The jury in the murder trial of Travis and Greg McMichael, as well as Roddie Bryan, has been seated. From the very beginning of the voir dire process, we had been told that this was going to be a problematic procedure. Attornies connected to the case from both sides had previously suggested that this case “was going to be won or lost during jury selection.” That prediction looked increasingly accurate when serious questions were raised after the first batch of potential jurors were questioned. At least two jurors made it through the first round of questioning after expressing views that certainly suggested that their minds were already made up, one for the prosecution and one for the defense.

In the end, however, most observers were waiting to find out the racial makeup of the jury. Now that question has been answered. When the dust settled, we learned that eleven of the jurors are white while only one is Black. The judge in the case has already stated that there’s simply nothing he can do about it and the selection process was in accordance with the law. And Ahmaud Arbery’s family and attorneys are basically apoplectic at this point. (NBC News)

Family members of Ahmaud Arbery expressed outrage Thursday after the judge in the trial of three white men accused of killing the Black man said there was nothing he could do about the racial makeup of the jury.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley in Georgia acknowledged Wednesday there “appears to be intentional discrimination” when looking at how the jury of 11 white people and one Black person was selected.

The family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, said Thursday that Arbery “is again denied justice,” and he found it “outrageous that Black jurors were intentionally excluded to create such an imbalanced jury.”

Winding up with that much of a racial disparity among the jury members is obviously going to inflame tensions around this trial and the mood of the public was already pretty strained to begin with. But as one defense attorney familiar with the case told reporters, “the optics are horrible” but it’s unlikely that there will be any grounds to challenge the final jury selection.

In one of the weirder side notes from the jury selection process, one of the defense attorneys actually questioned the makeup of the pool. His complaint was that the jury pool “lacked white men over 40 without a four-year college degree.” That sounds more like the crosstabs from a political poll than a jury pool analysis, but here we are.

There’s really not much the judge can do in a situation like this. A large number of jurors were challenged by both the prosecution and the defense. Many were removed “for cause” while as many as eleven Black jurors were pulled on peremptory challenges. Every challenge is submitted to the judge for approval, but unless the judge can identify some critical flaw in the reasoning offered to justify a dismissal for cause, they generally have to approve them.

If this were a more “normal” case I would be making the argument that the racial makeup of the jury shouldn’t matter. As long as they are all unbiased and objective, they should have the same chance as any other group of twelve people to hear the evidence and reach a conclusion. And that still may prove to be the case here. But as we’ve discussed in the past, Glynn County has a considerable history of having “issues” with their law enforcement, their courts, and even divisive splits inside of the community, particularly along racial lines. There have been ongoing efforts to entirely disband and replace the Glynn County Police Department over persistent and repeated corruption scandals.

With those sorts of divisions running through the community from which the jury pool was selected, it’s unlikely you’ll find a lot of confidence in the impartiality of the eventual outcome. If they had seated a jury consisting of 12 Black jurors it would probably be assumed that the defendants would be found guilty before the judge had even called for opening arguments. With the jury that they eventually seated, it’s no doubt going to be seen as a case where there is virtually no possibility that any of the three defendants will be found guilty of anything.

As to where the truth lies, I’ll fall back on the same analysis I’ve done multiple times. On the one hand, that video that Roddie Bryan recorded certainly makes it look like a murder took place. But the key moment where Arbery passes in front of the McMichaels’ truck from the passenger side and allegedly attempted to wrestle the shotgun away from Travis isn’t shown. That’s likely the moment that the defense will rest all of their hopes on, arguing that Travis McMichael was in fear for his life if Arbery had managed to get the gun away from him.

Will it work? We should know before too long. The trial begins today. But no matter which way it goes, we should be prepared for some mayhem in the streets when it’s over.