Ahmaud Arbery case: McMichaels’ lawyers don’t want Arbery to be called a “victim” in court

Ahmaud Arbery case: McMichaels’ lawyers don’t want Arbery to be called a “victim” in court

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“Due process requires a minimal injection of error or prejudice into these procedures. The use of terms such as ‘victim’ allows the focus to shift to the accused instead of remaining on the evidence of each element of the accused crimes, ”wrote the lawyers in a motion filed on December 30.
Another motion asks the court to limit Arbery’s photos to just one at trial, and to have him appear alone. It also asks an unrelated witness to identify Arbery in the photograph, rather than a relative, “to avoid creating a cumulative harmful error in the judgment of this case”.
Ahmaud Arbery was hit by a truck before he died, and his killer allegedly used racial slander, the investigator testified

Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was racing near Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23, 2020 when the McMichaels chased him in his truck and Travis shot him after the two fought, officials said. Gregory McMichael was heard saying on police corps cameras after the shooting that he had a feeling that Arbery may have been responsible for previous thefts in the neighborhood, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation official testified at a preliminary hearing in June.

Both men pleaded not guilty to charges of malice and crime, and to charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., who recorded the video of Arbery’s death, allegedly hit Arbery with his truck after he joined the McMichaels in the chase. Bryan pleaded not guilty to charges of a criminal attempt to commit private imprisonment and murder.

Suspected murder of Ahmaud Arbery called the crime scene prosecutor for advice, the prosecutor said

All three men, who are white, are being held without bail.

McMichaels’ lawyers also filed a motion asking the court to ban viewers in the trial from wearing masks or T-shirts with “Black Lives Matter”, “I can’t breathe” or similar slogans marked on them, as some did, they say, during previous procedures in the case.

“It is the right of these partisans to wear whatever clothes they want, to hold any signs they want and to chant any slogans they want out of court. That is the beauty of our First Amendment. But once inside the court, the sanctity of defendants’ right to a fair and impartial trial goes beyond the First Amendment, “states the motion.

Other motions filed by lawyers on December 30 and 31 ask the court to order the prosecution to hand over all records relating to “Arbery’s disciplinary, criminal and mental health records” and the contents of her phone records and social media accounts, and exclude from evidence all recorded calls made by the McMichaels while they were detained at the Glynn County Detention Center.

CNN’s Alta Spells contributed to this report.

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