Three Georgia men were found guilty Wednesday by a jury in Georgia for the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
Travis McMichael, 35; was found guilty on all charges. Travis's father, Gregory McMichael, 65; was found guilty on all but one charge. William "Roddie" Bryan, 51, was found guilty on six of nine charges.
Here is the breakdown of the verdict for all 3 defendants in the murder of #AhmaudArbery:pic.twitter.com/G07R5JDflw— Katie S. Phang (@Katie S. Phang) 1637781000
Felony murder is a killing that occurs during the commission of another felony - here prosecutors charged aggravated assault & false imprisonment. There is no need to prove intent as long as all the elements of the underlying crime are proven, along with the death.— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1637780149
Legal analysts took to cable news and social media with their own commentary about the trial and its outcome.
NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos explained that the father was found guilty on all of the things that lead to the murder of Arbery but not of the actual killing itself. It was his son who pulled the trigger, which is why he was guilty on all charges.
Three men found guilty of felony murder in death of Ahmaud Arbery. \n\n@katyturnbc breaks down the latest with @CevallosLaw. \n\nWatch more: http://on.msnbc.com/3FHc5SY\u00a0pic.twitter.com/PBEtVBkurF— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1637780175
Civil Rights attorney Kristen Gibbons Feden explained that the race-baiting clearly backfired after the defense suggested that Arbery had "dirty toenails." During the trial, defense lawyers also frequently complained about pastors of color in the courtroom and other community leaders of color who joined the Arbery family.
Gibbons Feden also noted how profound the verdict is because it was just a few years ago that George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin. In 2021, a Black jogger saw justice.
See the analysis below:
Accountability and justice are necessary to sustain a functioning democracy.— Andrew Weinstein (@Andrew Weinstein) 1637782255
An early prediction: defendants will plead guilty to federal charges now, out of a desire to serve their time in fed\u2019l prison, not the Georgia state system— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1637780536
Without the video this case is never even brought to trial. Without the love of a black parent, this case never goes to trial.— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1637780157
Imagine that this prosecution was almost never brought because the DA\u2019s son was friends with one of the defendants. These guys thought nothing would ever happen to them and that they were above the law.— Asha Rangappa (@Asha Rangappa) 1637780131
Lynching. Still illegal!— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1637779447
The guilty verdict in the case of the murder of Arbery and not guilty for Rittenhouse show that juries are capable of determining facts and applying the law in individual cases, even when there are weighty social implications.— Rebecca Roiphe (@Rebecca Roiphe) 1637779660
Gives me some hope in the jury system and the human race. All guilty of murder.— Cynthia Alksne (@Cynthia Alksne) 1637779475
Now the defendants face federal charges. They may consider pleading guilty to those charges and negotiating a resolution that permits them to serve time in federal prison rather than state prison.https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1463583704794681351\u00a0\u2026— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1637781290
Well said. Felony murder always struck me as extreme. But we can\u2019t have one set of laws for the people with whom we sympathize and another set when we don\u2019t.https://twitter.com/larabazelon/status/1463582740209541128\u00a0\u2026— Rebecca Roiphe (@Rebecca Roiphe) 1637781078
Kudos to #AhmaudArbery family - his father's perseverance in seeking legal justice for his murdered son - there can be no moral justice for Ahmaud Arbery & his family - that would require him being alive today but there was at least legal justice today.— Shanlon Wu (@Shanlon Wu) 1637781069
Legal analysts took to cable news and social media with their own commentary about the Arbery trial www.youtube.com
Can't stop thinking about how a prosecutor in February 2020 wrote a memo arguing that there wasn't even enough probable cause for an arrest warrant for these three men, who have now all been convicted of murder: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6884019-Waycross-DA-Letter-on-Arbery-Shooting-Jp\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1463581096877117445\u00a0\u2026— Sam Levine (@Sam Levine) 1637780034
The first prosecutor recused herself because one of the killers worked in her office. The second blamed Arbery for his own death, accusing him of an "aggressive nature." The third waited ages to arrest the killers. DAs did not want to prosecute these men.\nhttps://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/ahmaud-arbery-arrest-prosecutors-grand-jury.html\u00a0\u2026 https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/1463580803540135953\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/jHNNF35Nq6— Mark Joseph Stern (@Mark Joseph Stern) 1637780186
