Acquittal motion for 2 men guilty of killing Ahmaud Arbery denied
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge has denied motions to acquit the federal hate crimes charges for Travis and Gregory McMichael in the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
In a 27-page court order filed Thursday, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood writes, “because the evidence is more than sufficient to support their convictions, those motions are denied.”
The McMichaels previously argued there wasn’t evidence proving race was a motive and that the street where Arbery was killed isn’t public, as necessary for conviction of interference of rights.
“They are wrong,” writes Wood in the court order. “Most of (their) arguments either misconstrue the relevant statutory provisions or fail to properly apply the Rule 29 standard to the evidence. Thus, the McMichaels are not entitled to judgments of acquittal.”
In addition, she writes, “…the amount and nature of derogatory racial evidence introduced at trial was stunning.”
The father and son are expected to be sentenced Monday, along with William “Roddie” Bryan, who captured cellphone video of Arbery’s killing.
The three men were found guilty of federal hate crimes in February in addition to their convictions for murdering Arbery, in which each received life in prison as a result of Georgia minimum sentencing guidelines.
