McMichael Lawyers Don apos;t Want Ahmaud Arbery Called A apos;victim apos; In Court
The attorneys for the father and son charged with murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery (pictured) have filed a motion requesting that Arbery not be called a 'victim' in court
The attorneys for the father and son charged with murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have filed a motion requesting that the 25-year-old not be called a 'victim' in court.
Arbery was shot in a coastal Georgia subdivision on February 23 while out jogging.
He was found by police lying face down in a pool of blood while the man who shot him paced with hands on his head.
Travis McMichael, who is accused of murder along with his father Gregory McMichael, told police there was 'nothing else he could do' after Arbery 'came running' at him, and after the father and son had given chase to the black jogger.
Despite the incident being caught on video, attorneys for the McMichaels are insisting that Arbery not be called a victim in court.
'Defendants, Travis and Greg McMichael, respectfully move that the prosecution be prohibited from the use of prejudicial terms at trial, during jury selection, or in the presence of witnesses,' the attorneys wrote in the motion filed on December 30.
'These terms include the use of the word "victim." The purpose of this motion is to prevent the prosecution from ignoring its duty to prove beyond reasonable doubt that crimes were actually committed and that McMichaels committed the crimes as charged.
'Due process requires minimal injection of error or prejudice into these proceedings.
Use of terms such as "victim" allows the focus to shift to the accused rather than remain on the proof of every element of the crimes charged.'
In addition to that motion, the attorneys also filed others, asking that the number of in-life photos are limited to one and that court spectators in the trial be prohibited from wearing facemasks or t-shirts with slogans like 'Black Lives Matter'.
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Travis McMichael (right)l is accused of murder along with his father Gregory McMichael (left),
[ ] The attorneys wrote in the second motion: 'Travis and Greg McMichael move this Court to limit the number of "in life" photographs to one, limit the content of any such photograph to the decedent alone, and to require nonrelated witness to identify the person depicted in the one photograph.'
According to the attorneys, the 'probative value of proving its case in this manner, however, is "tenuous" and can be easily "subsumed by the substantial prejudicial impact" caused by the number of photographs admitted, the content of those photographs, and which witness the state uses to introduce this evidence'.
The third motion is requesting that the court controls the 'behavior of spectators so as to maintain the dignity and decorum of the courtroom and to ensure the safety of the courtroom'.
That means that the attorneys are asking for the spectators 'who have aligned themselves with the prosecution' not be allowed to wear facemasks and shirts with phrases like 'Black Lives Matter,' 'I Can't Breathe,' and 'Justice for George Floyd'.
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Other examples include the slogans 'I Run With Maud' and 'Justice for Ahmaud'. The motions come just weeks after authorities released new body-cam footage in the moments after the shooting.
The attorneys are also requesting the court to order the prosecution to turn over all records relating to 'Arbery's disciplinary, Chùa Hương criminal, and mental health records'.
They also want the contents of his telephone records and social media accounts.
However, they want all recorded jail calls made by the McMichaels while they were held in the Glynn County Detention Center to be excluded from their trial.
Body camera video from Glynn County police officers who responded to the fatal shooting shows the first interactions authorities had with the McMichaels, who armed themselves and chased Arbery after spotting him running in their neighborhood.
The motions come just weeks after authorities released new body-cam footage in the moments after the shooting.
The video shows the first interactions authorities had with the McMichaels (Travis McMichael pictured)
Travis McMichael can been seen cooperating with an officer taking photos of his blood-spattered arms and a bruise on his face, where he says Arbery punched him.
'I want it done right, because this doesn't look good,' Travis McMichael says
The initial video of the chase was taken by William 'Roddie' Bryan (pictured), a neighbor who joined the chase and also was later charged with murder
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on the footage, which it obtained after the video was filed with public court documents in the murder case against the McMichaels.
Travis McMichael can been seen cooperating with an officer taking photos of his blood-spattered arms and a bruise on his face, where he says Arbery punched him.
The officer asks him to be patient while police collect evidence.
'I want it done right, because this doesn't look good,' Travis McMichael says. 'I mean, I just shot a man. Last thing I've ever wanted to do in my life.'
Attorneys for the McMichaels argue they were justified to pursue Arbery because they suspected he was a burglar and that Travis McMichael acted in self-defense when he blasted Arbery three times with a shotgun.
Prosecutors say Arbery was no criminal but merely out jogging and the McMichaels acted as illegal vigilantes.
More than two months passed before the McMichaels were charged in Arbery's death, after cellphone video of the shooting became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police.
The body camera footage shows the first officer arrive soon after hearing gunshots and finds the McMichaels standing on either side of Arbery, sprawled face-down on the pavement.
'All right guys, everybody's got their weapons up, correct?' the officer asks.
The men aren't holding guns.
Gregory McMichael can be seen trying to console his son, who's pacing back and forth.
'It's going to be OK,' Gregory McMichael tells him. 'You had no choice.'
One of Arbery's legs moves and his head turns slightly.
A gasping sound can be heard on the recording.
The second officer to arrive puts on rubber gloves, rolls Arbery over and presses a hand to the wound in his chest.
'He's still breathing, man,' says a man's voice nearby.
'I know.
I'm going to try to do something for him,' the officer replies. He stops after about two minutes and calls to tell dispatchers Arbery has died.
Gregory McMichael had recently retired from a long career as an investigator for the local district attorney.
At least two of the arriving officers recognized him and tour Du lịch Chùa Hương called to him by name.
Those he doesn't know he tells that he's a former law officer, and Tour Chùa Hương that the .357 magnum handgun he grabbed before chasing Arbery was police-issued.
Gregory McMichael tells police Arbery attacked his son and 'was trying to take the shotgun away from him'.
'To be perfectly honest with you, if I could've got a shot at the guy, I'd have shot him myself,' he tells one officer.
Another officer approaches and says: 'I do know Greg.
How are you doing?'
He asks her what police plan to do with his son.
'Y'all aren't putting him in cuffs are you?' Gregory McMichael says.
'No,' the officer replies.
'Why would he be in cuffs?'
The body camera footage shows the first officer arrive soon after hearing gunshots and finds the McMichaels standing on either side of Arbery, sprawled face-down on the pavement
Prosecutors have said it was Arbery who was fighting for this life when he was shot.
A sheet covers Arbery's body shortly after the shooting. Travis McMichael (far right) is seen speaking with an officer
Prosecutors have said it was Arbery who was fighting for this life when he was shot. Cellphone video shows Arbery trying to run around the McMichaels' pickup truck before coming face-to-face with Travis McMichael holding a shotgun.
The video shows Arbery punching him and grappling for the gun in between gunshots.
Arbery staggers and falls after the third shot hits him at point-blank range.
The video was taken by William 'Roddie' Bryan, a neighbor who joined the chase and also was later charged with murder. The body camera footage also shows Bryan's first interview with police.
Like the McMichaels, Bryan says he believes Arbery was responsible for break-ins in their neighborhood.
It was later revealed that it was an open-framed house under construction that Arbery was seen entering, and an attorney for the owner later said nothing was stolen.
'He obviously was up to something,' Bryan tells an officer, while describing how he maneuvered his own truck to try to prevent Arbery from escaping.
'Should we have been chasing him?' Bryan says.
'I don't know.'
State investigators with the GBI arrested the McMichaels on murder charges the day after the agency began its own investigation in May. A judge has denied bond for all three defendants, whose attorneys are appealing the decision to keep them jailed.
The Glynn County officers dispatched to the shooting don't seem to question the McMichaels' account that they were justified to kill Arbery.
In one video, an officer standing outside the crime-scene tape asks another: 'Did he shoot him?
A self-defense thing?'
'That's what it looks like,' the other officer replies.