In this week of the trial in Ahmaud Arbery’s death, the jury, family and supporters heard closing statements from both the prosecution and defense. The first to address the jury on Monday was prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, assistant district attorney for Cobb County, Georgia, and she focused on the facts.
For those who need the facts again, Arbery was unarmed and jogging when Travis and Gregory McMichael along with their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan accused him of being a burglar with no evidence, chased him in their trucks and eventually cornered, shot and killed him. It’s worth mentioning again, Arbery committed no crime and the three white men couldn’t prove he committed one either.
Laura Hogue, a defense attorney representing Gregory McMichael, then addressed the jury made up of one Black person and 11 white people saying:
“Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails.”
According to CNN, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, used that moment to excuse herself while audible gasps reverberated through the courtroom.
Civil rights attorney Charles Coleman Jr., who is also a former prosecutor, told CNN that Hogue purposefully described Arbery as a runaway slave. The Root previously reported that the citizens arrest law being used by the defense, which is now repealed, was literally used by slave catchers and lynch mobs.
“Her word choice was intentional, her descriptions were unnecessary. And the description ultimately is inflammatory,” Coleman said during his appearance on the “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
At this point, the defense attorneys are hoping that the citizens arrest theory will stick. However, the evidence shows that Arbery didn’t steal anything when he, like other passersby, stopped at an unoccupied house under construction while on his jog. Arbery was running for his life that day, and Hogue, who represents Gregory McMichael, decided she was going to draw attention to his toenails.
Kevin Gough, defense attorney for William “Roddie” Bryan, used his closing statement to tell the jury that his client didn’t actually do anything wrong.
In an effort to distance his client from the McMichaels, William “Roddie” Bryan’s defense attorney, Kevin Gough, reminded the jury that his client did not even know that the father and son were armed until moments before Arbery died, and that if Bryan had not filmed the incident there would be no charges in his death.
“Ladies and gentlemen, without Roddie Bryan there is no case,” Gough told the jury.
He described his client as a “quiet man” who keeps to himself.
Gough said Bryan had been cooperative, sat with investigators without an attorney, and shared his cellphone video with the police.
He described his client as a “quiet man” who keeps to himself and was “guided” that day by “divine providence” or “karma.” And he suggested that Bryan did not have a full understanding of the situation before he became involved.
“There is no evidence whatsoever of malice,” Gough told the jury. “There is no evidence that Roddie Bryan intentionally helped Travis McMichael murder Mr. Arbery.”
Before court adjourned on Monday, the prosecution was granted the extra time to prepare a rebuttal. Tuesday morning, Linda Dunikoski, offered the last of her closing arguments pointing out the inconsistencies in the three men’s defense, ABC News reports.
Travis McMichael testified that he spoke to Arbery calmly, but Dunikoski pointed out that during his 911 call, McMichael sounded breathless and his father was shouting at Arbery in the background, “Stop. Goddammit. Stop.”
“Do you believe for a minute he was talking softly to Ahmaud Arbery?” Dunikoski asked, according to ABC.
The prosecutor also pointed out that not only were the three men operating on assumptions, they also never mentioned to the 911 dispatcher or police that they were performing a citizens arrest or plainly stated what crime they thought Arbery committed. Dunikoski played the 911 call for the jury again, ABC reports, during which the younger McMichael told the dispatcher that the emergency was that “a Black male was running down the street.”
From ABC:
As prosecutor Linda Dunikoski continued her rebuttal argument, defense attorneys for Greg and Travis McMichael objected several times, accusing Dunikoski of misstating the law that pertains to citizen’s arrest.
After one of the defense attorneys called for a mistrial in front of the jury, Judge Walmsley sent the panel out of the courtroom.
Walmsley appeared frustrated at all the interruptions to Dunikoski’s rebuttal, saying, “I like to get the closing arguments done.”
Walmsley denied the motion for a mistrial, telling the attorneys, “I indicated the law is going to be provided to the panel. I’ve indicated the court’s position with respect to the law.”
Dunikoski told the jury that the McMichaels and Bryan were responsible for what happened to Arbery and should be found guilty of all charges.
The three men are charged with felony murder, malice murder, false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated assault and another count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Travis McMichael, who fatally shot Arbery, has said that he pulled the trigger in self defense.
The jury is now beginning deliberations, and after the unsurprising but disappointing result in the Rittenhouse trial last week, many are waiting to see if the American justice system will fail yet again.