JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Four more potential jurors qualified Tuesday, the sixth day of jury selection in the murder trial of three white men charged with killing a 25-year-old Black man, Ahmaud Arbery. It adds up to 36 potential jurors, a little more than half the number needed for final jury selection.
Before jury selection started Tuesday, the judge heard two motions from the defense. William Roddie Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, asked the judge to restrict individuals and groups from publicly demonstrating on the courthouse grounds and the surrounding streets. Gough said demonstrations could influence potential jurors.
Gough offered for people to demonstrate in the First Amendment space across from the courthouse that the sheriff created for demonstrations. Glynn County Sheriff Neal Jump said last week he hasn't had any problems with groups demonstrating directly outside the courthouse, and won't force them to move into that space.
Gough specifically brought up the Transformative Justice Coalition, a group that has been demonstrating outside the courthouse.
"At first looks when we all come to the courthouse on Monday morning like a very innocent attempt by a civil rights group to promote voting rights," Gough told the court. "It turns out to be something much different and much more centrally impacting the case," he said.
The judge denied the motion and said he won't limit First Amendment rights in a public place.
“I am a lawyer," Barbara R. Arnwine of the Transformative Justice Coalition said. "I’m barred in two jurisdictions. I’ve been in front of numerous courthouses where you’ve actually had people on both sides demonstrating at federal courthouses."
"In fact, the Supreme Court of the United States is one of the most popular demonstration spots in the nation, so how in the world can you tell people that they can’t exercise their First Amendment rights," Arnwine said.
When asked about the motion later in the day, Gough said he's "disappointed in the judge's ruling, but we move on."
Gough also argued Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt's interviews and social media posts urging people to register to vote, show up for jury duty and about the jury selection process could influence potential jurors.
"Specifically when Lee Merritt is discussing this case with [reporter] April Ryan, he explains that knowledge of the case alone is not enough to disqualify," Gough told the court. "He states that the question is can they set aside what they know," he said.
"He then states, 'we don’t say often enough, 'you know what, I can set that aside,'" Gough said. "He’s basically inviting jurors to just be like Dorothy, 'There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home." We’re indoctrinating jural orders to say 'I can be fair. I can be fair. I can be fair,” Gough said.
Gough also suggested the state and the Arbery family attorneys have a relationship, to which the state objected.
Merritt called the motion "nonsensical."
“Gough has a responsibility to defend his client," Merritt said. "I have a reasonability on behalf of the estate of Ahmaud Arbery, on behalf of [Arbery's mother] Wanda Cooper to ensure that this process is constitutional."
"If he’s curious about my role as it relates to the state is the lead attorney for the estate of Ahmaud Arbery and representative. I surely don’t want to unduly influence the jury, but we haven’t even broached that line to this point," he said.
The judge also heard a motion from Gregory McMichael's attorneys, Laura and Franklin Hogue about asking potential jurors more questions. Judge Timothy Walmsley didn't allow several questions to be asked of potential jurors requested by the defense. One of those was whether jurors would entertain a defense of self-defense if any of the three defendants chose not to testify.
Walmsley did allow the attorneys to ask during general questioning if potential jurors every supported the call for Justice for Ahmaud and Run with Maud. He also allowed the question "will you follow the law that is given to you by the court even if you think the law may be or should be different."
Jury selection started at 10:15 a.m. More than a dozen potential jurors said they formed an opinion about the defendants' guilt or innocence. At least nine, consistent with other days, said they know key players in the case, including two who knew Arbery.
Among the four who qualified Tuesday, two said they'd try to stay impartial, but it would be hard. One specifically mentioning the video of the incident is "pretty burnt into my memory," which he called "pretty rough, pretty gruesome." That same juror said he tried not to be picked for jury duty.
Another potential juror who qualified Tuesday said she want to be on the jury to bring peace to her community. She said, "a person's life was taken and justice needs to prevail." She said she could be open-minded.
Three potential jurors were not questioned because the judge wanted to stop around 6 p.m. He said those three would be added to a future panel.
At one point, Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, was seen leaving the courtroom in tears Tuesday afternoon. Merritt said the entire process is emotionally draining for her, and Cooper-Jones is exhausted.
"The anxiety levels rise every day. She’s paying close attention to each juror, the questions that are being asked, and she’s not looking forward to the process we know that part of this trial will involve attacking the character of her son, some motions for that already. We think the court has made some wise decisions concerning the relevancy of some of that evidence, but still, this process is wearing on her," Merritt said.
Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., was also in the courtroom Tuesday.
Merritt said he thinks it's possible to find an impartial jury in Glynn County, but it won't be easy.
“It’s going to be difficult to find an impartial jury. Is it impossible? No. One of the things they highlighted was that jurors are going to have to set some of their biases aside and say that 'I can in fact be fair,'" Merritt said.
"That’s an acknowledgment that this is not the ideal situation where jurors come in as clean slates with no opinion on the evidence. At this point, most people are familiar with the facts and have established a position, and they will have to set those aside in order to be fair. I believe the people of Glynn County will be able to do that, but it’s not ideal,” he said.
The defense attorney for Travis McMichael, Jason Sheffield, said he thinks by the end of this week, they'll reach the magic number of 64 potential jurors qualified. They then will narrow it down to 12 jurors and four alternates.
Court resumes at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday with a new group of 20 potential jurors questioned.