Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, with day 8 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 with a new group, the eighth 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 42 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.
You can find our analysis of yesterday’s voir dire here:
Arbery Case Day 7 Wrap-Up: Has the Defense Concluded That A Fair Jury Is Impossible?
You can observe some of yesterday afternoon’s post-voir dire argument among the parties over prospective jurors in the video embedded below.
Note that the first 12 minutes or so of this video involves the parties arguing over individual jurors. At the 12-minute mark the discussion transitions to the state expressing some concern that there are concerns that possible conflicts of interest among the defendants’ attorneys may not have been adequately addressed–the state wants to ensure these are resolved now so that they are not grounds for appeal if a conviction results. Then at about the 16-minute mark the discussion transitions again, this time to discussing how the third stage of voir dire is to be conducted once the desired pool of 64 “qualified” jurors has been realized.
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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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