Their defenders say the men had a right to make a citizens arrest of someone they suspected of stealing from the neighborhood, and that the younger McMichael fired the gun in self-defense after Arbery tried to take it from him. Their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.
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Rejecting a defense lawyer's complaints about Black pastors at the trial as “reprehensible,” Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said no group would be excluded from his courtroom.įather and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood on Feb. Jesse Jackson, sitting beside her in the courtroom's public gallery. The motion was legitimate.The testimony followed the judge's refusal to declare a mistrial over defense claims that jurors were tainted when Arbery's mother wept over evidence photos, calling attention to the presence of the Rev. “Of all the things I’ve been called all around the world the last month, I don’t think brilliant was any of them,” Gough shot back. Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski countered by calling Gough “a brilliant lawyer” who “got the response he wanted” outside the courthouse on Thursday. This is a trial that’s been infected by mob violence of a woke left mob.” “(Just because) they haven’t put a podium up outside with a hangman’s noose on it doesn’t mean that this isn’t a trial, despite the best efforts of the court. The embattled attorney likened the demonstrations to “a public lynching” and under the influence of a “woke mob.” On Friday, the day after hundreds of demonstrators congregated outside the courthouse, Gough again argued unsuccessfully for a mistrial. “But be that as it may, your honor, we’re asking the court to take stronger steps to ensure the right of the defendants to a fair trial.” Explore More from AJC's comprehensive coverage of the trial
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“I suspect I’ll be getting, continuing to get love letters and messages for days to come,” he told Walmsley. When making renewed arguments to remove pastors from court, Gough acknowledged his cellphone has “blown up” with messages. Early on, he brought quizzical looks from prospective jurors when he asked who they would want to give their eulogy if they were “struck by a meteorite” on the way to court. In court, the folksy Gough routinely includes “in all due respect” and “be that as it may” when arguing a point or addressing a witness. “But this antic went too far and could not go unaddressed.”
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“We’re accustomed to Kevin Gough being a person who is full of antics,” Perry said. Perry, the senior pastor of the Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Brunswick, is the former president of the NAACP’s Brunswick chapter.ĭespite Gough’s endorsement, Perry said, “I was appalled with the statement that he made regarding members of the faith being allowed into the court.” For that reason, Perry said he stood with other leaders of the local faith community to condemn the lawyer’s comments. John Davis Perry II, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor. That includes his backing this year of the Rev.
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He has been active in politics and endorsed candidates in local elections. Gough, who is from New York, has served on the Glynn County Board of Elections and chaired the county’s Republican Party. Gough went on a well-publicized hunger strike after his dismissal. Among the complaints: Gough failed to investigate a sexual harassment complaint lodged by a member of his staff against a co-worker. In 2016, Gough became the state’s first circuit public defender to be fired by the agency’s director. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, who has called Gough’s comments “reprehensible,” denied the request.Įven Jason Sheffield, an attorney representing Travis McMichael and who sits at the same defense table, called Gough’s comments “asinine and ridiculous.” Explore 'A specific role for the Black pastor that no one else has to play' The three are charged with the February 2020 slaying of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. Jesse Jackson, center, holds hands with Marcus Arbery, center, father of Ahmaud Arbery, left, Ahmaud Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, right, during the trial of Greg McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, and a neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse, Monday, Nov.