The three Georgia men convicted in the 2020 killing of 25-year-old jogger Ahmaud Arbery appeared in court Thursday to ask for a new trial in the murder case.
An attorney for Travis McMichael, the man who delivered the deadly shot, appeared before Judge Timothy Walmsley, arguing that the jurors who convicted McMichael displayed bias and were tainted by “outside influences” and “extraneous prejudicial information.”
During the proceedings, defense attorney Pete Donaldson questioned a juror, known as Juror 380, about the day he bought a hot dog near a rally promoting justice for Arbery near the Glynn County courthouse, which was also near the juror’s home. Juror 380, who was the only Black juror, insisted he did not discuss the case with anyone or break any rules and was not biased.
“I felt sorry for the family. After court started, I felt sorry for both sides,” Juror 380 said on the witness stand Thursday, clarifying that he did not have any bias toward the defendants as the defense attorney alleged.
During the three men’s 2021 trial, McMichael claimed that he and his father suspected Arbery — who had been jogging through the neighborhood — had just burglarized a nearby home under construction. He testified that Arbery resisted a citizen’s arrest and attacked him after he, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan chased him.
McMichael was convicted on all nine charges: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Gregory McMichael was also sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The former Georgia police officer was found not guilty of malice murder but was convicted on the remaining charges, including the felony murder counts.
Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of three of the felony murder counts as well as charges of aggravated assault with his pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
In the motion for a new trial presented in Bryan’s case, his lawyer argued that his trial attorney was ineffective and “there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome” if he had different representation.
The three men were arrested after a cellphone video Bryan took of the confrontation that captured part of the shooting and was heavily used by both prosecutors and defense attorneys during the trial was leaked to the media despite Bryan having turned it over to Glynn County police on the day of the killing.
The McMichaels and Bryan had all pleaded not guilty to a nine-count state indictment. ABC News has reached out for comment from their legal teams on the request for a new trial.
The three men also have been convicted and sentenced on federal hate crime charges. The McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison. Bryan was sentenced to 35 years.
Gregory McMichael apologized to Arbery’s family in court following the federal sentencing: “I’m sure my words mean very little to you but I want to assure you I never wanted any of this to happen,” he said. “There was no malice in my heart or my son’s heart that day.”
Attorney Donaldson conceded he did not have much faith in a retrial being granted and that in his 50-year career, only one of his motions for a retrial has been granted. He instead argues that he is doing this to “have it on the record” and appeal to the Supreme Court down the line.
Judge Walmsley didn’t rule Thursday on a new trial. Defense lawyers and prosecutors will have about a month to file legal briefs summing up their arguments before the judge makes a final decision.
