A Jury Is Selected in the Arbery Hate Crime Trial
Jury selection got off to a fast start Monday in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, with the judge conducting much of the questioning to determine whether potential jurors had unshakable opinions about the highly publicized case behind closed doors.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood predicted before adjourning that a final panel of 12 main jurors and four alternates will be seated at the beginning of next week on Feb. 14. That was after she deemed 30 of the 52 jury pool members questioned Monday capable of serving fairly.
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and used a pickup truck to chase the 25-year-old Arbery after spotting him running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.
