BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The judge overseeing the trial of the three men charged with Ahmaud Arbery’s death expressed frustration Tuesday at the pace of jury selection.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley had a panel of 20 prospective jurors scheduled to appear in court in the early afternoon but he sent them home because questioning of members of the prior panel was far from finished.
“I do not have the ability to just store people or keep them longer than planned,” the judge said. “I am not comfortable with this. ... At the rate we’re going, all these plans we have to move these panels through are not going to work.”
With the Feb. 23, 2020, killing having received so much publicity locally and nationally, many lawyers following the case expected jury selection to creep along. The unstated goal was for it to take up to two weeks to pick 12 jurors and four alternates for the case, but the process could take longer.
Already, many jurors have said they have made up their minds that Travis McMichael, who killed Arbery with three shotgun blasts; his father Greg McMichael, a former district attorney’s office investigator; and William “Roddie” Bryan, who took the cellphone video of the killing, are guilty as charged.
One prospective juror, a Black man who said he had participated in racial justice demonstrations, told the court he believed the McMichaels and Bryan should be convicted on all counts. He was quickly dismissed.
The second day of jury selection began with the second group of 20 prospective jurors seated apart in the large jury assembly room, with the judge, the attorneys and the defendants facing them. After group questioning concluded, individual questioning was conducted in the courtroom next door where the trial will be held.
One prospective juror, a food scientist who lives on St. Simons Island, acknowledged he has accessed court filings in the high-profile case. Surprisingly, that came courtesy of the Glynn County Clerk’s Office.
The office included links to the court records for all three defendants on its website that told jurors when to report to duty. Anyone clicking on those links could access all court motions, including those detailing Arbery’s past brushes with the law and his mental health diagnosis — evidence Walmsley has ruled inadmissible.
At least one other prospective juror said he had clicked on those links as well.
The food scientist, who graduated from Auburn University, said he had “actively researched” the case and had seen the cellphone video of the fatal shooting “a couple of times.”
“I’m still leaning one way or the other,” he told prosecutor Linda Dunikoski. “I just don’t know what kind of evidence is going to presented.”
That prompted attorney Bob Rubin, who represents Greg McMichael, to tell the juror it sounded like he could be fair and balanced toward both sides.
“I’m not really sure that’s where I am,” the juror replied. “Someone was murdered. That’s all I know.”
Another prospective juror said her husband was “adamantly against the defendants.” But she also said she could keep an open mind and, if selected, refrain from talking to her husband about the case at home.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “The only people who know what happened were there.”
A white woman who works at a retail jewelry story and said she was taught by her father how to use firearms told the court she believed a crime had been committed. But she said she has “always been an objective person” and could “absolutely” give the defendants a fair trial.
Still, the woman said she considers the Confederate flag to be a racist symbol and she supports the Black Lives Matter movement.
If Arbery had been white, his killing probably would have never happened, she added. “I think if it was a white guy running through the neighborhood I don’t think he would have been targeted as a suspect.”
