Defenses to begin in trial over killing of Ahmaud Arbery

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Defense lawyers now get their turn in the murder trial of three white men for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Prosecutors rested Tuesday after eight days of testimony regarding the 25-year-old Black man’s shotgun slaying last year. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley told jurors they would begin hearing defense evidence Wednesday morning. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running past their home in February 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery. Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, deferred his opening statement at the trial’s start so that he could speak after the prosecution rested.