Ahmaud Arbery Case Goes to Jury After 13-Day Trial

A jury now has the case after a 13-day trial of three white men charged with murder and other crimes in the death of Ahmaud Arbery.

The jury got the case on Tuesday after final closing arguments from the prosecutor and instructions from a judge.

Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski told jurors that the defendants have no right to claim self-defense because they were the ones who first approached the 25-year-old Black man while he was running in his neighborhood.

She told jurors that Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan pursued Arbery with pickup trucks and pointed a shotgun at him before Arbery ever tried to fight back.

In their closing arguments Monday, defense attorneys argued that the McMichaels were attempting a legal citizen’s arrest.

Travis McMichael testified he fired his shotgun in self-defense as Arbery punched him and tried to take the weapon.

Prosecutors say the pursuit and shooting weren't justified, as there's no evidence Arbery committed crimes in the neighborhood.

Defense attorneys rested Thursday after calling a total of seven witnesses.

Six neighbors testified about their concerns regarding crime in the neighborhood.

All of the defendants are white.

Earlier, McMichael testified that the 25-year-old Black man’s demeanor struck as him as suspicious when he pulled up beside him in his pickup truck but he acknowledged that Arbery did not threaten him in anyway.

Travis McMichael said that neighbors had indicated that something had happened down the road and he wanted to ask Arbery about it, but when he told Arbery the police were on the way Arbery began to run.