Less than three hours into the first day of the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial in Brunswick, Georgia, the judge said a defense attorney complained that a prosecutor had improperly taken the time elapsed between Arbery’s shooting and arrest. The issue was raised incorrectly. Defendants in their opening statement.
Following initial arguments from chief prosecutor Linda Dunnikowski, the discussion took place after the jury was thrown out of the room.
After hearing both the prosecution and defense on the case, Judge Timothy Walmsley said he would not allow a wrongful trial – although he had previously ruled that no mention of the period should be made before a jury.
Taking up the second point, one of Gregory McMichael’s defenses, Laura Hogg, asked the court to reconsider the order to grant the state’s motion for a three-hour closing argument. According to Hogg, the state spent an hour and 35 minutes presenting the initial arguments and the defense did not believe there was any reason to allow the prosecutor to speak for so long during the closure.
Refuting Hogg’s request, the prosecutor indicated how long it took him to explain all the evidence he had to offer during the trial. Danikowski said he would need three hours for the closing argument.
The judge denied Hogg’s requests and said his decision would stand before the jury was recalled and announced an hour’s break for lunch. Travis McMichael’s defense attorney will begin his opening statement after the break.
.