‘No good deed goes unpunished,’ accused Ahmaud Arbery killer said in jail phone call defense is trying to exclude from trial
Lawyers for three Georgia men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery want all recordings of their jail phone calls excluded from the upcoming trial.
In one of the calls cited in court, ex-cop Gregory McMichael was told his brother that “no good deed goes unpunished.”The exact context of that conversation was not clear, but the McMichael’s attorney told the judge that prosecutors could use the conversations to mislead the jury, telling them, for instance, that the “good deed” was killing Arbery.
“It’s not what Mr. McMichael meant,” lawyer Franklin Hogue said. “He meant patrolling his neighborhood and trying to capture someone suspected of crimes in the neighborhood as the good deed, and being punished for it was him being charged with murder.”
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley did not rule on any of the motions, saying he will hold another hearing sometime before the October trial.
McMichael, 61, his son Travis, 35, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 61, told police they were trying to carry out a citizen’s arrest when they chased and ambushed Arbery on a residential road outside Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. The younger McMichael claims he shot the 25-year-old in self-defense during a struggle.
The fatal shooting was partially recorded on Bryan’s cellphone, which was leaked on social media two months later and led to their murder charges. The case sparked widespread outrage and accusations of racism as it involved three white men killing an unarmed Black man jogging in their neighborhood.
Arbery was at a house under construction moments before his death, but there was no evidence he stole anything from the property or that the defendants knew he had been there that day.
The defense requested to exclude 1,500 recorded jail calls. Prosecutors noted that all inmates are informed that their phone conversations are recorded and should have no expectation of privacy.
“The Defendants are trying to elevate jail calls, an optional courtesy and convenience offered to incarcerated defendants, into something protected by the Constitution, such as their person, houses, papers, and effects,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Walmsley is also weighing whether to allow evidence of Arbery’s criminal record and mental health issues at the trial.
A lawyer representing Travis McMichael said he wants the jury to hear about Arbery’s run-ins with the police because they show a “pattern” of attempted burglaries and aggressive behavior. The attorney, Jason Sheffield, asked the court to allow evidence of 10 incidents involving Arbery.
Arbery, who was on probation when he died, pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm on a high school campus in 2013 and stealing a TV from a Walmart in 2017.
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Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said the defense is trying to tarnish Arbery’s character and that his past has nothing to do with the shooting, as the suspects didn’t know him.
S. Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing the Arbery family, said the accused killers are trying “to remind America that Ahmaud was Black and Black means criminal and criminal means unworthy to live.”
“Watching this hearing one can be confused about who is on trial,” Merritt said in an Instagram post featuring a series of photos of the suspects walking out of the Glynn County courthouse.
“These are the criminals,” he wrote. “At trial they get to wear suits and spectacles. They are afforded due process and the right to make as many absurd arguments about the relevance of Ahmaud’s past as they like but the fact remains they are the criminals.”
The defense team also wants the court to allow Arbery’s 2018 diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder to be shared with the jury, one of the lawyers said. Prosecutors have questioned the quality of the diagnosis and its relevance.
Walmsley asked the defense to submit the records it wants to use so he can consider them over the next few weeks. He also said he would seal them so they’re not publicly available.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, want the court to allow evidence of the defendants’ own past, including online communications showing Travis McMichael using racist slurs at least twice.
The three men are charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. They also face a federal indictment charging them with hate crimes and attempted kidnapping.
The state trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 18.
