Ahmaud Arbery Death Trial Day 4 - Prosecution Opening Statement by Linda Dunikoski

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Now, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes my preliminary instructions, and we are now ready for the lawyers to give their opening statements. Is the state ready to proceed? [00:00:08] Speaker 2: Yes, Judge. The state is ready. [00:00:30] Linda Donacassi: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Linda Donacassi, and I, along with Larissa Olivier and Paul Camarillo, represent the people of the state of Georgia and the citizens of Glen County. Why are we here? We are here because of assumptions and driveway decisions. A very wise person once said, don't assume the worst of another person's intentions until you actually know what's going on with them. Don't assume the worst with what they intend to do. But in this case, all three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions. Not on facts, not on evidence, on assumptions. And they made decisions in their driveways based on those assumptions that took a young man's life. And that is why we are here. So, ladies and gentlemen, what's going to happen now is the state is going to give you its opening statement. I'm going to do this in a couple different parts. The first part is I'm going to talk about the indictment and the charges in the indictment. Then we're going to talk about some housekeeping issues that relate to how evidence is going to come to you in this particular case. We're going to talk about who the parties are, where this happened, and then exactly what led up to February 23rd of 2020 in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. So, first off, the burden is on the state to prove to you these charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Now, that is the doubt of a fair-minded and impartial juror honestly seeking the truth. Not seeking doubt. And it's not beyond all doubt or any mathematical certainty. But the burden is on the state. And the defendants have been indicted with the first count, which is murder. We call that malice murder. What's malice murder? That's intent to kill. Now, the state does not have to prove premeditation, planning. We're not required to prove motive about why anybody did anything. But malice is something that can be formed in an instant. And a fatal, mortal wound can be blown or can be shown. So, in this case, the defendants have been indicted as parties to a crime for malice murder, intent to kill that was instantly formed. In addition, they've been charged with four counts of felony murder based on the four underlying felonies in the indictment. Now, what's felony murder? Felony murder is where you're committing a felony. And someone dies because of the felony you're committing. A classic example, of course, is a guy goes into a drugstore to hold up the clerk, right? He's not there to murder the clerk. He's there to hold the clerk up. But during that armed robbery, it goes bad and he kills the clerk. I don't know, Jack, this is not a good statement. [00:03:50] Speaker 4: This is analogies and explanation of the law. If you can state the law, I have no problem with that. But to go beyond that is not a problem for opening statement. [00:04:00] Speaker 1: The jury's been charged on what an opening statement is. Again, ladies and gentlemen, I've just explained to you that this is the overview of the case that will be presented by the defense law at the same opportunity. Again, the law will be charged. That's a very legal term. The court's going to give you all of the law in this case, as I've already explained at the end. The state is now explaining its position with regard to the case. If we could make sure that it is considered in that light from the state. [00:04:31] Linda Donacassi: Thank you, Judge. These are the charges in the indictment, which are felony murder. And it's committing a felony, not with intent to kill, but someone dies during that felony. So what felonies are we actually talking about here? Well, we're talking about aggravated assault with a shotgun. Because in this case, the state is going to show you and prove that Travis McMichael brought a shotgun. And then he pointed it at Mr. Arbery. And then he pulled the trigger. And he killed him. During that aggravated assault. Aggregated assault with pickup trucks. Both Travis McMichael and Greg McMichael were in a white F-150 pickup truck that they used to cut off Mr. Arbery. To go at him. To get him to stop. Mr. Bryan used his Chevy Silverado. To go at Mr. Bryan. And to force him down into a ditch. As he ran on the public roadways. Of Sotilla Shores. That's aggravated assault with a 5,000 pound lethal weapon. Otherwise known as a pickup truck. False imprisonment. That is where you detain somebody in violation of their personal liberty. You hold them. Or in the words of Greg McMichael. You trap them like a rat. And then we have criminal attempt at false imprisonment. And criminal attempt at false imprisonment in this case took place on Burford. Within the Sotilla Shores neighborhood. When both the McMichaels and defendant Bryan attempted to confine Mr. Arbery on Burford. And that's criminal attempt. So a little housekeeping. Once again, our court reporter here is not going to be able to provide you with any transcripts. That's why taking the notes is so very important. I wanted to keep you informed that witnesses may be called out of order. The witnesses are going to come here and they're going to take the witness stand. We're going to try and put them up in order so you understand the sequencing. But you're also going to have some witnesses that they're going to give you some evidence. And you're going to be thinking, well, how does this relate to something later? That's why you want to take notes. Because you'll be like three witnesses later. You'll think, oh, I get it now. So it'll connect up. Witnesses are going to use reports. A lot of the witnesses are Glenn County police officers, GBI people. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a memory contest. That's not what this is about. So this isn't television. This isn't, aha, you can't remember. No. These are professional people. They've done a bunch of cases since then. Like, for instance, the medical examiner. Yes, he performed the autopsy on February 24, 2020. He's going to come up here and he's going to use his report. That's fine. He wants you to have the best information you possibly can because you're the finders of fact. So using reports is fine. Using transcripts is fine. In this particular case, some witnesses, I'm sure you can imagine, are going to be nervous. Remember jury selection? They're going to be nervous when they come in here and take the stand. And a lot of them do not want to be here. So a number of them gave statements. And if they take the stand and they can't recall or they say something different than what they previously said, one of the attorneys, it could be any of the attorneys, make love to them and go, well, could it help refresh your recollection? You looked at your transcript. Is that going to help you? But you said back in 2020. That's perfectly fine, too. In addition, as the judge said, we've got some videos that we can't play for you. We just can't. Rules of evidence. So, for instance, at the scene, the first responding officer, Officer Minshew, had a body cam on. And he talked to Defendant Brian. But what Minshew will do is Minshew will come in here and he'll take the stand and he's going to have the transcript of that body cam interview. And what he's going to do is he's going to tell you what Mr. Brian said about what Mr. Brian did. And because of the rules of evidence, we can't play the whole thing for you. But you will get those statements that are important. I just want you to be aware of that. When those officers come in, that's the reason they're going to use the transcript from the body cam. Because sometimes those quotes are important. And the state wants those quotes and the defense wants those quotes. And that's why they're being given to you. The state is also going to make every effort to put up relevant witnesses. We're not bringing in a whole bunch of people who don't know anything about anything. We're going to try and bring you only those relevant witnesses who have some relevant evidence to present. All right, ladies and gentlemen, enough with housekeeping. So who are we talking about in this case? Well, this is 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. Now, this photo was taken when he was much younger. But this is who he is. He lived over at 140 Boykin Ridge Drive. Lived with his mother. He was also a brother. He was an uncle. And he was an avid runner. The evidence that he was an avid runner is you're going to be able to see his shoes, his Nike shoes, where he basically almost had absolutely no tread left on them whatsoever. So, ladies and gentlemen, who else do we have? We have Travis McMichael, seated right over here. Thirty-four years old at the time of this. Worked at Medicine Marine. Lived at 230 Sotilla Drive with his parents, Greg McMichael and Steve McMichael. He is not, and was not, a law enforcement officer at the time of this incident. Greg McMichael, 64 years old at the time of the incident. A retiree living over at 230 Sotilla Drive. At the time of this incident, not a law enforcement officer. And then we have Defendant Brian, who goes by the name Roddy. So, when people talk about him, you'll hear Roddy. Sixty-four years old as well. A mechanic living at 307 Burford in the Sotilla Shores neighborhood. At the time of this incident, not a law enforcement officer. So, where are we talking about, ladies and gentlemen? Well, we're talking about Exit 29 off of I-95 coming south, right? U.S. 17 goes east toward Brunswick. It's the Sotilla Shores subdivision. And we have these two addresses. So, what are we really talking about? Here's an overview. So, when we look at this overview, what we have here is we have our – oh, seriously? Now, I have no idea what I've done to it. I've made it and stayed touching it. There we go. So, we have the expressway up here. This is 17 coming down here. Royal Oats. Here, we've got Fancy Bluff, and this is Sotilla Shores right there. So, we look at it. That's the area that we're talking about. Here we have where Mr. Arbery's residence is in relationship to the scene where he was killed. So, as you can see, he's off of here at 95 and 17 in the Fancy Bluff neighborhood off of Boykin Ridge Drive. Here's a house under construction. Here's a house under construction. Here's the scene where it took place. It's really about 1.8 miles. It's under 2.5, but it's about 1.8 miles from his house to the scene of the house under construction. This is another overview of the neighborhood from a different direction. Once again, if you go this way, you're heading towards I-95. If you go this way, you're heading basically into Brunswick. Here's the Sotilla Shores neighborhood. This is one of two ways to get into the neighborhood. The other way is way over here. There is no other exit out of the neighborhood at all. Just right here. So, we talked about the defendants and where they decide. So, first off, we have the blue circle. If you can see it, the blue circle is 230 Sotilla Drive, where the McMichaels live. The red circle is where the homicide took place. And the other blue circle is where Mr. Bryan's house is on Burford Drive. So, you can kind of see. Sotilla Drive kind of comes in, and then it goes into Burford Drive that way at that sort of weird V intersection. There's 230 Sotilla Drive in relationship to the homicide location. There's 307 Burford in relationship to the homicide location. So, once again, there are three main locations that we're going to be talking about. We are also going to be talking about 220 Sotilla Drive. A lot of us will be using shorthand 220. It is an open, unsecured construction site. The land is owned, not by any of the defendants, no, by Larry and Amy English. It's under construction, and it's wide open. There's no front door. There's no back door. There's no garage door. There's no garage door on the boat. Completely and utterly wide open. And it had been this way for over a year because Larry English was trying to act as a general contractor and finish the housing's up. This open, unsecured construction site has absolutely no trespassing signs on it. None whatsoever. It also has no fence around the property at all. So, where is it? It's at 220. There's 230. So, ladies and gentlemen, what you have is you have 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, and then 230, which is the McMichaels house. In addition, one of the things I want to point out to you is you may have heard some of the names of the witnesses in this case. So, right across this street right here is Jones Road, and you've got Ronnie Olson, Sue B. Lawrence, and Albenze, Matt Albenze's house. You can't really see them because of all the trees, but here's the open construction site. This is Jones Road, Ronnie Olson, Sue B. Lawrence, and right here, Matt Albenze. This is what it looks like. You can see it. No front door, no rear door, open garage doors. 220, it's a total job. Now, Larry English will tell you because here's the thing. Larry English has health issues. So, Larry English is not going to be here to testify. Larry English gave a deposition. All right, you will see that deposition because it was videotaped. And Larry English is going to tell you that he met the McMichaels only a few times, like one or two times. However, Greg McMichael in his statement says that he doesn't even know Larry English. McMichaels had never been given permission to be at 220, nor had they ever received a warning not to be there. Larry English is going to tell you that there were lots of looky-loos. And Larry English had started to have concerns about liability. You know why? Because somebody told him that kids were starting to go out on his dock in the back. So, we're talking about 2019, right? So, Larry English is thinking, okay, I'm building this house under construction. I got this issue, okay, with these kids. So, he starts to get cameras. Here's the thing. The other thing Larry English is going to tell you is nothing had ever been stolen from the construction site in 2019 or 2020. Larry English is going to tell you that nothing had ever been stolen from the construction site in 2019 or 2020. What he is going to tell you is that sometime during late October of 2019, sometime November of 2019, he is over at the construction site and he gets on a ladder and he looks down and he sees inside of his boat and he's like, oh, some stuff's missing. Oh, some stuff has been stolen out of his boat. So, some stuff has been stolen out of his boat and it's expensive stuff. We're talking like $2,500 worth of stuff that's stolen out of his boat. He's upset, but here's the problem. This boat had been back and forth to Douglas because Larry English lives two hours away from Satilla Shores. Larry English lives two hours away. So, one of the reasons he went and got these cameras was he wanted to be able to see what was going on if the kids were on the dock. And these cameras would do motion and activate it. And they'd come up and they'd do a little 10-second, 30-second video of what the person was doing on his phone two hours away. So, then, two hours away, he'd have to call 911 if someone was on that video. But here's the thing. He's gone back and forth to Douglas with his boat. So, he doesn't call the police to report this because he doesn't know when his items were stolen. He doesn't know where his items were stolen. Were they stolen when it was in Douglas? Was it stolen when it was at 220 Satilla Drive? And he doesn't know who took it. And here's the thing. He goes through a list of suspects in his head. He's thinking it's his contractors. You know, the MC guys were probably doing this. Then it's, oh, it's those looky-loos. Some people have been on my property. Then, he's thinking, wait a second. When I parked it in Douglas, there were these four teenagers going through this parking lot. So, he's got all these different theories. He has no idea who actually did steal his stuff out of his boat. And he only discovered it in the early part of November of 2019. So, October of 2019 comes. And he's got these concerns about liability. And he's concerned about the kids on the dock. And he installs cameras in the dock area. He does. And what happens? He gets a looky-loos. On October 25th, 2019, at 10.04 in the evening, Mr. Arbery is seen on the dock video. You're going to get to see it. Okay? He's on the dock. He's wandering around. He does not take anything. He doesn't steal anything. He's wandering around on this dock, looking around. And Larry English calls 911 to report it. The thing is, Mr. Arbery leaves by the time 911 shows up. He's gone. Because he always spends a few minutes looking around, wandering around. And then he leaves. But Larry English calls 911. You'll be able to hear that 911 call. Then we have November 17th of 2019. At 10.21 p.m. We have a white couple that show up together, a man and a woman. And they're carrying a bag. So Larry English calls 911. And he's like, I think these are the people who stole my stuff. They're carrying a bag. I think they're there to go ahead and steal some more of my stuff. Must the police to go? Of course, this white couple also leaves before the police arrive. But they are the people at this point in time that Larry English is suspecting. Oh, they've stolen my stuff. Then what do we have? November 18th at 6.53. The very next night, Mr. Arbery is back. He's now on video inside the house. So what Larry English did is he headed out to the dock with the cameras. He's now installed inside the house some cameras. So up it comes. It's Mr. Arbery. Here's the funny thing about that 911 call. When Mr. English calls 911 on November 18th, he starts talking about the white couple. I called last night. And there was this white couple. And I think they're the ones who stole my stuff. That's what he says in the 911 call about Mr. Arbery. And then we have Larry English calling 911 on December 1st of 2019. He's calling because word on the street, or the rumor mill, or hearsay, however you want to say it, he gets information that the white couple is now living under the Fancy Bluff Bridge. Okay? So remember that big overview? You saw 17? The Fancy Bluff Bridge is just right there as you head towards Brunswick. So he wants the police to go out there and check out whether that white couple is still living, homeless, underneath the Fancy Bluff Bridge, because he's gotten some word on the street rumor to that effect. But he calls 911 to have the police go check it out. Then we have December 17th of 2019. By this point in time, Mr. English has gotten Officer Rache's personal cell phone number, or not personal cell phone number, but his cell phone number, to call him. So on December 17th, his camera phone thing goes off. Oh, somebody's over there. Okay? Mr. Arbery's at the open, unsecured construction site. He's there for a few minutes, and the actual time when he got there is unknown, because Mr. English didn't call 911. He called Officer Rache. And ladies and gentlemen, here's what Mr. English saw on his video for December 19th of 2019. That's it, Mr. Arbery's wandering around inside. Doesn't take anything, doesn't steal anything, doesn't damage anything. Here's another camera angle, same night. All right. Doesn't take anything, doesn't steal anything. And so Larry English calls Officer Rache. But here's the problem. Officer Rache isn't working that night. So Officer Rache is like, I'm off duty. I'm not in the neighborhood. I'm not in my patrol car to come and respond. So he basically says to him, listen, call 911. Call the police. And at that point, before Larry English can do that, this is what happens. I'm going to replay that. If that was a little weird, it was not as smooth as it should have been. And there's Mr. Arbery jogging off. Now, it's a little hard to see here. I don't want to point this out because it's up to the top of the screen here. This is the view out the front. So Ronnie Olson's house is over here. Where these mailboxes are, that's the street down Jones. And once again, these lights are Sue B. Lawrence's house. So you saw that Mr. Arbery ran off on his jog towards Sue B. Lawrence's house and then into the neighborhood. Okay? So into the neighborhood. In other words, down towards the McMichaels household. What happens next is this. On January 1st of 2020, bright, sunshiny, cold day, 1030 a.m., 54 days prior to the homicide, Travis McMichaels' handgun is stolen out of his unlocked pickup truck in front of 230 Satilla Drive. Greg McMichael went and moved it. He left it unlocked. And somebody came along. It's unsolved. And there's absolutely no evidence that Mr. Arbery is the one who went and stole Travis McMichael's handgun in broad daylight on January 1st of 2020. But this happened and Travis McMichael called up. That brings us to February 11th of 2020. At 7.30 p.m., this is 12 days before the murder. So what happens on February 11th, 2020? Travis McMichael goes out in his car. He's coming back in to the neighborhood. And he sees Mr. Arbery at the location. Why does he recognize him? Because guess what Larry English has been doing in the meantime? Larry English has been talking to his neighbor, Diego Perez. Remember how we talked about 220, 222, 224? At 224 is a man named Diego Perez. And his wife, Brooke Perez, and they're kids. They all live there. And Larry English has been sharing these videos that you're going to see, that I just showed you, with Diego Perez. And Diego Perez has been going around sharing them with other neighbors. Because they're trying to identify who this guy is so somebody can tell him, please stop coming. Please stop showing up at night because we have to call the police. And the police show up and then nobody's there. So, these videos have been shared and people have seen them. So, Travis McMichael, who knows about this, not personally knows about it. This is all hearsay, word on the street. You know, he's seen these videos. Hasn't talked to Larry English personally. But he goes ahead and goes past the house. This is his neighbor's house, right? Okay. He's concerned. He sees somebody out in front of it. He actually stops and puts some headlights on him. You can actually see the headlights in the video. And at that point, he goes ahead and goes home. So, Travis McMichael goes home, gets his dad, Greg McMichael. They both get their guns, get back in the truck, and go back down the open, unsecured construction site. And that's when Travis McMichael calls 911. But here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. In this case, nobody has ESP. Nobody can read minds. Nobody can tell what's happening. Because in the meantime, when the camera went off, guess what Larry English did? He didn't call the police. Larry English called Diego Perez. Okay. So, what we've got is we've got Travis going down to his house. They're getting their stuff, getting their guns, coming back, calling 911. In the meantime, Diego Perez is coming out. Okay. Because he's been called by Larry English. And then the police show up. So, you've got all these people out in this neighborhood. And don't get me wrong. Property crimes, people are concerned. Nobody likes to live in a neighborhood where there are property crimes, right? People are very concerned about property crimes. But this is basically what happens is Officer Rash shows up with two other officers. You've got all the neighbors out there and everybody's looking around. Well, here's the thing. What does Mr. Arbery do? He shows up. He wanders around for a few minutes and he leaves. So, by the time Travis has gone down and gotten his dad, by the time Diego Perez has been called, Mr. Arbery has left. He's not there. But this is what's really important, ladies and gentlemen. Officer Rash has a conversation with Greg and Travis McMichael that evening about this person who's unknown to them, who is wandering around inside the open, unsecured construction site. And this is on body cam video. And this is what is said. [00:30:22] Speaker 5: It's got adults. It's black right there. They, as a matter of fact, [00:30:30] Speaker 2: don't forget. [00:30:39] Linda Donacassi: I'm going to back it up. It appears that my, the computer's trying to catch up with itself. [00:30:43] Speaker 2: I'm going to try this again. [00:30:45] Speaker 5: Don't drop out of a driveway. There's blacks right there. Is that right? Don't drop out of a driveway. [00:30:49] Speaker ?: There's blacks right there. [00:30:55] Speaker 5: There's some blacks right there. There's some blacks right there. There's some blacks right there. [00:31:13] Speaker ?: There's some blacks right there. [00:31:17] Speaker 5: Hey, you're out. I'm here for actual... [00:31:25] Speaker 1: Unless, well, whatever. There's a kid's camera. [00:31:29] Speaker ?: I don't know if it's boyfriend. [00:31:31] Speaker 2: I don't know if it's... I don't know if it's... [00:31:35] Speaker 1: Why don't you stop it for a second? [00:31:37] Speaker 2: I don't know if it's... I don't know if it's... I don't know if it's... [00:31:43] Linda Donacassi: Let me give it one more try. It seems we're catching up with the zombies. [00:31:47] Speaker 1: Let's just give it a moment to see whether or not it... It actually loads. I think it's a video that's embedded in the PowerPoint. [00:31:57] Speaker 2: It is embedded in the PowerPoint just to show the one clip. And it seems the PowerPoint's having a little trouble with the volume and the sound loading up. Ah, technology. [00:32:11] Speaker 4: Is it on the disc or is it on the television? It's on the disc. It used to be on the television. Perhaps it would be a good time for the morning, right? Different area in each minute. Okay. Let's finish opening for the state. [00:32:39] Speaker ?: Yeah. [00:32:39] Speaker 5: Sure. Okay. All right. [00:32:42] Speaker 2: I'm actually just going to move on because I'm going to tell you what was said. [00:32:48] Linda Donacassi: The problem is, ladies and gentlemen, if I try and find this exact little clip in an hour's worth of body cam video, we're going to be another 15 minutes, so I'm not going to do it. I'm just going to tell you what was said. Officer Rash is standing there, and you know what he says to the McMichaels? He says, I'm talking to Mr. English right now, and he sent me some videos, and Mr. English says that this guy has never stolen or taken anything from this property. So the McMichaels at this point in time are fully informed that the owner of the house has informed law enforcement that Mr. Arbery has never taken anything from this property. They know this. Craig McMichael, of course, pipes up and says, well, it's at least criminal trespass. A misdemeanor. Okay. And at that point, Officer Rash goes, well, it's probably boitering and prowling. Okay. Also a misdemeanor. And this is the discussion they're having out in front of this particular house about the fact that Mr. Arbery has never taken anything, that the videos have been sent to Officer Rash. Officer Rash has looked at him, and Officer Rash says, well, it looks like he's just plundering around in there. They're wandering around inside there. At no time on this video do you hear the words, burglary or attempted burglary. No one's talking about a burglary or an attempted burglary with Officer Rash. They're actually out there trying to figure out, because Officer Rash actually says, nobody knows who this guy is. We're trying to make contact with this guy to tell him to please stop coming back. But at no time did McMichaels, Officer Rash, or anyone talk about burglary. It's all about criminal trespass. It's all about loitering and prowling. And that's what they know 12 days before the homicide. What they know, for the owner and the police, is that there's no evidence that Mr. Arbery has committed any felony or effect at this location. And what's his routine? I'm talking about Mr. Arbery. What's his routine? October 25th, evening, shut up, wandered around. November 18th, evening, shut up, wandered around, open, unsecured construction site. December 17th, yeah. Inside, wandered around for a few minutes, ran off into the Still Ashores neighborhood before Larry English get off the phone with Rash and call 911 about it. Right? Now, here's the thing about Larry English. He doesn't keep the daytime photos. He only kept the evening photos or the evening videos that he sent to Officer Rash. So, we don't have or know how many times Mr. Arbery went into the open, unsecured construction site without a problem during the day. We don't know. Because none of those videos were kept. But right now, what's important is what Frederick Michael and Travis McMichael knew about this young man. And what they knew is that there was no evidence that he committed any felony or theft at the construction site, per the owner and per the police. And that brings us to what? February 23rd of 2020, a Sunday at 1:08 in the afternoon. Mr. Arbery is on video from Ronnie Olson's house across the street. Yep. Ronnie Olson's not one. But this is just unmanned video he's got. Mr. Arbery walks up in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon to the open, unsecured construction site. And he stands there in the front yard. And he's looking around. And he's looking around. And he's looking around. He's looking around. He's looking at the house. He goes over this way. He goes over that way. He's out in front of it for a number of seconds. And he's seen by Matthew Albence. Who lives down Jones Road. Remember I showed us the mailboxes? His mailbox is there. So he's out there with his wood chipper, right? And he's doing some stuff. And he notices, you know, this young man out in front. And he knew, because everybody's sharing these videos, you know, this is kind of a problem. We've got these looky-loos, right? So, at the Olsen video, the one thing I really want you to know when you watch the Olsen video is the time is off by an hour and five minutes. The time is off by an hour and five minutes. When you see the Olsen video, it's not the right time. We're talking about 1:08 in the afternoon. Broad daylight. Sunny day. Now we have Larry English's video. So, Mr. Arbery, guess what he's doing again inside the 220 location? That's what he's doing. Walking around. Looking around. Doing this. Okay? Doesn't take anything. Doesn't damage anything. He's inside there. Just wandering around. Mr. Albenze, Matt Albenze, who's walked down the street. He's got overalls on. He walks down the street. He stands in the street. He stands under a tree. And he calls 9-1-1, but not 9-1-1, the non-emergency number. He calls the non-emergency line at 1-0-8. Mr. Arbery then leaves 220 Satilla Drive. And he runs off really, really quickly down the street. Into the neighborhood. Not out of the neighborhood. Into the neighborhood. Mr. Albenze, he calls a non-emergency line at 9-1-1. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:42] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:44] Speaker 2: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:46] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:48] Speaker 5: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:50] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:51] Speaker 5: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:54] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:38:55] Speaker 2: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:00] Speaker 1: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:06] Speaker 2: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:08] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:09] Speaker 1: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:12] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:17] Speaker 5: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:21] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:29] Speaker 2: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:39:38] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:14] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:15] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:18] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:33] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:34] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:35] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:36] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:43] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:45] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:48] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:40:50] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:41:08] Speaker ?: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. [00:41:09] Linda Donacassi: I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I'm not going to go to the neighborhood. I saw this guy running down the street. Ladies and gentlemen, this is driveway decision number one. Because Greg McMichael actually has no idea that Mr. Arbery was inside 220, the open, unsecured construction site. But on the same side of the street, he's in his driveway working on his boat cushions. He has no idea where Mr. Arbery is coming from, why he's coming from, or anything. He has no idea that Mr. Arbery has just been inside 220. He only sees him running down the street. Really fast. Hauling ass. But he only sees him running down the street. And what does he decide to do? He runs inside to get his gun. Travis McMichael is inside the house. Travis McMichael is not outside. Travis McMichael doesn't see Mr. Arbery running down the street. He's inside when Greg McMichael runs inside. Greg McMichael assumed the worst. Greg McMichael had absolutely no immediate knowledge, none, that Mr. Arbery had been inside, wandering around for a few minutes, the open, unsecured construction site. No idea. But this is what he tells the police later. This is what he tells the police two hours or so later at the Glen County Police Station. So I thought, well, you know, he's running from somebody. He's just done something. You know, he might have hurt somebody or whatever because, you know, this guy's been in and out of that damn one house over and over and over again. He's got him on videos and everything. He's assumed the worst and has absolutely no immediate knowledge of any crime whatsoever. And note, he is specifically talking about what he assumed Mr. Arbery had done that day. He's running from somebody. He's running from somebody. He's just done something. You know, he might have hurt somebody or whatever. He's talking about what he thought he was doing that day. Not any other day. That day. These are the words of Greg McMichael. So Greg McMichael makes his driveway decision in this case. This is where it all starts. Right at this moment. In that driveway. Five minutes later, Ahmad Arbery's dead. But this is where it all starts. Greg McMichael chooses, specifically, knowingly and intentionally, to arm himself with a handgun because he hauls ass inside his house and gets his revolve. He gets his son, Travis McMichael, who gets his Remington 12-gauge pump shotgun. Travis McMichael has his cell phone. But Greg McMichael doesn't take his cell phone with him. Doesn't take his cell phone. Sixty seconds pass. So what you're going to see on the video from, like, the Olsen residence is about 60 seconds that Mr. Arbery runs past 2:30. Where Greg McMichael sees him. And Greg McMichael makes his driveway decision to run inside his house and get his son, get his handgun, and have his son get that Remington pump shotgun. Driveway decision 2: Travis McMichael. Ladies and gentlemen, there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Travis McMichael turned to his dad and said, "Calm down." "Calm down." [00:44:46] Speaker ?: "It's Sunday." [00:44:47] Linda Donacassi: "Call 9-1-1." Travis McMichael made the decision, a knowing, intelligent decision, to pick up a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and go with his father and get in his pickup truck to go after Mr. Arbery. [00:45:05] Speaker ?: Driveway decision number two. [00:45:06] Linda Donacassi: He gets in that white F-150 pickup truck, backs out of the driveway, and heads in the direction that Mr. Greg McMichael saw Mr. Arbery running. Now here's the thing. In the front of the pickup truck is Travis McMichael's kid's car seat. But that doesn't deter Greg McMichael. Greg McMichael climbs in and sits on that car seat so that they can go chase Mr. Arbery. Driveway decision. After getting his shotgun and getting in his pickup truck, Travis McMichael later tells the police. This is later, after Mr. Arbery's been killed, that at one point in time he saw Mr. Albenzi point one time down the street so he assumed something was up. The words of Travis McMichael. "I assumed." Alright? And Mr. Albenzi does this. Mr. Albenzi is like standing under the tree. He's made the 9-1-1 call. He's still on call. He wanders out into the street. Okay? He wanders far enough up in front of Diego Perez's house and he does this. And then turns around and walks away. Travis McMichael says, "Yeah, I saw that." So I assumed something was up. There's absolutely no evidence that there was any verbal communication or any phone communication or any communication with the McMichaels that Mr. Albenzi had seen, Mr. Arbery, inside 220, the open, unsecured construction site. No communication. No communication. Just the pointing of a finger. Now, Travis McMichael, without any immediate knowledge, assumed the worst. And here's what he said. So he stopped and I said, "Hey, just want to talk to you. Where are you running from? What are you doing?" He has no idea where Mr. Arbery's coming from. He wants to ask him about that. He has no idea what Mr. Arbery's doing. Where are you running from? What are you doing? Travis McMichael and Greg McMichael are in a pickup truck, a white pickup truck. Mr. Arbery is a pedestrian. He is running on the streets. And he's asking Ahmaud Arbery about what he's doing that day. Where are you running from? What are you doing that day? So ladies and gentlemen, we're now going to talk about Defendant William Roddy Bryan at 307 Burford. Because when that stop-talk happens, he pulls up next to Mr. Arbery and he starts questioning Mr. Arbery, Travis McMichael does. It's actually captured on video in front of Mr. Bryan's house. Mr. Bryan has the night owl system. Now, here's the thing. Mr. Bryan, on this Sunday, is out on the front of his porch and he's out there messing with stuff. He's fixing something. He's got a ladder out there. He's got all this stuff out there. But Mr. Bryan's night owl system works this way. It only comes on when there's movement on the porch. Because, of course, you don't want movement on the street because it would go off all the time with cars and joggers and kids and stuff like that. So it's only when it's near his house. So, of course, that day he's working on his house and it goes off. Well, there's a video where you see Mr. Bryan do one of these where he notices something and he walks off. The next video, of course, with motion activation starts because Mr. Bryan is moving. But it just captures it right there. And what you see is Travis McMichael's white F-150 pickup truck in front of Mr. Bryan's house at 307. And then Mr. Bryan makes his driveway decision. Defendant Bryan sees Mr. Arbery running away from the white pickup truck. And he makes an assumption because he has absolutely no idea what's been going on. And he joins the McMichaels in chasing down Mr. Arbery. He just joins in. [00:49:22] Speaker ?: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. And he just joins in. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. And he just joins in. [00:49:25] Linda Donacassi: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. And he just joins in. [00:49:32] Speaker ?: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. [00:50:27] Linda Donacassi: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. [00:50:41] Speaker ?: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. [00:50:43] Linda Donacassi: Oh, white pickup truck chasing a young man. There's Mr. Arbery. There is the white pickup truck. What's happening here? Mr. Arbery takes off running and the pickup truck goes to follow him. There's Mr. Bryan. He goes inside to get the keys to his car. And then you'll see him sort of over in this area. There he is. He gets in his truck. You're witnessing his driveway decision to join the McMichaels in chasing down Mr. Arbery. So what happened next, ladies and gentlemen? What happened next was this. The McMichaels chase Mr. Arbery all the way down Burford. And they cut him off. So ladies and gentlemen, this started out with Travis McMichael going, "Where are you running from? Where are you coming?" And Mr. Arbery ignored them. Mr. Arbery didn't want to have anything to do with them. You can tell that because he ran off. He took off running, you just saw it, and headed down Burford. They decide to cut him off. How did they cut him off? With their pickup truck. This is evidence of false imprisonment and aggravated assault with the pickup truck. Because they cut him off with their pickup truck. And it's at this point in time that Greg McMichael gets out of the pickup truck. He gets out because he's sitting in that kid's seat. And he gets into the back of the pickup truck. So now he's riding in the back of the pickup truck. What Mr. Arbery does at that point is he turns away from the McMichaels. They've now cut him off with the pickup truck. And he runs back down Burford. He runs back down Burford towards Mr. Roddy Bryan. And what's Mr. Roddy Bryan do? Defendant Bryan, he saw him pull up on his driveway and pull back like that. When Mr. Arbery came running this way, he pulled out to try and hit him and ran him into the ditch. False imprisonment on Burford, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle by both parties on Burford to cut off Mr. Arbery. Ladies and gentlemen, at this point in time, Mr. Arbery is under attack by all three of these men. He's under attack. Because that doesn't stop Mr. Bryan that he went into the ditch. Mr. Bryan tries to hit Mr. Arbery one, two, three, four different times with his pickup truck. Mr. Arbery is under attack. The McMichaels at this point in time, they decide they're going to take off. They're going to go ahead up around Zellwood Drive and come back down. Because they're going to try and cut him off. Because Mr. Bryan is now chasing after him. Mr. Bryan is chasing after Mr. Arbery back towards Satilla Drive. Back towards kind of the McMichael household or that intersection there. And the thing is, he kind of overshoots Mr. Arbery. Doesn't actually hit him, but tries to, but overshoots him. He gets so close to Mr. Arbery that Mr. Arbery actually has a palm print on Mr. Bryan's car and white t-shirt fibers that are consistent on that car. Mr. Bryan said, "I tried to corner him." And then he tried to reach for my door. Mr. Bryan pulls off. Mr. Bryan then starts to back his truck up into Mr. Arbery as Mr. Arbery tries to go down Sotilla Drive to leave the neighborhood. Defendant Bryan redirected Mr. Arbery redirected Mr. Arbery up Holmes Drive. In the meantime, while Mr. Arbery is running up Holmes Drive with Mr. Bryan behind him, the McMichaels have come around and are coming down. The Statements of Defendant Bryan. So I just kind of sat there for a minute and didn't really know what to do. And then he was trucking. So I mean, he closed in on me quick. And as soon as he got up to me, I overshot the road. I was kind of angled. I overshot the road and forced him, Mr. Arbery, to go down into the ditch right there. Aggravated assault with a motor vehicle. Glen County Police Department. And I angled my truck at him again. I think he kind of turned around. I missed him or whatever. Now, here's the thing he made at the scene. One time when I cornered him up over here, referring to Berkert, he was trying to get in my truck. He tried to get in my door. Mr. Bryan got so close to Mr. Arbery while I was trying to hit him, that Mr. Arbery touched the panel and had T-shirt fibers up against it. But from Mr. Bryan's point of view, oh, the guy I'm trying to hit with my car is trying to get in my door. Mr. Bryan at Glen County PD. [00:57:01] Speaker ?: I mean, I can't say for sure that he wasn't on the door. I didn't give him a chance to get to the door. [00:57:04] Linda Donacassi: But after I angled him off the side of the road, you know, and I kind of went on past him, because I don't think I hit him. Wish I would have, might have took him out and not got him shot. But you know, I probably got past him a little and he came up on me and I could see him in my mirror. He was coming for the door. I seen his hands right behind the door. Ladies and gentlemen, what's important about this statement? After I angled him off the side of the road, I kind of went on past him. I didn't give him a chance to get to the door. But remember, this is all after he's used his 5,000 pound lethal weapon to angle him off the side of the road. Mr. Bryan again. Yeah, towards the entrance, towards the entrance. But I confronted him again, angled at him again. Right before we got to the road, he's lying on him. Right at that house that's on the left-hand side. I confronted him again. Here we go. I was fixing. I put it in reverse and was going to back up at him. And that's when he made his move to go down the road it happened on. Mr. Bryan is indicted as a party to the crime. As a party to the crime. Because Mr. Bryan kept Mr. Arbery from running down Satilla Drive and out of Satilla Shores. He redirected him with his vehicle. He falsely imprisoned him and forced him to run up Holmes Drive. Right into... Who is coming? The McMichaels. Mr. Bryan. All right. So I backed up and started going down that way. He's talking about on Holmes Drive now. I think I angled at him again. Kind of forced him off the road or something. Right in here. And he turned around. He turned around right in here. The black guy did. He turned around. Maybe down this far or so. But he turned around and started running back the other way. And I pulled into a drive or something and started to turn around. And that brings us to the video. Before we go and look at the video, I want you to understand two things. First, when Mr. Bryan spoke to Officer Minchu at the scene, he said, "I have a video." And Officer Minchu tried to copy it. But it was too long. So he made a short copy. The video you're about to see is much longer than anything anyone's seen on TV if you happen to have seen it before. The route that we're talking about that Mr. Bryan took is this route. Mr. Bryan came out of his house. And that's where we saw the video. Comes this way. Goes here. Goes here. Backs up at him. Then heads up here. Mr. Arbery turns around actually somewhere in here. But Mr. Bryan keeps going. Pulls into a driveway. And then chooses specifically to come back down to the location where Mr. Arbery is eventually shot and killed. All right. So I backed up and started going down that way. I think I went the wrong way. I did go the wrong way. With this, this is where the McMichaels went. Down here. They're in front of Bryan's house. We saw the Night Owl video. They go down this way. Now here's the problem. We don't know, because we don't have it on video, how far Mr. Arbery had to run down Burford before he turned around and ran back toward Defendant Bryan's house. We don't know how long this was or how much running he had to do or where he got turned around or where the McMichaels cut him off at. We just know that they cut him off somewhere on Burford. But he runs back this way. But the McMichaels keep going. They go up Zellwood. They go here. And they go down here. And they post up there. In the line wait. This is Mr. Arbery's path. House under construction. Past the McMichael house. Here. Down somewhere here. We don't know exactly where. Back towards Mr. Bryan's house. And then he's redirected to go up here. He turns around and he comes back down. But he also runs back up and then runs back down. You're going to see that on the video. We don't actually know how many times he was running up and down here. Running up and down here. We just know that he was running from all three defendants for five minutes. Mr. Arbery ran away from these three defendants in their pickup trucks for five minutes. There's the combination of everything that's at play. So how do you know Mr. Ahmaud Arbery was under attack by strangers with intent to kill him? Because Greg McMichael told the police this. Stop or I'll blow your fucking head off. That's what he said to Mr. Arbery. Because he wanted to make sure Mr. Arbery knew Greg McMichael was not playing. Now when he yelled this at Mr. Arbery is unclear. Because it's not what he's saying on his 911 call. So we don't know exactly when Greg McMichael said to Mr. Arbery. Stop. I'll blow your fucking head off. But that's what Greg McMichael said to Mr. Arbery. How do we know? He told the police he said it. Ladies and gentlemen, the video is a small part of the bigger picture. You ever go by those construction sites where they have the big fences up and they've got the tarp and everything? And then sometimes the tarp claps back so you can kind of see what's happening inside? Okay? That's what the video is. It's showing you only a little part of the attack on Maude Arbery. It's a much bigger picture. It's assumptions and driveway decisions. Mr. Arbery ran away from them for five minutes. Up and down Burford. Then, four times, Mr. Ryan tries to hit him with his pickup truck. He's redirected up homes. of homes [01:04:05] Speaker ?: of homes of homes of homes of homes Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [01:05:59] Speaker 2: Thank you. [01:06:29] Linda Donacassi: Mr. Bryan goes down, turns around, but he's dropped the phone, which is why we can't see anything. That's what's happening. That phone is down in the well, while Mr. Bryan continues to drive up and continues to drive back down. At one point in the time, he mumbles to himself, I'm going to keep going. And he does, and he follows Mr. Arbery, driving him toward the McMichaels, who are parked at the intersection of Holmes and Satilla Drive. Now, once again, right here, there's that blue mailbox. And see how Mr. Arbery is only just right here? He had run away from the McMichaels, and now he's being driven back towards the McMichaels, based on where this blue mailbox is. And what's difficult to see, but what you just saw was Travis McMichael raising up his shotgun. That Remington 12-gauge. For actually no reason, because where's Mr. Arbery? Look how far Mr. Arbery is. Mr. Arbery's under attack. He's being driven forward by Mr. Bryan in his pickup truck. He's running away from this pickup truck. He's already tried to hit him four times, toward the McMichaels. Travis McMichael is out of the car, with his shotgun. And as Mr. Arbery runs toward him, he pulls up the shotgun and points at him. [01:08:27] Speaker 2: Mr. Arbery rounds the corner and is shot for the first time, and the struggle ensues. [01:08:40] Linda Donacassi: How do you know this was an attack on Mr. Arbery? Because Greg McMichael said it perfectly. Mr. Arbery was trapped like a rat. That's what he told the police. Trapped like a rat. Given the sound and what's going on, I'm going to go ahead and see if this will play. We'll see if it works. [01:09:30] Speaker ?: Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? [01:09:33] Speaker 1: 911, what's the address of the emergency? [01:09:35] Speaker 2: Uh, I've got your phone with two words. [01:09:38] Speaker 1: There's a phone mail. Let me get out of the place. Where, where, where, where, where at? The cell is yours. I don't know what's going on. [01:09:46] Speaker 2: So, ladies and gentlemen, what you heard was, stop, goddammit, stop. [01:10:03] Linda Donacassi: That's Mr. Arbery coming around the truck. You heard a little sound. That's the shotgun blast. Travis is after the shotgun blast took place. Greg McMichael, at 1.14 p.m. in about nine seconds, is making that 911 call. Remember, Mr. Albenze called it, went away. This is 1.14. Greg McMichael has now made the 911 call. This is after they've all been, you know, he's been, Mr. Arbery's been attacked. Mr. Arbery's been chased. Mr. Arbery's been yelled at. Mr. Arbery's life has been threatened. All of this. What does he say? His emergency is. This is the emergency, ladies and gentlemen. I'm out here in Satilla Shores, and there's a black male running down the street. That's the emergency. Ladies and gentlemen, here's some still shots so that you can see. There's Travis McMichael pointing the gun at Mr. Arbery. See how far away he is? There's a better view as Mr. Arbery tries to go this way, go that way. Travis McMichael is blocking the street. His truck's in one lane. He's in the other lane. What's that called? False imprisonment. Mr. Arbery then runs this way to get around the truck. Comes over to the side. Comes around. And, ladies and gentlemen, this is really important. What you're seeing here are two really, really important things. Right here is Travis McMichael's head. Travis McMichael's head. You see the shadow underneath? [01:11:51] Speaker ?: You see the shadow underneath? [01:11:51] Linda Donacassi: This is really important. The reason the shadow is important is because it shows Travis McMichael's shadow. It shows this long thing. The Remington 12-gauge shotgun. And it shows Mr. Arbery right here. This truck blocks exactly what took place. But you can see this is where Travis McMichael is. There's the shotgun. And this is where Mr. Arbery is. And this is where Mr. Arbery is. Right there. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, Travis McMichael did not stay on the driver's side of the pickup truck. He didn't stay right here. Where his dad was in a higher position. That door is open. What did Travis McMichael do with that shotgun? He stepped around that open door and moved toward Mr. Arbery. He's got a shotgun and he's moving toward him to intercept him. He's right here in front of the car, right? And Mr. Arbery comes around. And he shoots him. Shoots him like that. First shotgun lefts in front of that car. Went from there to there. Now, the Glynn County Police wanted to make sure that they could try maybe to enhance this somehow. So they went ahead. And they sent it off. It's a little odd to look at, but it's got some enhancements. You can fully see exactly what's happening. Shotgun goes up. [01:13:37] Speaker ?: Shotgun goes up. It's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at. [01:14:07] Linda Donacassi: It's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at, but it's a little odd to look at. And here's the truly, truly tragic part of this. And here's the truly tragic part of this whole entire thing. Officer Minchu, who was dispatched due to Mr. Albenze's 911 call, was in Satilla Shores and heard the shots. He was driving about 5 miles an hour down Satilla Drive looking for the suspicious person. And he heard the shots. He was driving about 5 miles an hour down Satilla Drive looking for the suspicious person. And he heard the shots. The statements of the defendants. One thing I want to be really, really clear with you about, and it's important, is that everything they talk about is what they thought Mr. Arbery was doing that day. That day. Travis McMichael. This is what Travis McMichael says. He runs to the right side of my truck. I stand on the left side of my truck. I'm waiting. Get by. Right? As in passenger side? Passenger side. Yes, sir. Running towards the passenger side. Travis McMichael is telling the cops, oh, I was just waiting for the guy to go by. He either came back to the left side, or came to the right. And I'm backing up. I'm telling him to quit. Stop coming at me. Stop coming at me. I see where it's going quick. I got the shotgun in my hand. He comes up. Is it pointed at him at that point? Or, yeah, it's pointed at him. He admits he never stopped pointing the shotgun at Mr. Arbery. But here's the problem. Look at this statement. He either came back to the left side, or came to the right, and I'm backing up. I'm telling him to quit, to stop coming at me. Stop coming at me. Travis McMichael is the one who went to the front of the truck. Mr. Arbery comes around the corner. Shotgun immediately happens. And what does Travis McMichael say? And this is at the very beginning of his statement. So this is, he's been running his Miranda rights. He's sitting down with the officers. He's talking to them. And this is the very first thing, kind of, he starts describing it. He comes up to that driveway, squares up with me. I put, you know, I shoot. Squares up with me. Squares up with me. I don't think you're wrong, ladies and gentlemen. During the rest of his statement, Travis McMichael goes on to say that Mr. Arbery attacked him. Okay? He goes on to say that I was acting in self-defense. He goes on to describe his thought process while they were struggling over the shotgun, that Mr. Arbery was going to get the shotgun away from him, and that if Mr. Arbery did, he'd get shocked. Okay? But remember, this is two hours later at the police station. It's really important to note, ladies and gentlemen, that the medical examiner is going to come in here, and he's going to talk about his opinion as to the order of shots. The very first shot is to the torso. And Travis McMichael acknowledges that. Yeah, I shot him. Shot him right in the chest. Here's the thing. He didn't hit him in here. Nuh-uh. He was holding the gun low. When he shot him, it went right here. And when it went right here into him, it actually came out here. So I want you to think about this. Front to back, no horizontal deviation. Straight through. But it hit him here and came out this way. His torso is turned. Here's the other thing the medical examiner is going to tell you. He was also shot in the wrist at the same time. His shotgun pointed out. His wrist is a mess. But it's not a fatal injury. There's arterial squirt coming out of it. His heart beats. But he is shot here. The medical examiner is going to tell you that this motion is consistent. Now, he's also going to tell you it's consistent with him trying to grab it. All that kind of stuff, too. When you watch the video, you'll note that he's wearing a white t-shirt and it starts to expand across his chest as he keeps fighting with Travis over the shotgun. He's been shot. He's been shot. Ladies and gentlemen, this was lethal. This killed him. He just didn't fall down and die right then and there. He went ahead and struggled, as you see in the video, with Travis McMichael over that shotgun. There was a second shot. Do you remember seeing the spray and the stuff? The medical examiner doesn't think that hit anything. And then when they come back in view, they're struggling over the shotgun. The next blast is right here. Major, major artery here. His arm falls like this. It's useless. And he stumbles away because blood has accumulated from this shot into his stomach cavity. You see, a bunch of ribs got broken and all this blood is flowing into his stomach cavity at this point in time. But it hasn't stopped his heart and there's arterial spurt coming out. That's how the medical examiner knows that it was this. At the end of the interview, a detective note-hilly with Travis McMichael, he asks him this. Do you remember if he grabbed the shotgun at all? Because Travis is all over the place. I want to say he did, but I honestly can't remember. Ladies and gentlemen, there's absolutely no evidence that Travis McMichael went, I shot him because he grabbed my shotgun. That's not what Travis McMichael says at all. This isn't about grabbing the shotgun. I want to say he did, but I honestly can't remember. I mean, we were, me and him, we were face-to-face the entire time. Also of note, Mr. Arbery had nothing on him. No backpack, no bag, no cell phone, no ID, no wallet, no keys, no gun, no weapon. Mr. Arbery couldn't have even called for help if he wanted to, because he had no cell phone on him. There's actually no evidence in this case that anyone was making an arrest. Not one single defendant said, Mr. Arbery had a weapon. Not one single defendant said, Mr. Arbery made any verbal threats or gestures. Mr. Arbery said nothing during the five minutes he ran from the defendants. No one, not one single defendant said, I saw him commit the crime of blah, blah, blah today. Mr. O'Brien was on his front porch. Travis McMichael was sitting inside his living room. Greg McMichael was in his driveway. What's your emergency? There's a black male running down the street. No one said, I was making a citizen's arrest today. Not one single person used those words. No one said, I was trying to arrest him for the crime of fill in the blank. No one said that. Not one single defendant ever said, I was trying to arrest him. Or mentioned what crime it is that they actually thought he committed. No one said, I told him that he was under arrest. I mean, come on. How do you arrest somebody? You're under arrest. Put your hands, blah, blah, blah, right? Isn't that how you arrest somebody? You tell them you're under arrest. No one ever said, well, I told the guy he was under arrest for the crime of, what, whatever crime it is. No one ever said that. But here's what Greg McMichael did say. And this is really important, because once again, Greg McMichael's talking about February 23rd, 2020. Is he picking up anything? Going through anything? You know, not that I recall. I don't think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there. Or if he did, it was early on in the process. No immediate knowledge of any crime. In the past, or on that day. I don't think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there. Or if he did, it was early on in the process. Meaning I don't have any information about it. I don't know anything about that. No one said, we have evidence that he stole items off of Larry English's boat back in November of 2019, so we're trying to arrest him for burglary or theft or anything like that. No one ever talks about Larry English's boat during any of these interviews. Really important. Did this guy break into a house today? Did he commit a burglary today? What did he do today that you have immediate knowledge of? That's just it. I don't know, says Greg McMichael. And look at what he does. He says, well, you know, that's what I told, what's your name out there? I said, listen, you might want to go knock on some doors because, you know, I'm sure he did something. And if you police officers would just go and investigate that, I'm sure you could figure out what crime it was that he committed today. I'm sure you could. Just go out. I mean, you should investigate. Now that we killed him, figure out what crime it was that he was committing. I said, listen, you might want to go knock on doors down there because this guy just done something because he was fleeing from. I don't know. He might have gone in somebody's house. He might have gone in somebody's house? No immediate knowledge of anything or any crime that Mr. Arbery committed that day. What you don't hear is, I thought he committed a burglary. What you don't hear is, he's criminally attempting to burglarize this person's house, and I personally saw it, like any of these defendants. That's not what you hear from them. The only time Greg McMichael actually uses the word arrest, and he does use the word, he uses it one time. But anyway, in my mind, there's a good possibility this guy's armed. That was my thought process. And my intention was to stop this guy so he could be arrested or be identified at the very least. And I'll just kick this apart for a minute. But in my mind, there's a good possibility this guy's armed. That was my thought process. The evidence is that Greg McMichael needs to be able to explain to the police why he has a gun and why his son has a shotgun. So this is it. I thought he was armed. So what, I mean, I really want you to think about this. The evidence is that Greg McMichael assumed the worst. This unknown stranger, this black man who's running down the street, has a gun. I want you to think about this. I want you to think about Greg McMichael's... [01:26:23] Speaker 4: I'm starting to get into some argument here. [01:26:36] Linda Donacassi: Yes, Judge, I will take you down. The evidence is that Greg McMichael assumed the worst when he said, in my mind, there's a good possibility this guy's armed. This unknown person, he assumes, has a gun on him. And yet, his driveway decision is to purposefully chase after and confront a man that he now claims he thought was armed. Ladies and gentlemen, the defendants assumed the worst about Mr. Ahmoud Arbery and made their driveway decisions. They didn't simply follow Mr. Ahmoud Arbery in their truck. There's absolutely no evidence that there was something that kept their white pickup truck from going five, six, seven miles per hour. They didn't just simply follow him. Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael sought to confront Mr. Ahmoud Arbery and took their guns with them to do it. All three of the defendants cut him off with their trucks, or tried to, on Burford. They then used their pickup trucks as lethal weapons. Because when you force somebody off the road, a pedestrian with a pickup truck, you're angling your truck at him, called aggravated assault. All three trapped him like a rat between their two pickup trucks on homes. Mr. Bryan coming up from behind, Mr. Ahmoud Arbery running towards Travis McMichael, who's out of the car with the shotgun. Yeah, Greg McMichael's on the phone, finally, with 911 at that point, yes. But Travis McMichael steps out with this shotgun and points it at Mr. Ahmoud Arbery, 20s yards and yards away. They worsened the entire situation by threatening to kill him. Stop, or I'll blow your fucking head off. That's what Greg McMichael said, too. [01:28:43] Speaker 4: I'm sorry, I don't need to interrupt. I need to interrupt for a note. This is an argument. This is close enough. [01:28:49] Speaker 1: Let's keep it focused on what the state would expect the evidence to show at trial. [01:28:55] Linda Donacassi: The evidence that the state expects to show at trial is that Greg McMichael yelled at Ahmoud Arbery, stop, or I'll blow your fucking head off. The evidence the state expects to show at trial is this was an attack on Mr. Arbery for five minutes, and the only thing Mr. Arbery did was to run away. They assumed that he must have committed some crime that day. The stop, we want to talk to you, is not an arrest. Ahmoud runs away. They cut him off, try to hit him with the pickup trucks, and the shotgun comes out. Why? Because he wouldn't stop, so they could identify him, so that the police could later investigate what it was that he must have done that day. Ladies and gentlemen, these three defendants committed four felonies against Mr. Arbery. And it all started when Greg McMichael saw him running down the street. They committed these four felonies in violation of his personal liberty before he finally tried to run around their truck, as you saw in the evidence, and get away from these strangers, complete strangers, who had already told him that they would kill him. And that they killed him. At the end of the presentation of the state's evidence, ladies and gentlemen, the state's going to come back, and the state's going to ask you to find them guilty on every single charge in this indictment. Thank you very much. [01:31:00] Speaker 1: All right, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to take a short recess. I'll just plan on about 10 minutes, and I will continue with the presentations of opening statements. Again, during breaks, do not discuss this case amongst yourselves. Don't go looking for any information about the case. And all of the other instructions that I've provided you will apply. Thank you. So I'll rise for a jury, please. All right, thank you. You can all be seated. A bit of a timing quandary. I assume there's been some rehearsal of openings. Estimate time-wise? [01:31:45] Speaker 4: I think mine's going to be about 45 minutes or so. [01:31:49] Speaker 1: It's actually not as bad as I thought time-wise. Very short-winded. All right, what I might do then is I might take a short recess. We'll come back. We'll address Travis McMichael's opening, and then we'll take a full break for lunch. You plan on doing it that way? [01:32:05] Speaker 5: And when we return, Your Honor, there's a few things I want to put on the record with respect to the opening statement. [01:32:12] Speaker 1: Likewise. Okay. Why don't we do that when we come back? [01:32:15] Speaker 5: Thank you. [01:32:16] Speaker 1: All right, 10 minutes. [01:32:17] Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you.