groups
of 20,
Glynn
County
Superior
Court
Clerk
Ronald
Adams
said.
Along
with
their
jury
summons,
pool
members
were
mailed a
three-page
questionnaire
asking
what
they
already
know
about
the case
and what
news
outlets
or
social
media
platforms
were
their
main
sources
of
information.
The form
also
asks
whether
prospective
jurors
posted
any
online
comments
about
Arbery’s
killing
and if
they
visited
the
scene of
the
shooting
or did
other
research
into the
case on
their
own.
Attorneys
on both
sides
will
spend
the
coming
days
questioning
the jury
pool, in
groups
and
individually,
to
determine
whether
they
have
formed
opinions
about
the case
that
render
them
incapable
of
serving.
Ultimately
the
judge
needs to
seat a
jury of
12, plus
four
alternates
who will
be on
standby
to fill
in for
any
jurors
who get
sick or
are
dismissed
before
the
trial
ends.
Once a
jury is
seated,
the
trial
itself
could
take
more
than two
weeks,
Adams
said.
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