Travis McMichael, convicted of murder for shooting Ahmaud Arbery, reversed his plan to plead guilty on a federal hate crime charge.
Travis McMichael reversed his plan to plead guilty in the federal case days after a U.S. District Court judge rejected terms of a plea deal between defense attorneys and prosecutors that was met with passionate objections by Arbery's parents. His father,in a legal filing late Thursday. Wood said jury selection in the hate crimes trial will begin Monday.
The McMichaels and a neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court last fall and sentenced to life in prison. Georgia lacked a hate crimes law at the time of the killing. The U.S. Department of Justice had them indicted on charges that the three white men violated Arbery's civil rights and targeted him because he was Black.
The deal would have required the McMichaels to admit to racist motives and forfeit the right to appeal their federal sentence.Wood rejected the deal Monday after Arbery's parents argued that conditions in federal prison wouldn't be as harsh. Wood said she ultimately denied the deal because it would have locked her into a specific sentence.
Prosecutors asked the judge to approve the plea deals despite the objections from Arbery's family. Prosecutor Tara Lyons said that attorneys for Arbery's parents had told the U.S. Justice Department that the family wouldn't object.Federal prosecutors thought it was important for them to get a confession, but Arbery's parents felt "betrayed." It appears the federal hate crimes trial will move forward.
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