Ahmaud Arbery verdict live – Outrage over ‘dirty toenails’ closing argument at McMichael trial as jury deliberates

WHEN DID JURY DELIBERATIONS BEGIN?

The jury entered deliberations on Tuesday.

They continued deliberations on Wednesday morning.

It is unclear how long the jurors will continue to discuss the case.

JUDGE RULES VIDEOS MUST BE WATCHED IN COURTROOM

After the jury requested to rewatch some video evidence, the judge in the Arbery case ruled they had to watch them in the courtroom, not the deliberation room.

JURY REQUESTS VIDEOS

The jury in the Ahmaud Arbery case requested to see a few videos again on Wednesday morning.

“We the jury request to see the following videos three times each: 1. the original video, the short version. 2. the enhanced high contrast version and then we would also like to listen to the 911 call on 2/23 made by Greg McMichael,” reporter Anne Schindler shared on Twitter.

ARBERY’S MOTHER LEFT COURTROOM AFTER ‘TOENAILS’ COMMENT

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, left the courtroom after Hogue’s remark about Ahmaud Arbery’s “toenails.”

“I gotta get out of here,” she said, CNN reported.

‘TOENAILS’ COMMENT SPARKS OUTRAGE

On Monday, Laura Hogue, one of Gregory McMichael’s lawyers, made a comment about Ahmaud Arbery that sparked outrage.

“Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails,” Hogue said to jurors, according to CNN.

WHEN WERE ARBERY’S ALLEGED KILLERS ARRESTED?

Greg and Travis McMichael (father and son) and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, were arrested about two months after Arbery was killed.

Outrage sparked from a viral video of the killing, which Bryan recorded.

WHO IS WILLIAM ‘RODDIE’ BRYAN, CONTINUED

Gough, Bryan’s lawyer, told USA Today that Bryan and his family – his two children and fiancee – have received “harassing and threatening communications” in the wake of Arbery’s death.

The lawyer also said that Bryan had been fired from his job as a mechanic.

Gough added in 2020: “His family members have been harassed. They’re genuinely fearful. Here’s someone who videoed what happened. And for two months, he’s a witness.”

“Overnight, he’s suddenly the target of the investigation. That’s a pretty big change of events.”

He described Bryan as a “quiet man”.

When cops responded to the shooting, Bryan led them to his car to watch his recorded footage, Gough said.

The attorney added that if his client hadn’t filmed it, “the only version of what took place would have been coming from the two people with the guns”.

WHO IS WILLIAM ‘RODDIE’ BRYAN?

William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, is from just outside the port city of Brunswick.

The Georgia man’s cell phone recorded the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed Georgia jogger.

Attorney Kevin Gough, who is representing Bryan, released a public statement in 2020 saying that, “Roddie is a family man, Nascar fan, and enjoys rock and roll”.

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until the cellphone footage of the shooting leaked online, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case.

In June 2020, a grand jury indicted both McMichaels and their neighbor, Bryan, on charges.

WHO IS TRAVIS MCMICHAEL?

Travis McMichael, 35, is Gregory McMichael’s son.

In November 2020, at the Superior Court, Travis’s mother, Lee McMichael, testified that he lived with her and his father.

She also told the court that he has a son – then aged four – and doesn’t have a passport, reported the Associated Press.

His attorneys cited his past service as a US Coast Guard mechanic as proof of his character.

Zachary Langford – a friend of Travis McMichael’s since boyhood – testified that his friend was a jokester who got along with everyone.

WHO IS GREGORY MCMICHAEL, PART THREE

Five years later, in February 2019, months before he retired, Gregory McMichael again lost his certification from the council for failing to complete the required training in 2018, the Guardian reported.

Stripped of his law enforcement duties, he was reassigned to work as a staff liaison in the Camden county district attorney’s office but couldn’t have his badge or carry a firearm.

McMichael retired in June 2019.

Dwayne Pollock, assistant Human Resources director for Glynn County, told Insider that the office “located no record of discipline or complaints” associated with McMichael’s career.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that McMichael had helped with a “previous prosecution of Ahmaud Arbery”.

When he was in high school, Arbery was sentenced to five years probation on a weapons charge, the paper added.

WHO IS GREGORY MCMICHAEL, CONTINUED

In 2014, according to a personnel memo cited by News4Jax, “McMichael had his department-issued firearm taken away, his badge and any other card identifying him as a deputy sheriff or District Attorney’s Office investigator”.

It added: “He was told he couldn’t serve subpoenas or work in the field until the issues were resolved.”

McMichael applied for a training waiver, telling the Georgia POST Council that he had suffered two heart attacks between 2005 and 2009.

His wife had also been diagnosed with cancer and the couple had filed for bankruptcy due to “overwhelming” medical bills, News4Jax reported.

In 2014 his boss spoke to the council on McMichael’s behalf, and his training waiver was granted, which meant he was able to continue on as chief investigator for District Attorney Jackie Johnson’s office.

WHO IS GREGORY MCMICHAEL?

Gregory McMichael, 65, is a white retired law enforcement officer.

Employment records show he failed to complete sufficient basic law enforcement training, the Guardian reported.

This led to him losing his power of arrest in 2006, it adds, for failing to complete the required 20 hours of training the previous year.

McMichael was an investigator in the Brunswick judicial circuit district attorney’s office from 1995 to 2019.

News4Jax adds that: “For eight years, Gregory McMichael was acting as an investigator with no arrest powers due to lack of training.”

The website explains: “The lapse in state-mandated training for community-oriented policing, de-escalation, and use-of-force meant, between 2006 and 2014, McMichael didn’t have the authority or right to apply for arrest warrants, search warrants or conduct arrests under the color of the law.”

WHO ARE THE AHMAUD ARBERY SUSPECTS?

Arbery’s case, along with the recent high-profile killings of George Floyd and other Black men and women, have helped fuel months of nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the US.

Court began on November 5, 2021, for the hearing of Gregory McMichael, 65, his son Travis McMichael, 35, and William “Roddie” Bryan, 52.

WHO WAS AHMAUD ARBERY?

Ahmaud Arbery was a black man who was gunned down by two white men while jogging near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

He was 25 and a former high school football star who graduated in 2012.

He lived in coastal Glynn County with his mother.

Friends and family say he was an avid runner.

Rafael Baker Jr., with whom Mr Arbery played football, remembered him as “vocal, funny and a goofy guy”.

WHAT HAPPENED TO AHMAUD ARBERY, PART TWO

Travis got out of his truck and confronted Arbery, later telling police he shot him in self-defense after Arbery refused his order to get on the ground, according to authorities.

It is believed the first shot was to Arbery’s chest, the second was to his hand, and the third was to his chest again before he collapsed.

Arbery “was chased, hunted down and ultimately executed,” according to special prosecutor Jesse Evans.

WHAT HAPPENED TO AHMAUD ARBERY?

The fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery took place on February 23, 2020, outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick.

Investigators allege that Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan used their trucks to chase down 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, who repeatedly reversed directions and ran into a ditch while trying to escape.

AHMAUD ARBERY’S FATHER HOPED FOR A FAIR TRIAL

“This is 2021, and it’s time for a change,” Marcus Arbery Sr. previously said to The Associated Press.

“We need to be treated equally and get fair justice as human beings, because we’ve been treated wrong so long.”

Marcus Arbery Sr. said Black victims of crime have often been denied justice.

HOW LONG WILL THE TRIAL TAKE?

After the jury is selected, the trial could take more than two weeks, according to Glynn County Superior Court Clerk Ronald Adams.

WAS ARBERY ARMED WHEN HE WAS KILLED?

Investigators testified that Arbery was not armed during the incident, and that there was no evidence he committed a crime in the Satilla Shores subdivision.

WHO SHOT ARBERY?

Travis McMichael shot Arbery three times with a shotgun at close range.

Him and his father argue that he shot Arbery in self-defense, after allegedly suspecting he was a burglar and chasing him down.

WHEN WERE ARBERY’S KILLERS ARRESTED?

Arbery’s killers, Greg and Travis McMichael (father and son, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, were arrested two months are Arbery was killed.

Outrage sparked from a viral video of the killing, which Bryan recorded.

BLACK LIVES MATTER DEMONSTRATIONS

Over the summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement broke out, as the death of George Floyd also went viral. Ahmaud Arbery’s case sparked outrage as well.

Hundreds of protestors are expected to gather outside of the the court building today.

AHMAUD ARBERY’S FATHER HOPES FOR A FAIR TRIAL

“This is 2021, and it’s time for a change,” Marcus Arbery Sr. said to The Associated Press. “We need to be treated equally and get fair justice as human beings, because we’ve been treated wrong so long.”

Marcus Arbery Sr. said Black victims of crime have often been denied justice.

WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO VET JURORS?

Video of the shooting went viral, dominating social media platforms and sparking protests around the country.

With the amount of coverage and public interest the case has drawn, gathering an impartial jury is more difficult than it would be in a lower-profile case.

HOW LONG COULD JURY SELECTION TAKE?

Jury selection could take two weeks or longer.

1,000 people in Georgia were sent jury-duty notices by Glynn County court officials. Vetting jurors will be particularly slow in this case.