Laura Hogue, attorney for defendant Gregory McMichael, on Monday statement in court that Ahmaud Arbery was a “recurring intruder” who repeatedly trespassed while entering an open construction site in the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Georgia, where Arbery was fatally shot.
“The victimization of Ahmaud Arbery after the choices he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long and dirty toenails. there,” Hogue said.
Arbery’s autopsy report noted the condition of his toenails. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, left the courtroom after Hogue’s remarks, saying, “I have to get out of here.”
She told reporters on the steps of the courthouse after the proceedings, “No matter what toenail he has, what size foot he has, it’s still my son, and my son is really racing for it. his life according to that description. I think so. was dismissed as just rude.”
Race was a major focus throughout the trial, with Arbery being Black and the three defendants and 11 of the 12 juries being white. Ben Crump, the attorney for Arbery’s father, suggested that race played a role in Arbery’s death.
“They have dozens of other people visiting the house, no one chases them, no one says they’ve stolen the house, why is that?” Crump said after Monday’s hearing, discussed the home under construction that the defendants believe Arbery entered and robbed.
Cooper-Jones later told CNN’s John Berman that the defense was just trying to dismiss the fact that they “didn’t have solid evidence” to convict.
“So they’re really going to use whatever means to get it, to get conviction, which they don’t have there,” she said.
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