*Over 200 potential jurors gathered at a Georgia courthouse to determine their ability to serve impartially in the trial of Jackie Johnson, a former prosecutor accused of interfering with the police investigation into the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery.
Johnson, who was the district attorney when Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was pursued and fatally shot by three white men, faces trial in the same courthouse where the men were convicted of murder in 2021.
Given the high-profile nature of Johnson’s misconduct trial and her prominent role as Glynn County’s top prosecutor for a decade, 500 jury notices were issued, and over 200 people returned completed questionnaires. Jury selection will focus on assessing candidates’ knowledge of the case and their impartiality. Officials estimate it could take a week to choose 12 jurors and alternates.
Meanwhile, we reported that the three White men who killed Arbery are appealing their federal hate crime convictions, with two of the three arguing the government did not prove they chased the young man because of his race.
The men’s attorneys, who filed the appeals in March 2023, asked for an opportunity to present their case in court.
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Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty of murder in a Georgia court in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison.
In their federal trial that followed, all three were found guilty of interference of rights, a federal hate crime, and attempted kidnapping, while the McMichaels were also each convicted on a weapons charge. The father and son were sentenced to life in prison and Bryan was sentenced to 35 years, to be served at the same time as his state sentence.
In their appeals, the elder McMichael and Bryan both challenge whether prosecutors proved the men acted the way they did “because of” Arbery’s race and color. Travis McMichael’s appeal instead focused on more technical matters to do with his convictions on attempted kidnapping and weapons use charges.
If a U.S. appeals court overturns any of their federal convictions, all three men would remain imprisoned.
*This article contains additional reporting from CNN.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: The Nerve! The 3 White Men Who Killed Ahmaud Arbery Appealing Convictions
