Author: Andrew Branca

BONUS: Watch state prosecutors and defense attorneys debate whether specific jurors are "qualified"...

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, in which defendants Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan are being tried for murder and other charges in the shooting death of Arbery.  I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today the court proceeded with jury selection, or voir dire, in the case, with the goal of empaneling 12 jurors and 4 alternates.  Today was the fifth group of prospective jurors put through the selection process, with each group nominally numbering 20 people (note that there was no jury selection conducted this past Friday, as the court was in recess for the day due to some personal conflict of one of the lawyers involved in the case).

To date, 23 prospective jurors have been "qualified" for a third level of jury selection; ultimately, 12 jurors & 4 alternates are needed for trial...

There will be no jury selection today, because of a personal obligation of one of the lawyers....

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, in which defendants Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan are being tried for murder and other charges in the shooting death of Arbery.  I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today the court proceeded with jury selection, or voir dire, in the case, with the goal of empaneling 12 jurors and 4 alternates.  Today was the fourth group of prospective jurors put through the selection process, with each group nominally numbering 20 people. Today’s voir dire process mirrored that of yesterday, with general (group) voir dire being conducted in the jury assembly room.  We’ll share our notes and video of the general voir dire proceedings with you here.

Key Findings of Today’s General Voir Dire

Of particular note from today’s general voir dire:

• Nearly half (45%) of prospective jurors had already formed or expressed a belief in the guilt or innocence of the defendants.
• Nearly half of prospective jurors (45%) had been victims of burglary or home invasion.
• Three-fourths (75%) of prospective jurors owned firearms in their home (no shock, I guess, if only given their burglary/home invasion experience.)
• A very large majority (85%) of prospective jurors indicated that they had never engaged in any demonstrations or marches in support of the social justice movement.
• An even larger majority (90%) indicated that they’d never advocated for or supported the Black Lives Matter movement, even with mere bumper stickers or yard signs.
• A still larger majority (95%) said that they did not consider the old Georgia state flag, based on a Confederate flag motif, to be a racist symbol.
• A large majority of prospective jurors (80%) said that people of color are treated fairly by the criminal justice system.
• On the other hand, almost half of prospective jurors (45%) said that the police, generally, did not treat white and black people equally.

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, with what we expect to be day two of general jury selection for the trial of Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William "Roddy" Bryan on murder and other charges over the death of Ahmaud...

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, in which defendants Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan are being tried for murder and other charges in the shooting death of Arbery.  I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today the court proceeded with jury selection, or voir dire, in the case, with the goal of empaneling 12 jurors and 4 alternates.  Although Judge Wamsley presiding over the trial had initially expected jury selection would take no longer than two weeks, the unexpectedly slow pace of voir dire in these first few days has led him to become concerned that jury selection could, in fact, take longer than that.

Key Findings from General Voir Dire

Of particular note from today’s general voir dire:

• Nearly 60% of today’s prospective jurors indicated that they had already formed or expressed an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused.
• Nearly half (47%) of today’s prospective jurors had formed a negative feeling about one or more of the defendants.
• Nearly 70% of today’s prospective jurors owned firearms kept within their household.
• About 37% of today’s prospective jurors had obtained non-military training in firearms.
• Substantial majorities of today’s prospective jurors believed that people of color are treated fairly by the police particularly (68%) and the criminal justice system generally (79%).
• Nearly half (47%) of today’s prospective jurors indicated that they had circumstances at work or home that would diminish their ability to focus their full attention on the trial if called to serve as jurors.

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, with what we expect to be day two of general jury selection for the trial of Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William "Roddy" Bryan on murder and other charges over the death of Ahmaud...

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Arbery Ahmaud case, in which defendants Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan are being tried for murder and other charges in the shooting death of Arbery.  I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today the court proceeded with jury selection, or voir dire, in the case, with the goal of empaneling 12 jurors and 4 alternates for the duration of the trial, which is anticipated to run into the third week of November (although I caution that such things are hard to predict).

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case, with what we expect to be day two of general jury selection for the trial of Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William "Roddy" Bryan on murder and other charges over the death of Ahmaud...

Hey folks, welcome to our ongoing coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case! Today the court trying the defendants in the Ahmaud Arbery case finalized the questions that would be asked of prospective jurors during general voir dire, Judge Walmsley substantially increased the number of peremptory strikes permitted, and the general voir dire of the first group of prospective jurors began.

Hey folks, Today begins our live, real-time coverage of the trial proceedings in the Ahmaud Arbery case, in which defendants Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and neighbor William "Roddy" Bryan are on trial for murder and other felony charges over the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Today...

Welcome to today’s Law of Self Defense Members-only content! I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today I’d like to share with you seven demonstrably true facts surrounding the Ahmaud Arbery case that would appear to provide considerable context around Arbery’s deadly charge at Travis McMichael on February 23, 2020, resulting in Arbery’s death—but which the jury in the trial of Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael, and neighbor (and amateur videographer) William “Roddy” Bryan will probably never hear before arriving at verdicts in this case.

Legal Insurrection has kindly sponsored me to cover this trial in real-time, as it occurs, with a daily LIVE post including live commenting by myself to keep you informed of events at trial as they proceed....