6:30 pm: A potential juror, a young man, was the only person who raised his card to say he would like to be seated on this jury. One white man in his 30s, doesn’t “want to be here” or want people’s “lives in my hands.” A white woman in her 60s has a negative view of defendant Travis McMichael: “A man died, so yeah I have a pretty negative feeling about that.”
A second jury panelist interviewed individually said he had seen so much about Arbery’s slaying in the news, on social media that “I’m sick of it.”
“It’s everywhere,” the man said. “It’s around my job. Everywhere I look it’s there.”
This juror has shared the cellphone video of Arbery’s shooting on social media, and discussed the case with his brothers--one of whom is also among the 1,000 people mailed a jury summons in the case.
“Yes, I’ve said that they were guilty,” the panelist said of the three defendants. Still, he said he doesn’t have fixed opinions about the case.
“I really don’t care what happens,” he said.
Juror #4 is a woman who’s a retired accountant.
“I think Mr. Arbery was probably in terror. I’m trying to be honest here,” she said under questioning by defense lawyers.
Asked about her negative feelings about Travis McMichael, she said: “He shot a man who had been running through his neighborhood who didn’t appear to have done anything wrong. What would I call that? I guess I would call it murder.”
She added: “I tried to avoid making an opinion about whether he’s guilty or innocent.”
She also expressed misgivings about sitting on the jury, saying she fears there could be repercussions.
“I’m not excited about this whole thing. How would I feel if I was asked to render a verdict that was unpopular?” the panelist said. “Any verdict, guilty or innocent, is going to be unpopular with some people.”
She added: “Maybe I’d even feel unsafe. I don’t know.”
Juror No. 5, a young woman who’s a teacher, told the judge and attorneys “there is still racism in the world today” and that she believed racism was a factor in Arbery’s slaying.
Some of her harshest words under questioning from defense attorneys were directed toward William “Roddie” Bryan, the McMichaels’ neighbor who joined them in chasing Arbery and took the widely seen cellphone video of the shooting.
“His videotaping the scene was disgusting and vicious,” the jury panelist said. “However at the same time I’m thankful that he did, because we are able to see what happened. But still very sad.”
4:10 pm: Individual voir dire has been underway for the first jury panel. We cannot hear or see what’s in there. This is the first case I’ve covered which has restricted jury selection this way, to only one reporter each for print and for broadcast, and no audio access. We have to depend on notes that those two reporters might send out.
So far, they tell us that one person was dismissed from the jury pool for having been certified law enforcement--not sure if past or present. It appears that same person said of Gregory McMichael, “I got the impression that he was stalking.”
When the pool was asked whether they had negative opinions of Travis and Greg McMichael, 12 people said they viewed the son, Travis, negatively, while 14 had a negative view of his father. Asked why, one of those jurors said, “From what I observed, he [Gregory McMichael] appeared to be the lead dog.” Remember, the senior McMichael had worked as policeman and an investigator in the Glynn County District Attorney’s office; he was retired when Ahmaud Arbery was shot.
The man said he has not made up his mind about Greg McMichael’s innocence or guilt.
2:30 pm: A media feed was finally set up from the jury assembly room in the Ahmaud Arbery shooting case. Judge Timothy Walmsley swore them in told them they’ll be referred to by number instead of name, for privacy. He explains that COVID has changed the jury selection process so they’re spacing everything out. He says we’re getting used to a new way of doing things, asks for their patience, and thanks them for being here.
Judge Walmsley then asked the statutory questions, including: Are you related by blood or marriage to any of the defendants? Have you formed or expressed any opinion in regard to the guilt or innocence of the accused? By my count, at least 10 people raised their cards to that question. Do you have in your mind any prejudice or bias for or against the accused? Are your minds perfectly impartial between the state and the accused?
The defendants and their lawyers are looking on and listening in as the State does its first section of voir dire. This is really the first time would-be jurors are getting to interact with the lead prosecutor here, Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Linda Dunikoski. In this round, there are general items like asking if they know anyone involved in the case--lawyers, defendants, victim, or their families. Does anyone in your family or a close friend work in law enforcement? Have you ever worked in the field of social work?
We lost audio for a big chunk of this! Audio is back now--came back while defense attorney Jason Sheffield was doing his initial voir dire. Now, they’re in a brief recess.
12:00pm: Court is in recess until 1:00, when participants will reconvene in the jury assembly room. The first part of today’s courtroom action involved lawyers talking about what the voir dire questions--the questions posed to would-be jurors--should or should not be.
Jurors are likely to make it through three different locations today--due to COVID-19, and due to the high-profile nature of this case that led to 1,000 potential jurors being summonsed! The first 600 are expected to be worked through this week. They go to a big gymnasium to start. Next, groups of 20 will be asked several of the questions lawyers and the judge worked through this morning, where they will raise their hands to indicate their answers. Past that, jurors can be questioned individually, helping the lawyers work through which jurors will make it into the final jury pool.
I’ve seen that there are non-Georgians who’ve come to Georgia for the first part of this trial--North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. They say they wanted to be here to show the Arbery family their support. It’s a sunny day and there are spaced rows of white chairs on the lawn outside the Glynn County courthouse.
There are some other motions, however, that haven’t been addressed. For example, should jurors know that Ahmaud Arbery had THC in his bloodstream? Should the State be barred from showing video or photos that show the old Georgia state flag vanity plate on Travis McMichael’s truck which includes the Confederate battle emblem?
10:55am: On to the motions regarding jury questioning. Greg McMichael’s attorney Frank Hogue’s 1st objection is to the State’s introduction in which they tell jurors that “This is not a death penalty case.” He says it raises a specter unnecessarily.
Roddie Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough says he’ll move for a mistrial if the State asks potential jurors if they have heard of the lawyers in the Ahmaud Arbery case and questions them about what they have heard of the lawyers’ reputations.
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski says jury pools often assume murder trials equal the death penalty, so they say they can’t be fair/impartial. “Jurors are nervous...being questioned by all of us. To have something like that weigh on their mind--it’s just easier to take it off the table.”
10:20am: Court has just been called into session for the murder trial of three men accused in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley is on the bench. He acknowledges that all of the defendants are in place, and says they will address any outstanding motions re: jury selection, then start picking a jury at 1:00 today.
An attorney for the media discusses the motion to ensure media access to jury selection. Travis McMichael’s lawyer Jason Sheffield says he has no problem ensuring access as long as jurors’ faces and names are kept private.
Greg McMichael’s attorney Laura Hogue goes over the guidelines they have received from media about access to jury selection. Judge Walmsley says he has no problem granting a pool reporter access to jury selection, but the problem is that space is limited.