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Rittenhouse trial continues, jury set in Arbery trial despite objections

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Update (11/4/21): The jury for the trial of three Georgia men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery will consist of 1 Black juror and 11 white jurors. The final decision by Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley paves the way for opening statements to begin. The video above shows Walmsley’s decision, as well as reaction from Arbery’s aunt.

Prosecutors had raised objections that several Black potential jurors were cut because of their race on Wednesday. Arbery was black, and the three men accused of killing him are all white.

Judge Walmsley acknowledged that “intentional discrimination” by attorneys for the defendants appeared to have shaped jury selection. However, he said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene.

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Original Story (11/3/21): Jury selection for the trial of three Georgia men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery last February was halted Wednesday. Prosecutors argued defense attorneys had eliminated Black people from the jury pool because of their race. All three suspects are white, and Arbery was Black. The suspects are father and son Greg and Travis McMichael, as well as their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan.

By Wednesday, jury selection had been going on for more that two weeks. On Wednesday, attorneys on both sides narrowed a group of 48 potential jurors to a final jury of 12. Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski quickly challenged the final jury, noting that only one of the jurors was Black. The rest were white. Dunikoski also took issue with defense attorneys’ decision to strike eight specific Black jurors.

“The defense has not made a case as to why this juror and her opinions are any different than anyone else, Black or white,” Dunikoski said of one of the jurors. “She said the same thing almost every other juror said. So many had opinions. And they said they could put them aside.”

It’s important to note that a potential juror had written that Arbery was shot “due to his color” in her jury selection questionnaire. She also told attorneys during questioning that she felt the defendants were guilty. However, Dunikoski noted many prospective jurors expressed strong opinions about the case, but all of the final 48 said they could be impartial.

An attorney for Greg McMichael denied the eight Black panelists’ race was considered in decisions to strike them from the jury pool.

“We have a very clear selection process within the defense team, and the issue of race is not one of the factors,” Hogue said. “I can give you a race neutral reason for any one of these.”

Meanwhile, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse continued Wednesday. Prosecutors presented footage of a man chasing Rittenhouse and throwing a plastic bag at him just before Rittenhouse shot and killed the man. The video above also shows some of this footage. Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree homicide in the shooting deaths of two and the wounding of another during a night of anti-racism protests in Kenosha last year.

Someone is heard yelling “F— you!,” followed by the sounds of the four shots Rittenhouse fired. The shooting itself is not clearly seen on camera.

Other videos played for the jury showed Rittenhouse saying before the shootings that he was there to protect property and provide medical care to anyone who was hurt. In another video, Rittenhouse can be seen running through the frame, carrying a fire extinguisher. Shortly afterward, the video captures the sound of one gunshot. Authorities say that shot was fired into the air by someone in the crowd other than Rittenhouse.

Timothy Walmsley, Superior Court Judge: “The first of which, this court has found that there appears to be intentional discrimination in the panel. Well, that’s that prima facie case. And I guess before I get into this, one of the challenges that I think counsel recognize in this case is the racial overtones in the case. And those can’t, at least here without the jury present, based on the questioning, we have not been able to escape those discussions with the panel. And they’ve just come up in a lot of different contexts. So, you know, this is sort of a continuation of a conversation that I think will continue for a long time with respect to this case and maybe many others. And so we start getting into this question about race. And again, quite a few African-American jurors were excused through preemptory strikes exercised by the defense. But that doesn’t mean that the court has the authority to reseat simply again, because there’s this prima facie case, because we see it sort of one of those.. It’s not one of those ‘we see it, therefore it is. There’s now additional steps the court needs to engage in.”

Thea Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery’s aunt: “I wasn’t surprised. That’s just some of what we’ve already been facing in this case. Just another of the injustices that we see here in Glynn County. Not just with this case, but with many. So it’s just another part of what we face every day.”

Thomas Binger, Prosecutor, questioning Koerri Washington, who had been livestreaming unrest: “It’s hard to catch of the very second, but at any rate, Mr. Washington, we now know. Perfect. Excellent. We now know that that is the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, running through the screen carrying a fire extinguisher. You would agree with me on that. Correct?”

Washington: “Yes.”

Binger “OK.”

Koerri Washington, witness who had been livestreaming unrest: “I don’t know. He just kind of young to me. And he had these gloves on and he was smoking cigarettes and stuff. So I was, I don’t know. I kind of was, kind of seemed like an interesting figure. So I just took a mental note of that. It wasn’t anything I want to say malicious. I just, you know, a young person in a situation. Honestly, I would say it was mainly the gloves. I didn’t know why he had the gloves on. It kind of stood out.”

Corey Chirafisi, Rittenhouse’s attorney questioning Koerri Washington, who had been livestreaming unrest: “Do you recognize that person right there?”

Washington: “That’s the defendant, correct?”

Chirafisi “Yes, that’s Mr. Rittenhouse, agreed?”

Thomas Binger: “Yes”

Chirafisi: “Does he, during this time that you saw him, does he appear to be aggitated or irritated to you?”

Washington: “Right there it looks like he’s just kind of standing looking around.”

Chirafisi: “OK.”

Chirafisi: “Would you describe Rosenbaum as erratic, and if this is fair and Rittenhouse as chain smoking, yes?

Washington:  “I suppose you could say, nervous, I guess, would be a fairer way to say it. He seemed nervous in the situation.”

Martin Howard, Kenosha Detective: “The first shooting takes place at the 63rd Street and Sheridan Road Car Source on the south end of our map here. That is where Mr. Rittenhouse shoots four times at Mr. Rosenbaum.

Thomas Binger, prosecutor, questioning Martin Howard, Kenosha Detective: “In this this video, we see center left Joseph Rosenbaum.”

Howard: “Yes.”

Binger “And in his right hand is a plastic bag. Is that correct?”

Howard “Yes.”

Binger: “And again, Detective Howard, does that show the plastic bag that Mr. Rosenbaum was carrying around on the evening of August 25th, 2020?”

Howard: “That’s what it appears to be, yes.”

Binger: “All right.”

Binger: “At any point in any of those videos, is there any indication that Mr. Rosenbaum had any weapon of any kind?”

Howard: “No.”

Binger: “No gun?”

Howard: “I can only see a plastic bag that he’s carrying.”

Binger: “So no gun?

Howard: “No”

Binger: “No knife.”

Howard: “No.”

Binger: “No bat?”

Howard: “No.”

Binger: “No club?”

Howard: “No.”