Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, with day six of jury selection, or voir dire, for the trial of Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William “Roddy” Bryan on murder and other charges over the death of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020.
Today we expect the jury selection process, or voir dire, to continue. Today I anticipate the court will begin with a new group, the seventh group to date, of 20 prospective jurors subject to general voir dire this morning, followed by individual voir dire of members of that group in the afternoon, as has been the pattern throughout last week.
The media is reporting that so far there have been about 36 prospective jurors who have made it through general and individual voir dire, and who are said to have been “qualified” for yet a third level of voir dire. Judge Walmsley reportedly wants 64 prospective jurors “qualified” in this manner, to allow for that third level of voir dire that will ultimately distill that group to the 12 jurors and 4 alternates needed for trial.
Yesterday started with 32 “qualified” jurors, so yesterday’s pool of 20 prospective jurors added only four more to that list: prospective jurors #466, #475, #479, and #496. At the rate of an additional four “qualified” jurors a day, another 7 full days of general and individual voir dire would be required to gather 64 “qualified” jurors, after which that group would have to be distilled down to the final 16, likely requiring several additional days, and putting the trial into the middle of November before opening statements are made.
You can find our analysis of yesterday’s voir dire here:
Arbery Case Day 6 Wrap-Up: Defense Anger at Jury Influencing and New Defense Questions
You can observe some of yesterday afternoon’s post-voir dire argument among the parties over prospective jurors here:
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You carry a gun so you’re hard to kill.
Know the law so you’re hard to convict.
Stay safe!
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Nothing in this content constitutes legal advice. Nothing in this content establishes an attorney-client relationship, nor confidentiality. If you are in immediate need of legal advice, retain a licensed, competent attorney in the relevant jurisdiction.
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