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All Three Men Found Guilty Of Killing Ahmaud Arbery. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired November 24, 2021 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The mother disgusted hearing that. The mother running out of court because she simply could not listen to it.
And we heard from her. She thought it was very rude for her to say that and also to mention that her son has a huge hole in his chest after being shot and killed up with Travis McMichael.
This jury has a lot to go through. They've had a lot of evidence. But clearly, the evidence they needed to see again, and the only evidence they asked to see again were those videos, that the public has seen, by the way.
The public saw this video in real time as it was sent out on the Internet.
So they wanted to see that in slow motion. They wanted to see that very clearly. They watched it, they deliberated, and it didn't take them long before they came back out and decided that they had a verdict.
That means that this jury is not hung. It means that they have come up with something and they are ready to tell the judge and the court exactly what they have decided here.
What does it feel like here? It is always nerve-wracking. No matter which side of the case you're on, no matter if you stand with the defendants or you stand with Ahmaud Arbery and his family, there are always nerves here.
In any court case, when there's something that serious that has also captured the public's attention across the country, yes, security is going to be high, not only in this city but in many cities, worrying about what this verdict and the reaction of this may bring.
But ultimately, the jury's decision, it is sacrosanct. Whatever they decide, that is what you will hear in court. It will be likely read as to each count whether it's guilty or not guilty from the jury's perspective.
We are expecting, and you can see crowds gathering, larger crowds gathering outside the court. People have been very, very respectful. They have been quiet for the most part.
But in the last couple of days, you know, there have been more people who have started to gather.
As people start hearing that there's going to be a verdict, they are going to start showing up, most likely, in larger numbers, as this jury comes out and lets the world know what they have decided in the case of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery back in February of 2020 -- Ana?
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Again, the jury has reached a verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial, the trial of three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.
This jury deliberated for a little over 11 hours, starting midday yesterday, returning to court this morning asking for those additional pieces of evidence.
Let's go live now to the courtroom.
TIMOTHY WALMSLEY, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: They are represented by counsel. I understand we have a verdict.
Let's go and get the panel.
CABRERA: OK, as we watch live what's happening inside the courtroom, as we await the verdict to be read by the jury. We understand they're just waiting for the jury to come into the courtroom.
There you see William Bryan, one of the three suspects, as all three suspects are in court waiting to hear what this jury decided as they deliberated the past 11-plus hours.
We have Laura Coates here, a former federal prosecutor who has been covering this trial for us throughout.
As we watch and wait here, Laura, 11 hours of deliberation, you know, they watched those pieces of video this morning, the shooting, the moments that Ahmaud Arbery lost his life, as well as listened to the 911 call made by Greg McMichael that day.
And when asked what's your emergency, he responded a man was running.
OK, let's listen in.
[13:35:35]
WALMSLEY: Please be seated.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back.
Madam Foreperson, I understand you have reached a verdict as to each defendant.
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: We have, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Please hand your verdict forms to the sheriff.
I'm going to do and address each one of these verdict forms separately. The first verdict form I have is the State of Georgia versus Travis
McMichael.
Mr. McMichael, please stand.
The verdict is as follows.
In the Superior Court of Glynn County, state of Georgia, the State of Georgia versus Travis McMichael, case number C.R.-00043. Jury verdict form.
Count 1, malice murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
(CHEERING)
WALMSLEY: I ask that whoever just made an outburst be removed from the court, please.
As this court has indicated, I ask that there be no outbursts in the court. And I ask that of the panel also. Please respect the court's desire for this as we move forward.
If you need to make a comment or otherwise demonstrate with respect to the verdict, I do ask that you step out of the courtroom now.
Count 2, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 3, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 4, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 5, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 6, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 7, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 8, false imprisonment. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Count 9, criminal attempt to commit a felony. We, the jury, find the defendant Travis McMichael guilty.
Dated this 24th day of November 2021, signed by the foreperson.
Have a seat.
As to Gregory McMichael, in the Superior Court of Glynn County, the State of Georgia versus Greg McMichael, case number C.R.-2000433. Jury verdict form.
Count 1, malice murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael not guilty.
Count 2, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 3, felony murder. We, the jury find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 4, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
[13:40:01]
Count 5, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 6, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 7, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 8, false imprisonment. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
Count 9, criminal attempt to commit a felony. We, the jury, find the defendant Greg McMichael guilty.
This 24th day of November 2021, signed by the foreperson.
As to William R. Bryan. In the Superior Court of Glynn County, state of Georgia, State of Georgia versus William R. Bryan, case number C.R.-20000433, jury verdict form.
Count 1, malice murder. We, the jury, find William R. Bryan not guilty.
Count 2, felony murder. We, the jury, find William R. Bryan not guilty.
Count 3, felony murder. We, the jury, find defendant William R. Bryan guilty.
Count 4, felony murder. We, the jury find the defendant, William R. Bryan guilty.
Count 5, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant, William R. Bryan, guilty.
Count 6, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant William R. Bryan not guilty.
Count 7, aggravated assault. We, the jury, find the defendant William R. Bryan guilty. Count 8, false imprisonment. We, the jury, find the defendant William
R. Bryan guilty.
Count 9, criminal attempt to commit a felony. We, the jury, find the defendant William R. Bryan guilty.
Signed this 24th day of November by the foreperson.
Go ahead and have a seat.
The court having read the verdicts and accepted the verdicts.
Anything from the state?
LINDA DUNIKOSKI, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: No, Your Honor, nothing from the state.
WALMSLEY: Anything from the defense?
ROBERT RUBIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR TRAVIS MCMICHAEL: We ask that the jury be polled, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Defense asks the jury be polled.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to ask each of you individually a set of two questions with respect to the verdicts that I have just read. If you can please respond when you hear your juror number.
Juror number 1, you have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, sir.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 2. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, sir.
WALMSLEY: I can't - OK, 2.
Juror number 3, you have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 4, you have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, sir.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 5, you have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 7. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 8. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 9. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 10. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 11. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Juror number 12. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: And juror 16. You have heard the verdicts read. Were these your verdicts then and are these your verdicts now?
UNIDENTIFIED JUROR: Yes, sir.
WALMSLEY: The injury has been polled.
Anything further from the defense?
RUBIN: No, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: From Greg McMichael?
FRANKLIN HOGUE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR GREG MCMICHAEL: No, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: From Mr. Bryan
KEVIN GOUGH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR WILLIAM "RODDIE" BYRAN: No, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: Ladies and gentlemen, what that means with the court having accepted your verdict, is that your role in this case is now at an end.
What we're going to do today is I'm going to have all of you, the panel and the three alternates, go ahead and retire to the jury room. I'm going to address a couple matters logistically with you in the jury room once we get done here. [13:45:08]
But before we do that and before I excuse you, I do want to thank you publicly for your service here in Glynn County.
It has been a long trial, and I appreciate the fact that you have been in attendance. You have listened to the evidence and that is what we ask in this court. It's a very simple ask in a very complex way. So it's appreciated.
When we all got together -- I say we all got together -- when we got together at different times, I said I was going to thank you a number of times and how I was going to tell you I do truly appreciate your time here.
Hopefully, you understand why I said that when we started.
I do also hope that you got a little bit of an insight into what goes on in a trial and maybe understand a little bit more of how important it is for members of our community to come down and be part of this process and serve as jurors in this community.
Again, thank you for that service. I'll address you all in a moment.
You are excused.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All rise for the jury
WALMSLEY: All right, it is this court's usual practice with regard to sentencing to go ahead and give everybody some time to put together what they need to put together for a full sentencing hearing.
I'm going to have to look at the schedule and see how that works with my schedule up in Chatham County and the schedule here in Glynn County. I'll get back to everybody about some dates and see what works with respect to dates.
That should give everybody an opportunity to put together whatever evidence may be shown in aggravation from the state or mitigation from the defense. Hopefully, we'll get to that in the next couple weeks.
Again, I'll make sure counsel knows what those dates are.
That addresses the open matter, then, before the court.
Anything from the state before we adjourn?
DUNIKOSKI: Nothing further from the state, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: From Travis McMichael?
RUBIN: No, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: From Greg McMichael?
HOGUE: No, Your Honor. WALMSLEY: And from Mr. Bryan?
GOUGH: No, Your Honor.
WALMSLEY: The defendants are asked to remain in the custody of the sheriff and we are adjourned.
Thank you.
CABRERA: There you have it, the breaking news, the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial. All three defendants found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in February of 2020.
Let me go back to former federal prosecutor Laura Coates.
And get your reaction first to this verdict, Laura.
LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This was absolutely the right call. And this is the essence of justice.
However, when you're talking about the loss of life of a 25-year-old jogger, whose mother has been inside that courtroom, whose father has been inside that courtroom, where the final thing that the jury saw was who Ahmaud Arbery was before he encountered these three men, three strangers, who felt entitled for him to stop.
Simply because they thought they had some authority to get somebody who was jogging to stop and talk to him. And when he didn't, they pulled out a shotgun and he was shot and killed.
Remember, in that video, which is so graphic and so horrible to look at, even then he tried to run and the adrenaline was kicking in and he fell again.
Remember, this is somebody who tried to run away for five minutes until he was cornered, could run no more.
And it was the idea of having all three men accountable.
Roddie Bryan said initially he was only a witness to the crime, but in reality the jurors were not persuaded by that. Although he did videotape it, he played an active role.
The father, Greg McMichael, who was in the back of the truck played an active role in pursuing.
Travis McMichael who was the person who actually shot him, played an active role.
But this case comes down to one, the absence of a viable claim of self-defense.
The idea that even when Travis McMichael took the stand and said, no, he never threatened me. No, I don't recall him trying to take the gun, no, he never shouted at me.
How could you possibly make a case at that point for self-defense.
More importantly, in the world of Georgia, they have a party to the crime, an expansive statute that says, look, if you aided and abetted in some way, the commission of a crime, you are as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger.
Here, Travis McMichael pulled the trigger. That is not in dispute. The other two men aided and abetted, hunting this man down.
[13:50:08]
Why? Because they wanted him to stop. Not because they had some viable color of law or authority, these are people who for all intents and purposes are laymen.
The prosecution did a phenomenal job ensuring that the jurors saw each of these men were culpable and there was no self-defense claim.
But I caution people when I say this, and I say this is justice in action. This is really a traumatic experience for this family, a traumatic experience for the nation. One in which justice could never fully be realized when you have the loss of someone's life.
But in Georgia, each of these three men, the men that away the life of somebody's son, somebody's loved one, a human being, they will now serve the rest of their lives in jail.
And, Ana, this is not the end of it. They now will have a federal hate crime trial.
And one more point if I can. A law was made about the racial composition of this jury. The idea there's only one black juror.
Many people thought, in a county of 27 percent of black people, and 25 percent from that pool, to have only one black juror, to have the defense counsel refuse to want to allow black pastors in the courtroom, criticism for the prosecution not raising race enough.
And 12 human beings recognized that a human being was hunted down and killed. Why? Because he was running. And according to that 911 call that the jurors wanted to hear, the emergency to these men was a black man running.
Now, this tells you a lot about what we perceive to mean about the jury pool, what we think about the composition of jurors.
But 12 human beings, 11 white, one black, came to the same conclusion of what they saw. A black man hunted down on the streets of Brunswick, Georgia.
Why? Simply because he existed and had the audacity to run and not stop when three white strangers told him they'd blow his head off if he didn't.
CABRERA: Laura Coates, stand by with me.
That was nine white women, three men, two of those men white, one of them black.
You talk about how this family has lived with this hole in their hearts as they have awaited this day and this verdict.
And we heard during that court proceeding, after the first guilty verdict was read, a woohoo in the courtroom. We've learned that came from the father of Ahmaud Arbery, who could not contain his emotion clearly when that verdict was delivered.
Let's go live to Sara Sidner on scene now outside the courthouse.
Sara, what can you tell us?
SIDNER: Look, I'm standing here with Ryan, who has been here throughout the trial from the very beginning now to the very end.
Both of us can hear loud chants just behind us. You're hearing people saying, "We got justice." That is the sentiment of the crowd outside.
As you mentioned, this jury was made up of nine white men, two white men and one black man but they all came up with a decision together. Almost all of the nine counts of each of these men they were found already.
There were a couple of charges that dropped off for Greg McMichael. The malice murder charge, they said not guilty but the other four they say guilty.
And William Bryan, he didn't pull a gun, he was with them, he did use his truck, but those charges that had to do with having a firearm, he did not face those charges.
But everything else, he faced. And that includes murder and aggravated assault.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I think the thing that stands out to both of us is the fact that it was also his cell phone that captured this video.
There was a lot of people who were upset in this community about the fact it took so long for these charges ever to be filed. This happened back in February of 2020. People were so angry about it. It took a GBI investigation to get to the point where the charges are now.
And then to have this community on edge all day. Walking around and talking to business leaders here, they were concerned about how this community was going to be bruised by the information that we've seen over and over again.
But then you think about it, something that Laura Coates brought up here is the end, the prosecution ended up zeroing in on that video. Just a few hours ago, when you popped up live, those jurors wanted to see that video again.
I can tell you, when you watch the video with nothing else but the video, it kind of shakes you. And they wanted to watch it three times in a row.
CABRERA: OK, guys, stand buy.
I want to go to Elie Honig now.
[13:54:59]
And, Elie, as I look at this form that you helped make in order to keep track of all of the verdicts -- because there were 27 different verdicts.
A reminder, it is interesting, Travis McMichael, he was the one who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery. He was found guilty on all nine counts.
His father, Greg McMichael, was found guilty on eight counts, but not malice murder but the felony murder charges.
And the third defendant, William Bryan, was found guilty on six counts, not guilty on a couple of murder counts but guilty other others.
So all three men were found guilty of murder. And that's the most important point to underscore here because the sentence is the same with all these murder charges, life in prison, right?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Exactly, Ana. Big picture, this is justice. This is justice for Ahmaud Arbery, for his family, for his parents who bore all of this with such grace and dignity.
The verdict itself, I think, reminds us that we had a full and fair and complete and careful criminal justice process here. This is how trials are supposed to work.
Your jurors are supposed to shut out all the noise, all the politics around this, and make their decision based solely on the facts and the law.
I think the verdict sheet shows that they were very careful. They didn't just say guilty across the board, not guilty across the board, they tailored the verdict to the facts.
And now all three of these men will spend life in prison.
CABRERA: OK, Elie, stand by.
Let me bring in Mark O'Mara.
You may recall, Mark, from the Trayvon Martin, the trial of Georgia Zimmerman. He represented George Zimmerman there in that trial. A much different outcome than we are seeing here.
Mark, first your thoughts about this verdict and this case.
MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm glad we have one. I had mentioned along the way that I was concerned because of the geography of where it was and the fact there were 11 whites on the panel. But we know from the verdicts that they deliberated well and they were
paying attention during the trial. They used the jury instructions the way they should have.
Because, if you look at it, as Elie just said, they looked at it and assigned responsibility appropriately to the three people involved.
Travis, of course, the first charged, the murder charge, the malice murder.
Dad, not the shooter but still heavily involved in leading to the death. He got that charge.
Roddy Bryan, less involved but still committed and involved with the felony murder that they had.
So I'm glad they took their time and walked through all of the verdicts the way they did. Because now it can be accepted as a well- educated and well thought out verdict.
Again, not only has justice been served for the Ahmaud Arbery family but the community and those who live in the criminal justice system.
Because the opposite verdict, a hung jury or one with an acquittal, would have been impossible to defend with the facts of this case.
CABRERA: Thank you, Mark. Stand by.
I want to bring in CNN political commentators, also a lawyer, Bakari Sellers.
Bakari, in the past year, we've talked so much about racial justice. This case happened prior to the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, but it had so many of the same threads that kind of all fall into that same bucket.
And we talk about the role race played in this case and the upcoming hate crime trial that these same defendants will face at a federal level. What do you think today's verdict means more broadly in that discussion?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I hate to push back on my colleagues today, who are much more brilliant than I and probably better lawyers than I.
I don't think today is about justice. I think Ahmaud Arbery being alive is justice. I think today is about something more fleeting for black people in this country and situations like this, which is accountability.
Today is a day, just like the Derek Chauvin trial, where you have accountability for people who hunt people down, murder them and don't give them the benefit of their humanity.
The unique thing today is we found out lynching is still legal in the United States of America. That's what we all saw. But we also know how difficult this journey was for this family to
even get to this day of accountability. We know how difficult it was to even bring charges against these individuals.
And so I believe that today is the day that this country needed. I don't want to say deserved, but needed, Ana, because the fact is, just imagine if we're sitting here talking about not guilty verdicts.
I believe that this country and our democracy is fundamentally fragile and hanging on by a thread. And I don't believe that a not guilty verdict today would have served as well as a country.
[13:59:58]
In fact, going into this holiday weekend, I think it would have torn this country apart. That's how fragile our democracy is. That's how tired and exhausting it is for people of color.
