BRUNSWICK (Ga.) — Wednesday’s ruling by a judge means that he will seat one Black juror and eleven whites in the trial of Ahmaud Abery’s killers. This despite objections from prosecutors that many potential Black jurors were cut due to their race.
Timothy Walmsley, Superior Court Judge, acknowledged that jury selection was influenced by “intentional discrimination” in jury selection by the attorneys for three white defendants in the death case against the Black man. He said that Georgia law restricted his ability to intervene.
Arbery’s death was a case in which race is a key issue. After spotting the 25-year old man running through their coastal Georgia neighborhood, Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael, they armed themselves and chased Arbery with a pickup truck. William “Roddie Bryan”, a neighbor, joined the chase and captured cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing three shots at Arbery with a shotgun.
As lawyers completed a two-week-long jury selection process, a heated and sometimes bitter debate erupted in court Wednesday afternoon.
After a series of fatal encounters between Blacks and police officers — Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, among others — Arbery’s passing became part of a larger reckoning on racial inequalities in the criminal legal systems.
Arbery’s murder was not investigated by the police until two months later, when the video from the shooting went online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation quickly took control of the case and arrested the three men on murder charges.
After narrowing the 48-member panel to 12 jurors on Wednesday, Linda Dunikoski, the prosecutor, noted that only one Black juror was included in the panel.
She claimed that eight potential Black jurors had been selected by defense lawyers because of their race. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that potential jurors cannot be selected by attorneys solely on the basis of race or ethnicity.
Laura Hogue, an attorney representing Greg McMichael, claimed that those jurors were removed for other reasons, namely because they expressed strong opinions on the case when being questioned individually.
Hogue stated, “I can give a race-neutral explanation for any of these,”
She noticed that one juror wrote on her jury questionnaire that Arbery had been shot “due his color”. This juror told attorneys she believed the defendants guilty.
Timothy Walmsley, Superior Court Judge, denied the request of prosecutors to reinstate eight Black potential jurors. However, he stated: “This court found that there appears to have been intentional discrimination in this panel.”
Judge said he was unable to alter the jury’s racial composition because defense lawyers were able to provide nonracial reasons why they decided to strike potential Black jurors.
Walmsley stated that they were able to show the court the reasons why these individuals were removed from the panel, besides their race.
According to the judge, the jury will be seated along with four alternate jurors on Friday. Opening statements are expected during the trial. The races of alternate jurors were not disclosed by the judge.
Wanda Cooper-Jones was Arbery’s mom and told reporters outside that she found it “devastating,” that only one Black juror would be seated in the courthouse. She said that she was confident that the final jury would make the right decision, despite the fact that they will have to see all of the evidence.
S. Lee Merritt her attorney said he believes that the trial will result in a conviction. However, defense lawyers had “created a jury more favorable for their defendants and an almost entirely white jury.”
Dunikoski pointed out that while many potential jurors were questioned in open trial expressed strong opinions about this case, all 12 of the jurors who remained in the pool said they could be impartial to base a verdict on only the trial evidence.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Blacks make up nearly 27% of the 85,000 residents of Glynn County where Arbery was murdered and is currently on trial. According to the judge, 25% of the final jury consisted of Blacks.
Defense lawyers claim that Bryan and McMichaels did not commit any crimes. They claim Arbery was recorded in a nearby home by security cameras and that they suspect him of stealing. Greg McMichael said that his son shot at Travis McMichael in self-defense.
Arbery was not armed according to investigators. There is no evidence that he stole anything.
Glynn county, which is about 70 miles (110 km) south of Savannah, was the focus of media coverage. Court officials took extraordinary measures to try and seat an impartial jury.
They sent 1,000 jury duty notices and almost 200 people were interviewed by the judge and lawyers at the courthouse during jury recruitment.
