From top left, counter-clockwise: Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, William Bryan
A significant court hearing is set to take place in the cases of the three men charged in the alleged murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. Glynn County Magistrate Court Judge Wallace E. Harrell scheduled a preliminary hearing for Thursday, June 4, according to court clerk Luetrice Lott in an Associated Press report. The judge is set to decide if there was enough evidence to charge the suspects.
Travis McMichael, 34, was arrested as the shooter. He and his father Gregory McMichael, 64, both face a count each of murder and aggravated murder. William “Roddie” Bryan, 50, who recorded the incident, is charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Arbery was shot and killed on February 23. At the time, the elder McMichael told police that he and his son had confronted Arbery because they believed he was the suspect in a recent string of break-ins. His family said he had been jogging. There were no immediate arrests until months later, when video leaked and fueled a national outcry.
The case is on its fourth prosecutor. The first two stepped down, citing conflict of interests with Gregory McMichael, a former investigator for the Brunswick District Attorney.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Arbery’s father Marcus Arbery Sr., called the death a “modern-day lynching.”
Ahmaud Arbery’s murder was caught on video! It’s graphic but must be shared. @BenCrumpLaw will be representing Ahmaud’s father Marcus Arbery as we seek justice in this modern-day lynching. Everyone must know the truth! #JusticeforAhmaudArbery pic.twitter.com/y4kBgRJ8X6
— Benjamin Crump, Esq. (@AttorneyCrump) May 5, 2020
Attorneys for the McMichaels insist on their clients’ innocence.
“Given the daily onslaught over the last several weeks of new information — some credible, some not so credible — you must also know how much work there still is to be done,” attorney Laura Hogue, one of the lawyers who represents Gregory McMichael, said in a press conference, according to CBS News. “But significantly, we know several other critically important facts. Those facts point to a very different narrative than the one that brings you all here today. Those facts will be revealed where all facts that matter are revealed: in a courtroom.”
Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough has been said that his client passed a so-called “lie detector” test, though polygraphs are not admitted in court.
[Mugshot via Glynn County]
