11:20 AM: During the testimony, Ahmaud Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones rocked herself quietly with her hands clasped in front of her. Around the time they showed his shoes, after Donoghue said nothing could’ve been done after that one shot, she excused herself.
A juror was leaning all the way forward with her head resting on her chin as Dr. Donoghue testified. He had the whole jury’s full attention. Some nodded at his explanations.
Court broke for a brief recess. During the break, Laura Hogue walked up to give a hug to Leigh McMichael, who appeared to be wiping tears. Hogue told her, “It’s hard for Greg, too.”
11:10 AM:
10:45 AM: There is a photo of the gunshot on Ahmaud Arbery’s left shoulder. This shot alone could’ve caused his death, because it involved the axillary artery and vein. Donoghue doesn’t think anything could’ve been done to save him just from that one shot.
Donoghue’s opinion is that the shot to the center of Arbery’s chest and the grazing gunshot to the wrist were at the same time--his hand was in front of his chest when the bullet entered the body. The 2nd shot was a complete miss. The 3rd shot involved left chest.
The doctor said the wrist shot could’ve also killed him because it involved the ulnar artery and nerve--copious bleeding. Under normal circumstances, though, you could put a tourniquet on it to stop the arterial spurt.
Seeing the video of the shooting, Donoghue believes the gun was between three and 20 inches from Arbery’s torso when he was shot.
We see photos of pellets, then a full-body X-ray of Ahmaud Arbery. Dr. Donoghue points out shotgun pellets in his body, and fractures of the humerus and scapula--what kids call the angel wings. The pen’s pointing to the humerus fracture--compare to the other side.
10:00 Jurors today are hearing from Dr. Edmund Donoghue, a medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He did Ahmaud Arbery’s autopsy on Feb. 24, 2020.
We see the first photo of Ahmaud Arbery. His eyes are slightly open, as is his mouth. Then two more photos of Arbery’s full body, clothing on. Then closer shots of his torso and lower body. Dr. Donoghue then shows a close-up photo of Arbery’s gunshot wounds once his torso was cleaned off. We then see extreme close-ups of the gunshot wounds and abrasion wounds.
Donoghue shows pellet exit wounds from the center of Arbery’s chest. He points out pellets under the skin. Then a photo of Arbery’s face shows a number of abrasions on the right side of his face--typical of an unguarded fall.
9:45 AM: Kevin Gough began the day alerting the Court of a new motion asking to prohibit any actions that “intimidate” jurors. On Monday, Gough had asked the judge to make Rev. Jesse Jackson either watch the courtroom proceedings from another room, or give the defense a mistrial. They contend that his presence with Ahmaud Arbery’s family could influence the jury.
Then, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski asked the judge to exclude 68 police reports she says the defense handed her this morning, as she prepped to call the medical examiner. Dunikoski says they were certified last Thursday, yet only given to her today. They’re neighborhood patrols by officers and random personal issues (roommate disputes, etc.). She says the defense made a discovery violation by withholding these until now.
Dunikoski said plus, it’s irrelevant. “Unless someone in this case knew all about this and had seen these police reports...” State wants it excluded and says it has nothing to do with the death of Ahmaud Arbery. “State’s been blindsided.”
Travis McMichael attorney Jason Sheffield says the State gave them all the info; all they’ve done is go get the Computer-Aided Dispatch reports to go with them. They intend to demonstrate there were lots of concerned neighbors, extra officer patrols, etc.
Sheffield says they’ll have testimony that neighbors were talking online about crime and extra patrols and that it was discussed with Travis McMichael. “It supports our defense that this neighborhood was on edge and under attack.”