The Jury is in there second day of deliberations in the case of whether to convict Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan in the murder of Arbery.
A prayer vigil is being held Wednesday as jury deliberations continue in the trial of three men for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Social justice and faith organizations banded together to pray and asked people to fast as they called for justice in the case, CNN reported.
Jury deliberations began Tuesday evening in the trial of Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, who are accused of chasing 25-year-old Arbery as he jogged through a neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020. The jury consists of 11 white jurors and one Black man.
The court heard closing arguments from the prosecution on Tuesday morning after hearing the defense's closing on Monday.
The three men are charged with malice and felony murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment, among other things. The defense claimed in court that the trio acted in self-defense because Arbery “chose to fight” and added that they were within their legal rights of conducting a “citizen’s arrest” under a Georgia law that dated back to 1863. It has since be repealed.
They argued that the men believed Arbery was possibly involved in neighborhood burglaries.
“It is absolutely horrific and tragic that this has happened. And again this is where the law is intertwined with heartache and tragedy. You are allowed to defend yourself. You are allowed to use force that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if you believe it is necessary," Jason Sheffield, a defense attorney for Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery, said in court. “This is a law that is for a person in Travis' situation."
The prosecution saw it differently, however.
"All three of these defendants made assumptions — made assumptions about what was going on that day, and they made their decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery in their driveways because he was a Black man running down the street," lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said in court.
Two months after the killing and after the public demanded to have video of the murder released, the men were arrested. All the men face possible life sentences if convicted of the murder charge alone.
