Trial being held

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley acknowledged that "intentional discrimination" by attorneys for the three white defendants charged in the death of the Black man appeared to have shaped jury selection.

But he said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene. Race is a central issue in the case involving the death of Arbery. Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck on February 23, , after they spotted the year-old man running in their neighborhood in coastal Georgia.

A neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

A long, sometimes heated debate over the racial makeup of the final jury erupted in court Wednesday afternoon as lawyers wrapped up a jury selection process lasting more than two weeks. Arbery's death became part of the broader reckoning on racial injustice in the criminal legal system after a string of fatal encounters between Black people and police — George Floyd , Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks , among others.

No one was charged in Arbery's death until more than two months afterward, when the video of the shooting leaked online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police and soon arrested all three men on charges of murder and other crimes. Minutes after the attorneys had finished narrowing a panel of 48 to a final jury of 12 on Wednesday, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski noted only a single Black juror made the panel.

She argued that defense lawyers had struck eight Black potential jurors because of their race. The U. The people charged came to Washington DC from nearly every state in the union, and ranged from teenagers to senior citizens.

Beyond sharing a fervent support for Trump and belief in election conspiracies, no single profile has emerged. The vast majority of suspects are white. Many belonged to far-right militias and white nationalist groups that played an outsize role in the attack, but most had no direct affiliations with extremist organizations.

There were white-collar workers, people who came with their family members and a cross-section of other Trump supporters radicalized into committing political violence.

Many believed in the QAnon conspiracy movement that viewed Trump as a messianic figure who would return to office and destroy a cabal of liberal elite pedophiles. Although the charges range from misdemeanors such as trespassing to violent assaults against Capitol police officers, the bulk of cases that have come in front of a judge so far have involved individuals pleading guilty to minor charges.

Many of the rioters have received no jail time at all, instead receiving fines or probation. There have been significant differences between how US district court judges have approached sentencing and cases.

One group of judges has questioned why prosecutors are seeking jail time for misdemeanor offences such as trespassing on Capitol grounds. Other judges have vehemently rejected the comparison to BLM, and have insisted that participants in the riot face serious consequences for their involvement. The more complex cases and serious charges will probably go to trial in the coming months, researchers say, including those involving members of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and other far-right militias.

One member of the Oath Keepers, Jason Dolan, already admitted as part of a plea deal that he traveled with other militia members and stashed an M4 rifle at a Comfort Inn a short drive outside the Capitol. In December, year-old Matthew Greene became the first member of the Proud Boys to plead guilty in a felony conspiracy case, with prosecutors stating that he and other Proud Boys coordinated their actions using programmable radios and dressed to conceal their affiliation with the group.

The criminal trials this spring for felony charges such as obstructing Congress and a multi-defendant conspiracy case against members of the Oath Keepers may reveal new details about the level of coordination and planning that went into the attack on the Capitol. But they will probably also present difficulties for prosecutors. The FBI received more than , tips related to the siege, including family members turning in relatives and Facebook friends reporting old high school acquaintances.

Brown is being represented by court-appointed Houma attorney Garyland Wallis. Follow him on Twitter DanVCopp. This article originally appeared on The Courier: Attempted murder trial being held at Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center as courthouse undergoes storm repairs.

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