America

Judge finds ‘deliberate discrimination’ in Arbery jury selection, but allows trial to proceed with 1 black member

November 4, 2021
Henry Club

The jury, consisting of 11 white members and one black member, was selected after Two and a half week selection process It ended with state prosecutors accusing defense attorneys of assaulting unqualified black jurors and basing some of their attacks on race.

Judge Timothy Walmsley said the defense appeared to be discriminatory in selecting the jury but the case could proceed.

“This court has found that there appears to be intentional discrimination,” Walmsley said Wednesday.

The court heard arguments for more than two hours as to why the defense struck down potential jurors, before Walmsley ultimately denied the state’s motion and ruled that there were valid reasons, beyond race, as to why the jurors were dismissed. Was.

“I think one of the challenges recognized by the lawyer in this case is the racial overtones in the case. … This is a continuation of a conversation that I think will continue for a long time with respect to this case.” The judge said, but added that in Georgia, “all defense needs to do is provide valid, non-discriminatory, clear, reasonably specific and relevant reasons,” why he struck down a juror and he said that the defense carried that burden.

According to the pool reporter inside the courtroom, out of a total of 16 jurors chosen – including four substitutes – five are men and 11 are women.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said she was “shocked” as she walked out of the courthouse on Wednesday only to have a black juror.

“I mean, that was devastating,” she said.

Jurors must decide whether Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, along with their neighbor William “Roddy” Bryan Jr. Guilty of malice and hooliganism. He has pleaded not guilty. The defendants also face charges of felony assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to false imprisonment.

Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s family, wrote on Twitter about the number of black potential jurors, saying in a post, “Only one of the 16 potential jurors is African-American.”

Jason Sheffield, an attorney for Travis McMichael, called the selection process “exhaustive” but said he was pleased with the outcome and thought the selected jury would be fair.

“We are very pleased that we are now able to select 16 members of this community,” Sheffield said as he exited the court. “Where this community can now decide the issues pending this indictment, and we truly believe they will do so fairly and we all understand about justice.”

The selection process was lengthy

Arbery’s murder sparked national outrage after a video of their shooting was made public. A 25-year-old black man was out for a walk in Brunswick on February 23, 2020, when he was fatally shot.
The McMichaels said they were making a civilian arrest at Arbery whom they suspected of theft, and Travis McMichael shot him with a shotgun in self-defense. Brian, who recorded the video hit Arbery with his truck After joining the McMichaels in pursuing Arbery, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent has testified.

It was not until video of the shooting surfaced that the men were arrested.

Getting people to sit on the adjudicating panel was a daunting and lengthy process that the judge himself took Be disappointed in the last month.
From About 1,000 people were called As part of the jury selection pool, less than half came.
No official reason was given for the low turnout, But of those who came, Many said they had already formed strong opinions about the case, knew the defendants or were afraid to sit down, pointing out that the consequences of the case could fall on the Glynn County community.

“I think it would be foolish to think that there can’t be real-world consequences,” a woman told lawyers last month in the early days of the selection process.

The jury will be empaneled just before the commencement of the statement. Judge asks jurors to report at 9 am on Friday

Not enough ‘Bubba’ men, defense lawyer says

Defense lawyers have previously expressed concern not only about how many people did not show up, but also about who was missing among those who did.

“It appears that white males born in the South, over the age of 40, without a four-year college degree, are sometimes euphemistically referred to as ‘Bubba’ or ‘Joe Six Pack,'” They seem to be under-represented,” defense attorney Kevin Gough, who represents Brian, told the court Friday.

“Without the connotation of being conservative in any way, I think there is a real question in this case as to whether that demographic is under-represented in this jury pool,” Gough said. “And if so, we have a problem with it.”

Travis McMichael’s lawyer, Sheffield, brought up the demographics again this week, emphasizing that the low turnout of people during the jury selection process meant that the pool “does not appropriately reflect the accused in this case, where The accused cannot see the courtroom and see persons who are equally situated for themselves.”

But the jury should only be representative of race and gender, not socioeconomic background, said CNN legal analyst Paige Pate. Pate said that generally the people who are summoned have a diversity of economic backgrounds.

“It’s important to participate in the jury pool, but only so much to establish the diversity of race and perhaps gender, but not the ‘Bubba’ background, whatever it may be,” Pate said. “I have represented doctors who have gone on trial. Now, was my jury made up of a group of doctors? Not at all.”

Glynn County, home to more than 85,000 people, is roughly 70% white and 27% black, according to 2019 figures. US Census Bureau.

“Even if there was no ‘Bubba,’ as long as the lawyers aren’t just turning people off because of race, there really isn’t a problem,” Pate said. “You have no legal right to a ‘Bubba’ rich jury pool.”

.