Malicious murder and felony murder: Here’s what jurors determined during the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial

news7g11/25/2021

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Malicious murder and felony murder: Here's what jurors determined during the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial

Gregory McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr were convicted of four and three counts of felony murder, respectively. Gregory’s son, Travis McMichael, was also found guilty of multiple counts of murder and was the only of the three to be found guilty of malicious murder.

The difference between the charge of malicious murder and a felony have to do with intention, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said.

Malicious murder means that the jury determines that Travis McMichael, the defendant who shot Arbery, intended to kill Arbery and did, Honig said. The murder charges of Gregory McMichael and Bryan mean that they committed a felony intentionally.

Travis McMichael’s attorneys argued that he act in self-defence when shooting Arbery. The three men suspected Arbery of committing the theft and kicked him out of their car, before an altercation between Arbery and Travis McMichael was captured on video that resulted in Arbery’s death.

“The chase after him with the truck, the fake imprisonment – and as a result, whether they intended it or not, Ahmaud Arbery was killed and that made both his father and Roddie Bryan guilty of murder,” Honig said. .

Prosecutors in Ahmaud Arbery's killers trial explain why they trust the jury despite its racial structure

Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said during the trial that the men there are alternatives – including never pursuing Arbery or calling the police – but instead, they chose to pursue Arbery even as he repeatedly eluded them. They committed the more egregious assault with their truck — and the McMichaels, with their guns — while falsely attempting to detain Arbery, she said.

Criminal defense attorney Georgia Page Pate told CNN that the jury’s decisions between malice and felony murder have implications for him.

“In Georgia, malicious homicide, you mean to kill someone. Homicide doesn’t necessarily mean you want to kill someone, but you’re committing a felony and someone dies for it,” Pate said.

He said the ruling showed “it was the careful deliberation of the jury in the case.

“Let’s put the facts together with the law and come up with what we feel is the right verdict, and I think it’s the right judgment for this case,” said Pate.

The next stage moves to sentencing

Along with the murder charge, McMichaels was convicted including two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of willful felony in Arbery’s death.

Bryan was convicted of three counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of attempted felony. He was acquitted of malicious murder, one count of felony murder and one count of aggravated assault.

The men now face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole for each murder count, 20 years for each aggravated assault count, 10 years for false imprisonment and 5 years for each count. years for attempted felony.

Judge Timothy Walmsley will decide whether the sentences will be served consecutively or concurrently. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

McMichaels and Bryan also face separate federal hate crime charges in a test expected in February.

Federal prosecutors said after the April indictment that all three men “used force and the threat of force to intimidate and obstruct Arbery’s right to use public streets because of their race.” his.”

All three men pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

CNN’s Alta Spells, Devon M. Sayers, Angela Barajas and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.

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