Georgia's citizen's arrest and self-defense laws are key to the defense strategy in the trial of the three white men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Here is a closer look at what the law says and the arguments attorneys are making.
Defense attorneys say Arbery lunged toward Travis McMichael and his gun, and that’s when Travis McMichael shot him.Greg McMichael told a police officer they chased Arbery to keep him from leaving the subdivision. He said they wanted “to hold him” until police could “come and you know, check him out.”
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said during her opening statement that Arbery was unarmed and gave the men no reason to suspect him of wrongdoing. They just assumed he had committed a crime, she said. There had long been a push to repeal it. Arbery’s shooting broadened a national outcry over racial injustice and prompted state lawmakers to act.
Though the repeal law has taken effect, the defense is able to cite the old law since it was in effect at the time of Arbery’s slaying.It is tragic that Arbery died, Rubin said. “But at that point, Travis McMichael is acting in self-defense. He did not want to encounter Ahmaud Arbery physically. He was only trying to stop him for the police,” Rubin said.
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