7:00 pm: At the close of the day, seven more jurors are now qualified for the pool for a total of 15 out of the needed 64. They are Jurors 140, 143, 158, 161, 167, 168, and 170. Twelve others were struck for cause.

We learned earlier today that Juror #162, the one absent this morning, had been feeling ill and gone to take a COVID-19 test. It was negative. Juror #162 will come for voir dire next week.

6:45 pm: Thumbnails here about the three remaining jurors from this panel who qualified for the jury pool.

No. 167 appears to be a white woman, 40s-50s, who has experience with the criminal justice system and law enforcement. She has negative opinions of Travis McMichael and Roddie Bryan. Estimates her knowledge of the case at a four on a scale of 1-10. Says she thinks “some rights were violated” in the Arbery incident.

She tells a defense attorney, “I feel that based on what I seen, I think they may have taken their actions further than they needed to be.” Yet she says she can remain open to a self-defense defense.

Also opines that DA Jackie Johnson should have recused herself before she did. No. 167 supports Black Lives Matter, citing issues with unequal policing. She replies that race “possibly” plays a part in this case: “I think if it was a white man running, I don’t think anybody would have thought twice about it. I don’t think that they would have gone after someone if they were not black.” She says that in court, “the facts would speak for themselves; I’ve been known to change my mind on something, even if you talk to my husband.” About Bryan, she says, “I guess I don’t understand why he was there.”

Juror #168 appears to be a white female in her 50s. Her jury questionnaire answer when asked about the case said, “Have not followed enough to form any opinion.” Has had only vague, general conversations about the incident when it was on the news; no one seemingly expressed any opinion she noted.

Did the video leave any impressions? “Not overly, not that overly impressed me. It was a horrible situation, as everyone knows, but nothing is ever as it seems to be.” She adds, “I don’t think the video is the whole story. I think the video is part of the story. I think there is a lot to the story and that’s what [this case] is to find out.”

Given the sparse responses you gave, we don’t know a lot about you, says a lawyer. Is there anything else you think we should know about you that could affect your ability to be an impartial juror. No. 168 says, “I don’t think so. I think that everybody is entitled to a fair trial. I think everybody is entitled to have their stories heard and be judged accordingly.”

Juror #170 appears to be a white male; he has negative opinions of the McMichaels and Bryan from what he’s “heard.” Is Facebook friends with Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough--”I see his posts pop up”--but says he doesn’t know him personally.

No. 170 read a New York Times article early on about the Arbery shooting: “How it was portrayed, it seemed not like a good situation.” He says he doesn’t have a strong opinion but from what he’s read and heard, “It seems pretty cut and dried. That’s what we’re here for, but still,” says #170.

The juror says he didn’t seek out conversations about this but when it came up, “I said something to the effect of ‘It doesn’t matter if Mr. Arbery was guilty of stealing or not that makes no – he doesn’t deserve to be shot.”

Juror #170 noted in his questionnaire that he had been somewhere where the video was shown, but he didn’t want to watch it. He heard it, though.

“There was three distinct shots: shot, pause. Shot, pause. Shot. And it just seemed--I don’t know, I’m being totally honest, my thought was the space between it [the shots] seemed like it was more calculated than just an action that went bing bing bing.”

The man says his understanding is that Ahmaud Arbery was running through the neighborhood and looked like someone who may have perpetrated crimes in the neighborhood; that he was cornered, ran away, cornered again, then shot. Says if someone’s “just running through or caught after you’re doing something wrong...I just can’t see how it would justify shooing somebody.”

“The only time I’ve heard of citizens arrest is in the Andy Griffith show.” Thinks he could give fair consideration to self defense.

“I would listen to both sides and try to be as impartial as possible,” says #170. “I am a strong believer in the court system and everyone deserves their day in court. It’s the foundation of our country; it’s the rule of law.”

Explains under further questioning that he didn’t want to see somebody killed, which was why he didn’t go looking for it. When someone played the video with him in the room he said he felt he “didn’t need to see it.” No. 170 explains, “At that point it was not quite lurid -- it was, Hey, look at this. I just didn’t want to buy into something like that … It takes the spectator voyeuristic view out of it, sense out of it.”

4:22 pm: Juror #161 appears to be a white man, 40s or 50s. Knows ex-DA Jackie Johnson personally, knows Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan, son played football with #AhmaudArbery and he knows an officer in the case and Chief Rod Ellis. Greg McMichael did some home remodeling for his family; Bryan was a fellow contractor at a job for about six months. He considers his case knowledge 9/10.

Juror 161 searched for the video after hearing about it on the news. “Travis shot Maud and he was with Greg McMichael...it started as a citizen’s arrest” (he concluded b/c Greg is ex-police) and “ended in a murder.”

He says his opinion, which is based now on the video, could change based on evidence presented in the courtroom.

Travis McMichael attorney Bob Rubin asks more about his interactions with Arbery through his son’s sports team, how often he watched the video, and if he meant to imply the defendant’s guilt by using the term murder on his questionnaire. Kevin Gough asks similarly if he understands the difference between the legal term murder and homicide. No. 161 says no. When Gough asks if he has formed an opinion as to whether this was a homicide or murder, the juror responds that he should have said “killed” on the questionnaire. He has not formed an opinion on Bryan’s guilt.

Juror #164 appears to be a Black woman in her 50s. She knows Marcus Arbery, Sr. and his sister from school. Knows another juror. Has one close relative in law enforcement and another who is a convicted felon.

She tells prosecutors she’s not sure she can base her decision solely on evidence presented in the courtroom. She agrees that people should be innocent until proven guilty, but she also believes in what she’s seen (on video) which “seems to be guilty to me.”

Prosecutors ask her why she indicated she has negative feelings about the defendants.

“I just feel like what was done was wrong. He wasn’t given a fair chance,” 161 said. “I just feel like they railroaded him. It was almost like a lynching to me.”

She said it would be hard to put aside her feelings in the case. When asked if her opinion could change if the evidence showed they were not guilty, she said she would still feel they were guilty.

The judge gets a note while the state is questioning Juror 164 and asks to talk to the lawyers.

Judge Walmsley said it has come to his attention a juror questioned Tuesday was identified by a coworker and friend through information released by the pool. We are no longer allowed to release information about potential jurors’ places of employment, age, children, or residence. If this is not adhered to, he will consider limiting access even more than it is already.

2:55 pm: We’re on a 10-minute break following the questioning of Juror #160. She appears to be a white woman in her 50s or 60s, is a married mom, works in the cosmetology field and worries about missing work.

She is nervous and gets emotional. The judge tries to reassure her, saying this can be “a bit of an overwhelming process.”

“When people’s lives are at stake and somebody got killed it’s really hard,” she later tells defense attorneys.

At the beginning of the state’s questioning, she says she does not have an opinion about the defendant’s guilt or innocence. She acknowledges she has watched the video three or four times and it looked like “things were very wrong in the incident.”

“I’m leaning more towards guilty, but I’m still undetermined,” she said. ADA Dunikoski notes on the questionnaire the juror wrote the defendants “are definitely guilty.” She says she may be open to changing her mind.

Hogue asks about her “definitely guilty” response. He tells her she will likely see the video during the trial and asks how that will affect her. She says it could.

She says her family feels the defendants were guilty, “but we don’t know all the facts.” He asks if she can be completely fair and impartial. She replies that she can’t say “100%.”

2:45 pm: Juror #158 appears to be a white man in his 70s or 80s. He tells prosecutors he knows Rod Ellis and is familiar with Kevin Gough, but doesn’t know him personally. In previous years, Gough was elected twice as chair of the Republican Party of Glynn County, and this juror says he’s been a Republican for 50 years. He retired after 50 years in law enforcement, during which time he witnessed a shooting death and served as a witness in a trial.

He tells prosecutors he has watched the video and recalls watching the GBI talk about the case on television, but honestly believes he could make a decision based solely on the evidence. He later tells defense attorneys he has experienced cases in his job where someone might think they know what happened based on a video or portion of a video, but not actually have all the facts.

“There’s a whole lot about this case I don’t know,” he said. Greg McMichael lawyer Frank Hogue later notes he indicated on his questionnaire his knowledge of the case is 7/10. When Hogue asked about the opinions discussed with friends, family and coworkers, No. 158 replied, “It was all you could see or hear or read. A lot of conversation that I had with coworkers was, ‘What do you think the truth is?’”

He told Hogue he has never encountered a citizen’s arrest case during his time as a law enforcement officer and would be able to fairly consider a self-defense or citizen’s arrest case.

Hogue tried to ask why he thinks this case has gotten so much media attention, but the state objects and the judge sends the juror out of the room. Hogue tells the judge he wants to ask the question because he believes the juror will say its due to the racial aspects of the case. Judge sustains the State objection.

No. 158 thinks poorly of the media: “Quite frankly, I don’t believe anything the media produces at all.” About the defendants’ probable cause hearing, he says, “There was a whole lot more going on than was being presented by the media or that I knew.”

When Hogue asks #158 if he has an opinion about whether or not race factors into this case, he says no.

2:26 pm: Juror #152, who said earlier that he is a scientist, has done a lot of reading and research on this incident and thinks it would be difficult to change his mind. He adds, “I fear that in the climate in this country that there’s only one verdict in this case that [will be acceptable]...that’s my concern--that the jury is in tough spot once they’re convened.”

No. 152 is also concerned about ineptitude in the DA’s office. He mentions the Caroline Smalls killing; she was a 35-year-old unarmed woman shot in her car by two Glynn County Police officers. He also brings up the Cory Sasser case; Sasser was a Glynn County Police lieutenant who fatally shot his estranged wife and her boyfriend in 2018 before killing himself. Juror 152 mentions the high-profile hot car death case of Ross Harris, whose Cobb County trial was moved to Glynn County, and says he has “grave concerns” about the way the judge “handled her rulings” in that case.

He said in his questionnaire that government can’t be trusted.

He doesn’t have an opinion either way about Gregory McMichael and “the guy that took the video,” Roddie Bryan.

Still, he says of Travis, “He shot Arbery and I didn’t think that it was warranted.

“I do not feel like I could be fair and impartial.”

2:15 pm:

2:05 pm: Two more jurors over 70 years old are excused after confirming they don’t want to be on the jury. Georgia law allows people 70 and older to be excluded from jury duty.

Juror #150 appears to be a mid-60s white man. He is ex-military. He knows Circuit DA Keith Higgins, who has been his lawyer. (Higgins was his lawyer at one point). He’s got an opinion about the case, is not perfectly impartial, and has a negative impression of all three defendants. No. 150 believes people of color are not treated fairly in criminal justice system.

What troubled him about the case: “The one month time kinda bothered me… Why these people weren’t arrested immediately.” His opinion? “It was a horrible event. I’ve seen the video, I’m very familiar with it,” he tells prosecutors. “I can’t be an impartial juror, no way.”

Sounds like they will strike him, but judge says he wants to do it all at the end rather than “ad hoc as we go.”

1:46 pm: Juror #146 is excused. The mom of three says she has no possibility of child care, is not perfectly impartial, knows Ahmaud Arbery, has friends in Satilla Shores, knows Chief Ellis of the Glynn County Police in the school system, and knows Officer Ricky Minshew (the first officer on the shooting scene). She supports Black Lives Matter. Her stepfather goes fishing with the McMichaels. She went to school with Ahmaud Arbery. How well did she know him? “Not too well,” she said. She is struck for cause.

1:34 pm: People are settling back into place in the courtroom.

12:36 pm: Here are some details of the pre-lunch jury questioning.

Juror #140 is a Black male in his 30s; a married father. Says on his questionnaire, “#AhmaudArbery was out jogging, was stopped and was confronted by these men with guns and they got in a fight and he was shot.” He doesn’t have a preformed opinion about the case and that yes, he is “open to give fair and meaningful consideration to possible defenses.”

He has no opinion on how law enforcement treats people with color. “I can’t really comment on the police job because they do have a difficult job...I am used to seeing police walking around on the street 24/7, but they just normal people at the end of the day.”

Roddie Bryan attorney Kevin Gough asks #140 about Facebook friendships with people including mayoral candidate Travis Riddle, and County Commissioner Allen Booker. “I just accept friends,” #140 explains. Gough suggests he is friends with many local activists; 140 says he doesn’t know them personally. Ever seen a rap video made on the steps of the Glynn County courthouse? Gough wants to know. Prosecutor objects. Gough: “If he is friends with someone on Facebook …”

No. 140 says he is not concerned about retaliation in issuing a verdict.

Juror #143 is a Black male in his 40s. He’s former military and a former policeman. Saw #AhmaudArbery video once. “It was everywhere. It was everywhere.” He once witnessed a theft–a guy took something and ran past, knocking people down. No. 143 didn’t chase: “If I caught him--and then what?”

Juror #143 was asked to name his guns. “All of them? I got a few,” he laughs. Reminds them he’s ex-military. Asked if he supports BLM, he says he attended a Juneteenth celebration: “If that is supporting it, yes.”

He carries his handgun when he leaves home.

Court resumes at 1:30.

12:22 pm: Lunch time.

11:50 am: Juror 140, appears to be a Black man in his 30s or 40s. He has worked as a housekeeper and a costume designer, has an aunt in law enforcement, and previously witnessed a fatal shooting at a club and had to testify about it. He is a gun owner and knows some of the others in the jury pool.

No. 140 has seen the video of Arbery’s death three times.

“Do you personally have any opinion about the guilt or innocence of the defendants based on what you’ve seen in the media?” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski asks.

“No,” he responds.

He tells Franklin Hogue he is able to set aside what he saw on the news. Hogue asks him why he indicated in group questioning that he believes mental health professionals can find mental illness in just about anybody. At first, he indicates that psychiatrists can find something wrong with you even if nothing is wrong with you then concedes that most people have some kind of mental illness.

“My personal opinion is there is something wrong with everybody,” he said.

He tells Hogue he does not have an opinion on whether police treat white people and POC equally, it varies by area. “I can’t really comment on the police job because I know they do have a difficult job,” he said.

Gough asks him about some of his Facebook friends including County Commissioner Allen Booker, Theawanza Brooks (Arbery’s aunt), a mayoral candidate (did not catch their name), an unnamed local celebrity, and John Perry, president of local NAACP. He said he doesn’t know them.

Juror 140 rejoins the panel.

11:30 am: Juror 138 is struck for cause. He appears to be a Black man in his 40s; has worked as a longtime supervisor on a production line. He owns no firearms and has had good experiences with the Glynn County Police Department dealing with property damage by neighborhood teens.

No. 138 has seen the Ahmaud Arbery shooting video six times, and calls the incident “very strange.”

“I seen him jogging and [he] started tussling with those guys over there; it was a head scratcher,” said 138. “I seen the gun get pulled out of his hand and I just wondered why. Looked like he was out for a jog. Looked like he was minding his own business, looks like he got interrupted from what I’ve seen.”

Does the video tell the whole story?, asked Greg McMichael’s lawyer Frank Hogue. No. 138 says yes. On his questionnaire, he wrote, “Guilty, they killed him.”

You pull the trigger--you intended to do it if you pulling the trigger,” said the juror. Says no, he could not fairly consider a self-defense argument. He says he understands he’s also here for Roddie Brian, then says, “All three of ‘em. They did it as a team. They did it as a team. They all know what happened.” F

On the way out, No. 138 gave the thumbs up To Marcus Arbery, Sr. Arbery nodded in response. A reporter and defense attorney Sheffield noticed, and Sheffield told the judge that’s reason to strike for cause. The judge says he didn’t witness the exchange, but agreed to strike him for cause because he had told lawyers that his opinion was fixed.

Roddie Bryan attorney Kevin Gough: “I like this juror. Any other case, I would want him.”

Juror #139 appears to be a white man in his 40s. He’s a security guard “armed and unarmed,” but does not have arrest powers and is not POST certified. He is his father’s primary caregiver and it’s highly unlikely someone will be able to take care of him if he is selected for jury duty. He is struck for cause.

10:31 am: Another quick break. Judge Walmsley tells jurors they’ll see some of them soon inside the courtroom for individual questioning.

10:00 am: Travis McMichael attorney Jason Sheffield stepped up to begin the defense’s voir dire questions. He commended the jurors for raising their hands to statements that apply to them, even when the question has passed--as one man did a couple minutes prior in order to add his number to the list regarding the question about deciding the case only on evidence presented in court. Sheffield told them that everyone’s committed to their privacy and that when they are in the courtroom for individual questioning, we won’t even hear their voices.

“We are not afraid of the answers that you have. We are not afraid of the opinions that you have. We just want to hear them,” says Sheffield.

One man, Juror 152, piped up to note, “The press reports have been pretty detailed,” saying he had seen something that identified a juror’s answers about his college and field of work. “You said we were anonymous.” Judge Walmsley says he’s been made aware of what information is released and he’s addressed it with the press, and believes there’s an understanding about what is and isn’t released at this point which is consistent with what they were just told: They will remain anonymous and the Court wants to make sure they’re comfortable volunteering. Sheffield adds that “The State, the defense, and all of the ladies and gentlemen in this courthouse are 100% committed and dedicated to your safety. They are doing an excellent job.”

The defense asked the jury pool who has negative opinions about Travis McMichael. Jurors 148, 152, 156, 164, 167, 170, 172, and 176 raised their numbers. Those with negative opinion about Gregory McMichael: 148, 150, 156, 164, 167, 170, 172, and 176. Those with negative opinions of William “Roddie” Bryan: 148, 150, 156, 164, 167, 170, 172, and 176.

At 10:07, a juror asked for a quick bathroom break. The judge is allowing it. He tells them not to talk about this case amongst themselves or with anyone, not to look up information about it, and to alert the Court if anyone approaches them to talk about the case.

9:15 am: Judge Timothy Walmsley took the bench just before 9:15. He alerted the attorneys that Juror #162 is likely being deferred due to medical issues. He says he appreciated everyone being here on a timely basis. “I understand that when most of you got up this morning...most folks aren’t really looking forward to coming down to the court for jury service. I get that.” He says that they’re doing their best to make sure everything goes smoothly and efficiently.

The judge explains the process of voir dire, swears in the panel, tells them the title of the case, and asks the statutory questions.

Asked if they had formed opinions to the guilt or innocence of the defendants, Jurors No. 146, 150, 152, 156, 161, 164, 167, 170, 172, 175, and 176 raised their hands.

Asked if there was prejudice or bias for or against the accused, Nos. 150 and 172 said yes. The Judge says he’s asking the question in reverse: Is your mind not perfectly impartial between the State and the accused? This time, Nos. 146, 150, 152, 156, 158 raised their cards.

Lead prosecutor Senior Assistant District Attorney Linda Dunikoski introduces herself and begins their voir dire questions.

8:56 am: Nineteen of the 20 expected jurors are assembled. The judge has not yet taken the bench. All of the defendants and their lawyers are in place. It’s quiet in the courtroom.

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