Gregory McMichael, 65, his son Travis, 35, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, face nine charges, including murder and aggravated assault after they allegedly chased 25-year-old Arbery while he was jogging in a residential neighborhood in February 2020.
All three men pleaded not guilty and claimed they pursued Arbery because they believed he was involved in several break-ins in the area and Travis McMichael fired a shotgun in self-defense following an altercation when they caught up with Arbery.
Tuesday’s proceedings saw key witnesses including medical examiner Edmund Donoghue and lead investigator Robert Dial from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
After the prosecution rested its case and the jury was dismissed, the defense once again asked the judge to consider his request to prevent notable Black pastors from the courtroom.
“Just trotting in pastor after pastor, including pastors from other parts of the country they have no apparent relationship with, is inappropriate,” he said.
The judge in the case denied a mistrial request Monday after the defense claimed that the crying of victim Ahmaud Arbery’s mother would taint the jurors.
This comes after a mistrial request against Rev. Jesse Jackson earlier Monday, with the defense attorney asking for the pastor to be removed from the court, saying his presence would cause unease amongst the jury.
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“Just trotting in pastor after pastor, including pastors from other parts of the country they have no apparent relationship with, is inappropriate,” he said.
Gough believes that the presence of such people, like Reverend Jesse Jackson, in the courtroom only serves to intimidate the jury.
The judge said his ruling on the matter has not changed. He previously said he will not exclude any non-distractive member of the public.
The jury was sent home until 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The defense will continue with its 10 to 15 witnesses.
Defense Attorney Kevin Gough went through the details of Bryan’s route, including a K-turn after Arbery turned down a different street.
Agent Dial was noticeably confused by the defense’s questioning several times during the cross-examination.
Gough argued that Bryan was “taking the long way home” and no longer continuing the pursuit of Arbery.
He said that when Bryan said “I’m gonna to keep going” on the recording he mad eon his phone, he was moving away from Arbery.
Dial said that was not correct.
“I don’t know why he’d video himself going home,” he said.
When Gough argued Bryan could have kept recording in order to be a witness to the incident, Dial said that Bryan was not abandoning the pursuit.
“I don’t believe he was just a witness,” Dial said, adding that Bryan continued after Arbery and tried to box him in between two other vehicles.
Gough ended his questioning by saying, “I think we can agree and let the jury decide what Mr. Bryan’s intentions were.”
“The shotgun these guys used to kill my son could be used to take a big elephant down,” Arbery’s father said.
He wants to understand the “mind frame” of the defendants when they decided to go after “a 25-year-old unarmed kid” with a “high-powered” gun.
“Your intention was to kill when you grab a gun like that,” he said. “With a gun like that, you didn’t give him a chance.”
Rev. Jackson said that they must “fight back with dignity.”
He noted that the judge in the case was “solid” and “decent” and the jury was intently taking in information from witnesses.
Jackson added that following the attempt to kick him out of the courtroom Monday, he is focused on mobilization today.
Earlier in his testimony, Dial said Glynn County Police did not collect Greg McMichael’s gun during their investigation in February. The gun was found in the closet of McMichael’s master bedroom during a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) search in May.
He said he determined probable cause for Travis and Greg McMichael’s arrest based on body camera video, video of the shooting and other evidence in MAy 2020. Bryan was arrested at a later time.
The prosecution is presenting maps for Dial to the path of travel for the McMichaels, Bryan and Arbery on the day of the incident.
He notes that Arbery did not run down Holmes Road and Burford Drive, the road where Bryan lived.
The prosecution said they were “ambushed” with these records at 8:30 a.m. and noted that another witness, Agent Robert Dial, already reviewed the reports.
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said that if the reports are brought up, the prosecution will ask for Dial to go into details about each report. She said the information could be “misleading.”
“It’s disingenuous to say there were suspicious people and what they’re [the defense] gonna say is the neighborhood is under attack and say it was Ahmaud Arbery,” Dunikoski said. She noted that suspicious people in the reports were not Arbery.
The defense said these reports are relevant to demonstrate there was “a lot of criminal activity in the neighborhood” that caused concern for the neighbors.
Defense attorney Robert Rubin said he is aware that “when we are talking about suspicious persons we aren’t talking about Ahmaud Arbery.”
However, he believes the reports are relevant to “build brick by brick” what was happening in the neighborhood.
“The citizens in this neighborhood were concerned about crime,” he said.
Judge Timothy Walmsley said that just because calls were made does not mean it connects with the notion that the neighborhood was “on edge,” as the defense claims, because he does not know what individual neighbors or the McMichaels may have known.
“I don’t think every police call made is relevant in this case,” Walmsley said.
Electronics were seized during the search and transported back to the GBI office where they were taken to be examined by other agents.
Hamilton also took aerial photographs of the Satilla Shores neighborhood from a helicopter.
Hamilton was involved in neighborhood canvassing in Royal Oaks, Fancy Bluff and Satilla Shores.
She said she transported evidence from the case, including Travis McMichael’s clothing and boots and cellphone data, to different agencies.
Hamilton also said she photographed the trucks belonging to McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan. She documented everything in or on the interior and exterior of McMichael’s truck.
Smith recorded drone footage of the Satilla Shores neighborhood during the GBI investigation.
Jackson was the subject of a mistrial request from the defense Monday. Defense attonrneys asked for Jackson to be removed from the court, arguing that his presence would cause unease amongst the jury.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley dismissed the request, saying Jackson was not causing any disruption to the court.
FULL STORY: Judge Denies Mistrial Request After Ahmaud Arbery’s Mom Cries Next to Jesse Jackson
Edmund Donoghue said there was nothing EMTs could do to save Arbery.
In addition to graphic images of Arbery’s body, photos of his bloody clothes and pellets from the shooting were presented.
The prosecution also showed frame-by-frame images from a video of the shooting.
Medical examiner Edmund Donoghue said a stream of blood is seen in the photos. Donoghue said the blood came from the gunshot wound on Arbery’s wrist.
Donoghue said the shot that hit Arbery in the center of the chest and grazed his wrist happened at the same time, meaning his hand was in front of his chest and was struck first before it entered his body. The second shot “was a complete miss” and the third shot hit Arbery in the left part of his chest.
Donoghue originally estimated that the muzzle of the gun was three to four feet from Arbery. After receiving video footage of the shooting, Donoghue revised his opinion and now estimates the muzzle to target distance was between three and 20 inches.
The muzzle to target distance refers to the distance between the firearm muzzle and the intended target.
She was reportedly “seen visibly rocking back and forth in the courtroom.”
Donoghue says Arbery suffered an “unguarded fall,” which means he “lost consciousness and fell without being able to put your arms out to protect yourself.”
The full-body photos show Arbery covered in blood-stained clothes. Donoghue says this is how he arrived to the medical examiner’s office.
“In the center of the chest is shotgun wound; in the left chest and armpit, there is a second gunshot wound,” Donoghue said.
Donoghue said Arbery had abrasions on his face, a grazing gunshot wound on his wrist that involved an artery and nerve and seven pellet exits to his back.
Photographs of Arbery’s shoes and shirt covered in blood were also shown.
