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

OUTRAGE erupted in the trial of three white men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery on Monday when the defense referred to the 25-year-old as having "long, dirty toenails."

Arbery's mother walked out of the court as Laura Hogue, one of Gregory McMichael's lawyers, made the comment during her closing argument.

"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 told jurors.

The killing of Arbery on February 23, 2020, sparked outrage across the country when a video of the death went viral months later.

Former police officer, Gregory, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35; and William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, are charged with murder.

All have pleaded not guilty and face life in prison if convicted.

The jury entered its second day of deliberations on Wednesday.

Read our Ahmaud Arbery live blog below for the latest updates…

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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."

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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".

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jennifer Korn

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    WAS AHMAUD'S DEATH FILMED?

    The shooting incident was filmed.

    The footage appears to show Mr Arbery, who was wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, run past a truck.

    Two white men carrying guns are seen and shouting is heard.

    There is then a scuffle between one of the men and Mr Arbery while shots are fired before Arbery staggers and collapses.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    WHAT WAS AHMAUD'S FAMILY SAID ABOUT HIM?

    Mr Arbery's dad Marcus Arbery Sr said of his son, Ahmaud: "He ran all the time."

    "Everybody knows he ran all the time."

    He added: "All he did was work out… he had dreams."

    "All his dreams, gone."

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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".

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    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.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    WHO IS ON TRIAL IN THE AHMAUD ARBERY CASE?

    Former police officer, Gregory McMichael, 65, his son Travis McMichael, 35, and William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, are charged with murder and other crimes in the case.

    They have all pleaded not guilty.

    They face life in prison if convicted.

  • Jocelyn Cook

    ARBERY TRIAL TO BEGIN TODAY

    Community leaders in Brunswick, Georgia, are preaching unity ahead of the trial of three white men accused of the racially motivated murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

    Jury selection is scheduled to begin today for a trial expected to draw hundreds of protesters outside the court building. 

    Source: Read Full Article

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