Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

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...