Trial underway for Ahmaud Arbery case

The judge in the case swore in a jury panel on Friday with 11 white members and one black one. The racial makeup of the jury in a county that is about 27 percent African American sparked accusations of bias. The trial centers on the February 2020 shooting death of Arbery in a subdivision near Brunswick, Ga. The defense argues that Greg and Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were attempting a citizen’s arrest because they suspected the 25-year-old black man of theft. The three men face charges of murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment.

What happened during jury selection? Defense attorneys dismissed eight black jurors, which prosecutors challenged as discriminatory. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said he could not reseat the jury because lawyers gave race-neutral reasons for dismissing prospective jurors. One potential juror wrote she was already convinced the defendants are guilty, and one was about to marry someone who posted on social media in strong support of Arbery. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told reporters outside the courthouse she found it “devastating” that only one black juror was seated, but, she said of the final jury, “I’m very confident that they’ll make the right decision after seeing all the evidence.” Prosecutors also admitted the remaining jurors and four alternates hold no strong opinions about the situation and promised to be impartial.

Dig deeper: Read about the historical context of racial protests in an excerpt from “God and Mammon” by Lance Morrow, an honorable mention in WORLD’s 2020 Books of the Year list.