McMichaels gets life in prison, no parole
BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A judge sentenced three men to life in prison on Friday for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and ruled out pardoning two of the defendants, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael.
However, Judge Timothy Walmsley allowed the McMichaels’ neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan to join the chase and shoot video of the murder. Bryan had to spend at least 30 years in prison before being eligible.
Walmsley said: “A young man with a dream has been defeated in this community. “It was callous and it happened… because confrontation was being sought.”
Before the sentencing was read, Walmsley kept a minute of silence to show part of the time Arbery ran before he was shot. He called the image of Travis McMichael aiming a shotgun at Arbery “totally chills down the spine.”
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The judge also cited the defendant’s statements, saying that their words set the scene for the video and guided his sentencing decision. The minimum penalty required by law for murder is life in prison; Walmsley must determine whether each defendant is eligible for pardon.
On November 24, a jury found Travis McMichael, 35 years old, who pulls the trigger, commits a crime with nine charges: malicious murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and attempted execution of a false prison sentence. The jury is found Gregory McMichael, 66, committed all of those counts except murder, and Bryan, 52, committed six counts including three counts of felony murder.
Three men chase Arbery, 25, in a truck as he is driving past Neighborhood Satilla Shores in Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23, 2020. The men have not been arrested for more than two months When Bryan’s video was released, it spurred racial justice protests across the country and later became a key piece of evidence in the murder trial.
The jury is almost entirely white considered for almost two days before find the men guilty. They were taken to the Glynn County jail after the verdict and are expected to appeal.
On Friday, Walmsley said he found some of Bryan’s comments to investigators “disturbing” and acknowledged that the murders might not have happened if Bryan hadn’t blocked Arbery’s way with his car. he.
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“He’s been cooperating with law enforcement,” he said. “Mr. Bryan’s position is different.”
Walmsley said that while the sentence may not bring closure to the family, community or country, it will hold defendants accountable for their actions.
Arbery’s parents, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones, cried when the verdict was read.Earlier, on Friday, the family asked all three defendants to receive the harshest punishment as they shared memories of him and his death.
“In your honor, these men chose to lie and attack my son and his surviving family, each with no remorse and without any clemency,” said the statement. Cooper-Jones. “These men deserve the maximum sentence for their crimes.”
Prosecutor says: ‘Warriorism is always wrong’
Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski on Friday said the defendants all deserved the mandatory life sentences for “having no empathy for the trapped and terrified Ahmaud Arbery”.
She asked the court to impose a harsher sentence on Greg and Travis McMichael for “their proven vigilance”. She points to a series of episodes described in the trial, in which a father and son attempt to investigate alleged crimes in their neighborhood.
“Vigilance is always going wrong,” she said. “We have some men here who should have known better.”
Dunikoski added that Bryan contributed to Arbery’s death “in a substantial way” and that “his actions speak for themselves.”
Defense attorneys highlight lack of criminal history, murder intent
Defense attorney Bob Rubin highlighted Travis McMichael’s service with the Coast Guard and argued that he had no intention of killing Arbery. Rubin says the harshest possible sentence should be reserved for “the worst of the worst.”
“This is not a planned murder,” he said.
Greg McMichael’s attorney Laura Hogue made a similar argument Friday, adding that eldest brother McMichael has no criminal history and did not fire his weapon. Hogue argues that the incidents described by Dunikoski are not examples of vigilance but “exactly what a neighborhood monitoring program is about.”
“Greg McMichael is a good man,” she said. The life sentence with pardon “is the only way, Ladies and Gentlemen, to honor the jury’s verdict that Greg McMichael committed a crime he never intended to result in.”
Bryan spent at least 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Representative, those in prison are not pardoned when they first qualify. In Georgia, if someone serving a life sentence is denied pardon, the pardon board reviews that decision at least every eight years.
Attorney Kevin Gough asked the court to allow the board to consider pardoning Bryan “whenever they see fit” under a provision of Georgia law that prosecutors said did not apply. Gough tried to separate Bryan from two other defendants saying he was not a vigilante and did not carry a weapon.
All defendants were given the opportunity to speak before sentencing, a time when judges would normally expect to hear remorse, but did not.
Capable of appeal
The men’s attorneys told reporters they plan to appeal.Walmsley said Friday they must do so within 30 days.
They were able to successfully argue that the judge should not rule out evidence of Arbery’s mental health and previous meetings with law enforcement, and that public attention and protests Circumstances outside the courtroom interfered with the defendant’s right to a fair trial, said Ron Carlson, a professor emeritus at the University of Georgia law school who watched the trial.
However, he noted that only a small percentage of criminal cases are overturned on appeal.
“I don’t think it’s a frivolous appeal,” Carlson said, but “the appellate courts are very reluctant – unless things are already quite clear and strong enough – to overturn the appeal.”
Defendants still face federal hate crime trial, civil lawsuit
After being convicted of state crimes, the three men will face a federal hate crime trial for the murder of Arbery. Three white men; Arbery is black.
All three were charged with interfering with Arbery’s interests and conspiracy to kidnap. McMichaels was also charged with using, carrying and swinging – and in the case of Travis McMichael, shooting – a firearm in and in connection with a violent crime.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal crimes are punishable by the death penalty, life in prison or a shorter prison sentence and a fine. There is no pardon in the federal system.
Attorneys will begin selecting a jury from a broad pool of 43 counties across the Southern District of Georgia for that hearing on Feb. 7. The proceedings will take place in Glynn County.
McMichaels and Bryan are also facing a civil lawsuit filed by Arbery’s mother. The wrongful death lawsuit claims $1 million in damages and also names the former Brunswick Attorney General District Attorney Jackie Johnson, former Glynn County Sheriff, John Powell, Attorney George Barnhill, Waycross County Attorney, and several Glynn County sheriffs.
Contribution: Associated Press
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