On Wednesday, attorneys for Greg and Travis McMichael, two of the three men involved in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, asked a pre-trial judge to allow Arberyβs past arrests into evidence because apparently the victimβs past is supposed to shed some kind of light on why he fought back against his attackers lynchers pursuers instead of heeding the non-existent authority of armed white men who chased him through the Glynn County, Ga., neighborhood. On Thursday, those same defense attorneys asked that same judge to exclude thousands of hours of jailhouse phone calls made by the McMichaels because apparently whatβs good for the victim-blamed goose is not good for the white supremacist gander.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in one phone call, Greg is reportedly heard asking his brother, βYouβve heard the saying that no good deed goes unpunished?β in reference to the incident that left Arbery fatally shot, which he appeared to call βa shining example.β Their attorneysβwho think itβs of the utmost importance that jurors hear about every time Arbery got angry at police officersβargued that the elder McMichaelβs words might be taken out of context.
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From AJC:
Attorney Franklin Hogue, who represents Greg McMichael, said his clientβs comment about good deeds going unpunished would be taken out of context by prosecutors.
βThe state believes he is saying the good deed was killing Ahmaud Arbery, but that is not what he meant,β Hogue said. βHe meant the good deed was patrolling his neighborhood and the punishment is him now being in jail charged with his death.β
Hogue argued that admitting the phone calls into evidence would violate his clientβs right to due process.
βItβs not illegal activity to talk about your case with a family member,β he said.
Except, neither Greg nor Travis McMichael is in jail for βpatrolling his neighborhood.β Theyβre in jail because a man ended up dead after they chased him around and blocked him several times from leaving the area, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent Richard Dial.
βI believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued, and he ran till he couldnβt run anymore, and it was turn his back to a man with a shotgun or fight with his bare hands against the man with the shotgun. He chose to fight,β Dial testified last June. βI believe Mr. Arberyβs decision was to just try to get away, and when he felt like he could not escape, he chose to fight.β
The McMichaelsβ defense team would have jurors hear that Arberyβs choosing to fight was a sign of his alleged mental illness.
More from AJC:
Attorneys also resumed their debate over admitting Arberyβs mental health records. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley says he will review them under seal to determine whether they should be used during the trial.
Attorney Jason Sheffield, representing Travis McMichael, argued Wednesday that Arberyβs mental illness βcaused him to do and say and behave in very particularized ways.β Because of that, Arbery was the actual aggressor, Sheffield said, even though the McMichaels were armed and Arbery was not.
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski questioned the quality of Arberyβs diagnosis, noting it was made by a registered nurse following a two-hour assessment.
Arbery should have an expectation of privacy about those records, even in death, Dunikoski said.
The prosecution also argued that jail phone calls are a privilege, not a right and that the McMichaelsβ calls shouldnβt be shielded from jurors.
Itβs unclear when there will be a ruling on whether the phone calls or Arberyβs mental health diagnosis will be heard by jurors. As we previously reported, the judge allowed both the defense and prosecution 20 to 40 days to present written arguments regarding jurors hearing of Arberyβs past arrests.
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