Arbery Shooters' Lawyers Call For Due Process

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Travis (left) and Gregory McMichael

Defense attorneys for the father and son charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery said in a press conference Friday that there is more video of the shooting, though they did not elaborate.Defense attorneys for the men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death say their clients deserve due process, which lawyers for Arbery's family say he was denied.

Ahmaud Arbery, who was black, was jogging through a neighborhood outside Brunswick in February when two white men, Gregory and Travis McMichael, confronted him. They told police they suspected Arbery of recent break-ins.

In the ensuing struggle, Arbery was shot and killed.

That story and graphic video of the shooting made public last week have fueled outrage. They have also drawn comparisons to other killings of black men and boys for what defense attorney Frank Hogue called “the innocent act of walking or jogging down an American street while being black.”

But Hogue, who is representing Greg McMichael, said Friday that narrative does not fit Arbery’s death.

“Greg McMichael is not a party to the crime of murder," he said. "This is not some sort of hate crime fueled by racism.”

Hogue did not explain how this situation is different, but said the public does not have a complete picture.

“In just the few days that we've been Greg McMichael's lawyers, we have amassed witnesses, documents, videotape that tells a very different story,” Hogue said.

Hogue and the lawyers for Travis McMichael said their clients are still presumed innocent and deserve due process.

“Travis has a presumption of innocence; that presumption of innocence follows him from now throughout the course of this trial,” said attorney Jason Sheffield, who is representing Travis, in a separate press conference Thursday.

In a statement Thursday night, lawyers for Arbery’s family said, “We only wish that their client ... had provided that same presumption of innocence to Ahmaud Arbery before chasing and killing him.” 

The family’s attorneys on Friday gave new details about a surveillance recording of Arbery inside a house under construction on the day he died. They said the homeowner verified that Arbery took nothing while inside, except that he did drink some water from a sink before continuing on his jog.

Both McMichaels remain in jail. It’s unclear when pretrial hearings may happen because Georgia courts are mostly closed because of the coronavirus.