Potential jurors come with strong opinions in racially-charged Ahmaud Arbery killing

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Judge Timothy Walmsley presides over the jury selection process in the trial of the men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery at the Glynn County Superior Court, on October 27, 2021 in Brunswick, Ga.

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What you need to know about the start of the trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

The video will be key to the prosecution’s case, and nearly all the people summoned for jury duty say they’ve seen the recording, some repeatedly. Many admit to having formed an opinion based on the graphic images.

«He’s guilty, I saw the video,» said a white man in his 20s.

«Some things you just can’t unsee,» said another man.

A Black man likened what happened to Arbery to deer hunting – «when you chase and corner someone, he felt like he had no choice but to escape by any means.»

«He wasn’t given a fair chance,» said a Black woman. «It was almost like a lynching to me.» She was struck from the jury pool.

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Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski gestures as she speaks during jury selection at Glynn County Superior Court. The court called up to 1,000 prospective jurors to ultimately choose a panel of 16 to hear the case.

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Prosecutors and defense attorneys have questioned potential jurors on a range of topics – including their views on race, whether they own guns, and if they think Black and white people are treated differently by police.

«The whole case is about racism,» said a middle-aged Black woman. «They hunted him down and killed him like an animal.»

Numerous prospective jurors said they thought Arbery was targeted because of his race – that if a white man were jogging through the neighborhood, he would not have met the same fate.

Even as race has permeated the jury selection process, prosecutors do not have to show racial motivation to prove the state charges. That will feature more prominently in a separate federal hate crimes trial next year.

Defense attorneys will be arguing that the McMichaels suspected Arbery of neighborhood break-ins after seeing him on a new home construction site, and that the killing was a legal attempt at a citizen’s arrest gone tragically awry. Local authorities say there is no evidence linking Arbery to crimes in the Satilla Shores subdivision.

The defense line of questioning for potential jurors has centered on whether they could give meaningful consideration to an argument of self-defense, and Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law at the time. (It was repealed by the state legislature in the wake of Arbery’s killing.)

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Defense attorneys Franklin Hogue (R) and Robert Rubin talk during jury selection in the trial of the men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery. Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William «Roddie» Bryan are charged with the February 2020 slaying of the 25-year-old jogger.

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After eleven days of questioning, a total of 65 have been qualified to serve in the jury pool. On Wednesday prosecutors and defense attorneys will use court-allotted preemptory strikes to pick a jury of 12 with four alternates. Opening statements will start after the jury is seated.

Once testimony begins, the trial is expected to last several weeks. Prosecutors told jurors they should be prepared to serve until November 19th.

• Travis McMichael
• Gregory McMichael
• William «Roddie» Bryan
• Brunswick, Ga
• Ahmaud Arbery