A group of judges from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta had planned to listen to oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that stemmed from the widespread public outrage over Arbery’s death. The attorneys representing the defendants contend that their past racist remarks, which have been presented as evidence, do not establish a racist motive to cause harm.
After more than two months had elapsed without any arrests, the case took a significant turn when Bryan’s video of the killing surfaced on the internet. As a result, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation stepped in and assumed control of the case from the local police. Subsequently, charges were brought against the individuals involved.
In late 2021, a Georgia state court convicted all three men of murder. Following a second trial in early 2022 in federal court, a jury declared the trio guilty of hate crimes and attempted kidnapping, determining that their motive for targeting Arbery was his race.
In the legal briefs submitted prior to their appeals court arguments, attorneys representing Greg McMichael and Bryan raised concerns about the prosecution’s reliance on over two dozen social media posts and text messages, along with witness testimony, which revealed that all three individuals had used racist slurs or made derogatory remarks about Black people. The slurs frequently included the use of the N-word and other offensive terms targeting the Black community. The examination of the men’s social media pages by an FBI witness also revealed their endorsement of violence against Black people.
According to Bryan’s attorney, Pete Theodocion, the trial jury was incited by Bryan’s previous racist remarks, but it was not proven that Arbery was targeted because of his race. A.J. Balbo, Greg McMichael’s lawyer, argues that Arbery was pursued because the three men mistakenly believed he was a fleeing criminal.
Greg McMichael started the pursuit when Arbery sprinted past his house, claiming that he identified the young African American man from security camera footage which had captured him entering a nearby under-construction property in the past months. It is worth noting that none of the videos depicted Arbery engaging in any theft, and it is confirmed that he was not carrying any weapons or stolen possessions at the time of his tragic death.
According to prosecutors’ written briefs, the trial evidence revealed that the defendants’ assumptions about Arbery committing crimes were influenced by their longstanding hate and prejudice towards Black people.
“In court in November 2021, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski criticized all three defendants for their actions, stating that they were driven by assumptions rather than facts or evidence. She emphasized that their decisions, made in their driveways, resulted in the tragic loss of a young man’s life.”
Attorney Amy Lee Copeland did not contest the jury’s conclusion that Travis McMichael was driven by racism in his appeal. One piece of social media evidence presented was a 2018 Facebook comment made by Travis McMichael. The comment was in response to a video featuring a Black man playing a prank on a white person. In his comment, he used an expletive and a racial slur, stating, “I’d kill that …. .”
Copeland’s appeal, instead of focusing on the substantive issues surrounding the case, hinged on legal technicalities. She argued that the prosecution had not successfully demonstrated that the streets of the Satilla Shores subdivision, where Arbery tragically lost his life, were indeed public roads as mentioned in the indictment.
According to Copeland, there are records from a 1958 meeting of Glynn County commissioners that indicate they declined to assume responsibility for the streets from the developer of the subdivision. During the trial, prosecutors presented service request records and testimony from a county official as evidence that the county government has been maintaining the streets.
According to prosecutors, several federal appellate circuits have determined that any vehicle used in a kidnapping can be considered an instrument of interstate commerce. They also argued that the motive behind the men’s actions was to fulfill their personal desire for vigilante justice.
Both McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison for their hate crime convictions. In addition to the hate crime charges, Travis McMichael received an extra 10 years, while his father received an additional seven years, for brandishing guns during the commission of violent crimes. Bryan, on the other hand, received a lesser sentence of 35 years in prison for his involvement in the hate crime. This lighter sentence was partially due to the fact that he was unarmed and had preserved the cellphone video, which played a crucial role as evidence in the case.
The judge combined the 20 years in jail that all three received for attempted kidnapping with their sentences for hate crimes.
If any of their federal convictions are overturned by the U.S. appeals court, McMichaels and Bryan will continue to serve their life sentences in Georgia state prisons for murder. Currently, they have pending motions for new state trials before a judge.
