Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
Jury selection to start in trial over Ahmaud Arbery’s death
In this February 23, 2021, file photo, Ahmaud Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery, bottom center, listens to Jason Vaughn speak during a memorial walk and candlelight vigil for Ahmaud at the Satilla Shores development in Brunswick, Georgia. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Latest News
October 17, 2021

Jury selection to start in trial over Ahmaud Arbery’s death

BRUNSWICK, Georgia (AP) — Hundreds of people were ordered to report for jury duty Monday in Georgia for what could be a long, laborious effort to find jurors to hear the trial of three white men charged with fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan are charged with murder and other crimes in Arbery’s death just outside the port city of Brunswick.

The February 23, 2020 slaying of the 25-year-old Black man sparked a national outcry fueled by graphic video of the shooting.

Jury selection could last two weeks or more. Arbery’s father said he’s praying for an impartial panel and a fair trial, saying Black crime victims too often have been denied justice.

“This is 2021, and it’s time for a change,” Marcus Arbery Sr said in an interview. “We need to be treated equally and get fair justice as human beings, because we’ve been treated wrong so long.”

Court officials in Glynn County mailed jury-duty notices to 1,000 people, expecting a potentially slow process to find jurors in a community where the slaying dominated news coverage and swamped social media feeds.

As a precaution against the coronavirus, 600 jury pool members were ordered to report Monday to a gymnasium to provide room for social distancing. They will be summoned to the courthouse in groups of 20, Glynn County Superior Court Clerk Ronald Adams said.

Along with their jury summons, pool members were mailed a three-page questionnaire asking what they already know about the case and what news outlets or social media platforms were their main sources of information.

The form also asks whether prospective jurors posted any online comments about Arbery’s killing and if they visited the scene of the shooting or did other research into the case on their own.

Attorneys on both sides will spend the coming days questioning the jury pool, in groups and individually, to determine whether they have formed opinions about the case that render them incapable of serving.

Ultimately the judge needs to seat a jury of 12, plus four alternates who will be on standby to fill in for any jurors who get sick or are dismissed before the trial ends.

Arbery’s killing stoked outrage in the summer of 2020 during a period of national protests over racial injustice. More than two months passed before the McMichaels and Bryan were charged and jailed, only after the video of the shooting leaked online and state investigators took over the case from local police.

Prosecutors say Arbery was merely jogging when the McMichaels armed themselves with guns and chased him in a pickup truck. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded the now-infamous cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun.

Defense attorneys insist the three men committed no crimes. Greg McMichael told police they pursued Arbery suspecting he was a burglar after security cameras previously recorded him entering a nearby home under construction. He said Travis McMichael fired his gun in self-defense after Arbery attacked him, punching and trying to grab the weapon.

Investigators have testified that they found no evidence of crimes by Arbery in the Satilla Shores subdivision. He was unarmed.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

‘Daylight robbery’
Latest News, News
‘Daylight robbery’
Campbell questions cost to build bases for container houses
September 20, 2026
General Secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP) Dr Dayton Campbell has accused the Government of carrying out “robbery in plain sight” as it re...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaica fast becoming a country of ‘overnight’ food – Hayles
Latest News, News
Jamaica fast becoming a country of ‘overnight’ food – Hayles
September 20, 2026
Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western, Ian Hayles says Jamaica is fast becoming a country of overnight (leftover) food under the Jamaica Labou...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Mt Pleasant suffer back-to-back JPL defeats to start season
Latest News, Sports
Mt Pleasant suffer back-to-back JPL defeats to start season
September 20, 2026
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Former champions Mt Pleasant FA have lost back-to-back games to start a Jamaica Premier League season for the first time after...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Gov’t has created ‘two Jamaicas’ in healthcare, says Dawes
Latest News, News
Gov’t has created ‘two Jamaicas’ in healthcare, says Dawes
September 20, 2026
Opposition spokesman on health Dr Alfred Dawes has painted a picture of a Jamaican healthcare system where there are two Jamaicas – one for the wealth...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaicans forced to take calculators to the supermarket, says PNP’s Blake
Latest News, News
Jamaicans forced to take calculators to the supermarket, says PNP’s Blake
September 20, 2026
President of the People’s National Party (PNP) Patriots, the Reverend Paul Blake says Jamaicans have been forced to take their calculators along with ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Latest News, News
WATCH: Golding arrives to sea of orange at PNP’s 88th annual conference
Rosalee Wood Condell, Observer writer 
September 20, 2026
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica -- The energy at the People's National Party (PNP) 88th Annual Conference is reaching a fever pitch as patrons continue to strea...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Latest News, News
WATCH: Rain fails to dampen spirits at PNP annual conference in Westmoreland
Rosalee Wood Condell, Observer writer 
September 20, 2026
SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Persistent showers of rain failed to dampen spirits at the People’s National Party’s (PNP) historic 88th Annual Confere...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Golding reaffirms PNP’s commitment to western Jamaica ahead of annual conference
Latest News, News
Golding reaffirms PNP’s commitment to western Jamaica ahead of annual conference
September 20, 2026
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — People's National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding on Sunday reiterated the party's rationale for hosting the public session...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct