Guilty Verdict in Arbery Trial

All three defendants convicted... after a failed cover-up

We just got breaking legal news:

Ahmaud Arbery’s three killers convicted of murder today

The outcome is a vindication for the prosecution, which focused on the facts and damning evidence in the case.

The prosecutors rarely brought up the defendants’ racism, which was also damning—but not a legally required element of the crime. (A separate Hate Crimes trial is pending.)

The verdict, by a nearly all-white jury, also rebuffs the defense lawyer’s attempt to seek “racial solidarity” between the jury and defendants, or to argue the killing was justified as a “citizen’s arrest.”

Legally, the verdict applies “felony murder” law—a murder occurring while committing another felony.

From nothing to “murder”

While many are heralding today’s outcome, it’s critical to remember the authorities tried to prevent this trial from even occurring.

The charges and arrest of Arbery’s killers only came after a video came out of the killing.

So consider this fact:

Today the jury finds it was murder — originally, the authorities did not even charge it as a case.

That reality reinforces how far the justice systems has to go.

Two trials and two Americas?

Today’s verdict presents the public with a contrast to the recent trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, acquitted for killing two unarmed people at a BLM rally.

On The Beat, we’ve covered both trials and explored some of the parallels and contrasts. They do not provide one simple “takeaway.” That’s partly because every fact-pattern is different, and partly because the broader dilemmas of race and criminal justice are complex.

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In my next newsletter, I am going to share some wider thoughts about both trials, based on our reporting, expert input, and this added time for reflection, now that both are complete. If you have questions or thoughts about these cases, please tell me in the comments and I will tackle some of them… either in the comments or my piece for you next week. - Ari