Georgia men who killed Ahmaud Arbery want a new trial

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Three white men serving life sentences for murder after stalking and killing Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 return to court Thursday to ask a judge for a new trial.

Lawyers for Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their former neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan are making a range of arguments for a new trial, from a bad jury to an ineffective attorney for one of the men. Supreme Court Justice Timothy Walmsley, who served as judge and handed down the verdicts in the 2021 murder trial, took up to two days to hear their legal submissions.

The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and jumped into a pickup truck to chase Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, after they saw him running past their home on February 23, 2020, in a residential neighborhood outside the port city of Brunswick. Bryan joined the chase in his own truck and recorded cell phone video of Travis McMichael firing point-blank shotgun blasts at Arbery, who fell mortally wounded in the road.

No arrests were made in connection with Arbery's murder for more than two months, until Bryan's cellphone video leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from police. Arbery's death, along with the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, became part of a broader confrontation with racial injustice in the criminal justice system.

Defense attorneys argued during the Georgia trial that the armed pursuit was justified because the McMichaels and Bryan suspected Arbery of being a thief and tried to capture him for police. Travis McMichael testified that he opened fire in self-defense when Arbery attacked with his fists. Police found no evidence that Arbery had stolen anything or committed other crimes in the neighborhood.

A lawyer for Travis McMichael, Pete Donaldson, said in a court filing that he planned to present evidence that the jury's verdict was tainted by “external influences” and “insignificant adverse information.” The information came to light in recorded interviews by a private investigator with three jurors in 2022, Donaldson wrote, without providing further details.

Greg McMichael's attorney, Jerry Chappell, said he supported Donaldson's efforts to challenge the fairness of the sentence.

Bryan's attorney, Rodney Zell, argued in a written motion that Bryan's trial counsel was ineffective. He noted that Bryan had agreed to be interviewed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on the advice of his previous attorney. Zell said Bryan was ill-prepared to speak to investigators and managed to “incriminate himself.”

Zell also wrote that the judge wrongly barred defense attorneys from presenting evidence at trial of Arbery's “past bad deeds.” Defense attorneys had sought to use evidence of Arbery's previous run-ins with law enforcement, including two arrests, as well as records about his mental health to argue that the McMichaels were right to fear he could be dangerous.

Walmsley ruled before trial that such evidence related to Arbery's character was irrelevant to the murder case because none of the defendants knew him before the fatal chase.

Seeking a new trial is the first step for the three defendants to challenge their murder convictions. Walmsley sentenced both McMichaels to life in prison without parole and gave Bryan a chance at parole.

The men were also convicted of federal hate crimes in U.S. District Court following a separate trial in February 2022. The jury concluded that the trio targeted Arbery because he was Black. Prosecutors presented two dozen social media posts and text messages, as well as witness statements, that showed all three men used racial slurs or otherwise disparaged Black people.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from attorneys in March asking the court to overturn the hate crime conviction. A decision on the federal complaints is still pending.