Hate-crimes trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers heads to closing arguments

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (WSAV) –- The prosecution and defense rested their cases Friday afternoon in the federal hate-crimes trial of the three men convicted of Ahmaud Arbery‘s murder.

The jury heard from a total of 20 witnesses over four days of testimony.

Jurors are expected to return on Monday to hear closing arguments before they deliberate whether father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, pursued Arbery because he was Black.

A legal expert told WSAV that ample time for planning has helped the trial move faster than expected — but the jury has a difficult job ahead.

“If you look at the research in hate crime trials, it’s very difficult to come back with a guilty verdict,” said Dr. Chad Posick, a criminal justice professor at Georgia Southern University.

“Again, you really have to get into the minds of the individuals on that day, in that particular instance, and you really have to establish what they were feeling emotionally,” he added.

Both of Arbery’s parents say they’re pleased with the prosecutors’ case and feel confident the evidence will produce a guilty verdict.

“They lived among us,” said Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, of the defendants. “And they lived with those mindsets every day among people like us. And they really didn’t like people who looked like myself.”

Friday, Travis McMichael’s former boss Joe Mandela testified that on the day of the shooting, McMichael called to tell him he shot and killed someone outside of his house in self-defense. Under oath, Mandela said when the video of Arbery’s killing came to light, he was “shocked and upset” that Travis McMichael told him a lie.

According to social media evidence presented earlier in the week, using a racial expletive, Travis McMichael told a friend he enjoyed that job because there was “not a Black person in sight.”

Meanwhile, a firearm investigator from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation brought forth the shotgun Travis McMichael used to kill Arbery and presented more photos of his blood-soaked t-shirt. The evidence prompted Arbery’s father and aunt to leave the courtroom.

Prosecutors said they’ll need two hours for closing arguments on Monday, and attorneys for the three defendants each asked for as much as two hours.

Family members said they are planning commemoration events for later in the week, no matter the state of the trial. Wednesday will mark two years since Arbery’s death.