Three men — Travis McMichael, 35, who fired the shot that killed Arbery; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, a former police officer who pursued Arbery with his son in a pickup truck; and William Bryan, 52, their neighbor who joined in the chase and filmed the encounter — were charged months later in Arbery's killing.
The nine counts against them included malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment. All three men had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Travis McMichael was the only defendant found guilty on all counts. Gregory McMichael was found guilty on eight of the nine counts, and Bryan was found guilty on six of the nine counts.
The process to select the jury in the Arbery case lasted 2 1/2 weeks and resulted in a jury of 11 white jurors and just one Black juror, even though about one-quarter of the population in Glynn County is Black, Insider previously reported.
A self-defense argument
In her closing arguments on Monday, the prosecutor Linda Dunikoski had said all three men should be found guilty of the charges, adding that they "made their decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery in their driveways because he was a Black man running down the street."
Travis McMichael, who was the only defendant to take the stand during the trial, said he fired at Arbery in self-defense after he and his father began pursuing him because they thought he may have been responsible for recent break-ins in their neighborhood.
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During his testimony, he called the experience of shooting and killing Arbery the most traumatic of his life.
McMichael said during his testimony he confronted Arbery and alleged Arbery grabbed the shotgun McMichael had brought with him. During cross-examination by the prosecutor, McMichael said he never saw Arbery with a gun or heard him say anything before he fatally shot him.
"He was not relenting, so I shot again to stop him," McMichael said.
As Reuters reported, no evidence has emerged that Arbery was responsible for break-ins in the neighborhood, and at the time of his death, he had nothing on his person besides his clothes and shoes.
Lawyers for the defendants said their clients attempted to place Arbery under citizen's arrest using a Civil War-era Georgia law. The law had allowed citizens to detain a person if they had a reasonable belief the person was fleeing after recently committing a felony. It was repealed in May, about a year after Arbery's death, NPR reported.
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During closing arguments on Monday, a lawyer for Bryan said his client "did not know" the McMichaels were armed when he joined them and filmed the encounter last year, The New York Times reported, in his latest attempt to create distance between his client and the other two defendants.
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