Ahmaud Arbery’s family and their attorneys told the media they were optimistic after a hearing in federal court to appeal the hate crime convictions against the three white men who killed Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, in a south Georgia neighborhood in 2020.
Arbery’s family and attorney attended an appeal hearing in federal court in Atlanta on Thursday where lawyers for Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their friend William “Roddie” Bryan formally asked a judge to vacate their convictions on charges that they violated Arbery’s civil rights.
“One thing you heard the judges referring to over and over again, was a jury heard the evidence, the jury made the decision, and the jury had a basis for making the decision,” said Barbara Arnwine, the Arbery family’s attorney and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition.
In February 2020, the McMichaels and Bryan chased and killed Arbery, who was jogging for exercise through a residential neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia. The McMichaels received life sentences and Bryan was given a 35-year sentence for the federal hate crime convictions.
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