An attorney for William Roderick (“Roddie“) Bryan, the man who recorded the alleged murder of Ahmaud Arbery, filed a bitterly worded motion on Wednesday in an attempt to compel the State of Georgia to turn over evidence and documents for upcoming hearings. The attorney, Kevin Gough, also wants the right to subpoena witnesses.
“The State of Georgia adamantly refuses to disclose any information whatsoever about this case other than what it chooses to openly disclose or leak to the media,” Gough wrote.
He further complained that the state has “refuse[d] to disclose the identities or addresses where various law enforcement officers,” some whom he named, and some who remain unknown. “Defendant is entitled to the names and either the home addresses of these individuals or procedure by which they may be served at work.”
Bryan is charged with felony murder connected to an alleged criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. According to Bryan’s arrest warrant, authorities believe Bryan “attempt[ed] to confine and detain Ahmaud Arbery without legal authority, by attempting to confine . . . Arbery utilizing his vehicle on multiple occasions . . . with the intention of confining and detaining Arbery.” The 20-minute time frame between 1:00 and 1:20 p.m. on February 23 led up to the shooting of Arbery by Travis McMichael, 34. Gregory McMichael, 64, was in the pickup truck with his son at the time.
As to securing witnesses and information, Gough, the attorney, wrote to the judge overseeing the case that “[a]ttempts to amicably resolve such issues have been rejected by the State of Georgia.”
“Defendant requires this information instanter [at once] so that he may utilize compulsory process to produce witnesses for his bond hearing and other pre—indictment hearings as lo pending motions,” he said.
Bryan’s attorneys have filed a flurry of motions in the case since May. They have demanded a speedy trial. They have asked a judge to try to help stifle the speech of “individuals claiming to either speak for Ahmaud Arbery 0r his family, or to represent the family of Ahmaud Arbery” who “make malicious, prejudicial and inflammatory statements to the national media. They have filed requests to state authorities and county authorities to produce evidence in the case; demanded that evidence be preserved; sought to probe whether prosecutors were motivated by “improper bias or prejudice;” demanded that prosecutors treat Bryan as a cooperating witness, rather than a criminal; and filed not one, not two, not three, not four, but five separate motions in a few days’ time demanding Brady disclosures. (Brady is the case which generally requires prosecutors to give a defendant evidence which is favorable to him.) The defense has further argued that the prosecutor in the case was illegally appointed and that Bryan’s arrest warrant is defective.
READ the latest court document below.
William Bryan Motion to Compel – Ahmaud Arbery Case by Law&Crime on Scribd
[Image via the Glynn County, Ga. Sheriff’s Office.]