Judge Timothy Walmsley of the Glynn County Superior Court dismissed efforts against approving a nearly all-White jury in the trial of the men charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s killing.
(CNN)The possibility that three White men accused of chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery may be acquitted had Georgia residents tense and anxious when this week’s approval of a nearly all-White jury in the men’s trial became a reminder of why Black people mistrust the criminal justice system.
Scholars and law experts said the racial breakdown of the jury for the trial for Arbery’s killing is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era and quickly drew comparisons with the aftermath of Emmett Till’s death.
When opening statements began Friday in the Georgia trial of the men accused of chasing down and killing Arbery last year, only one person of color is part of the jury hearing the case. A nearly all-White final panel of 12 jurors and four alternates was selected earlier this week despite accusations of intentional discrimination toward qualified Black jurors. The jury’s makeup has drawn criticism from Arbery’s family and put into focus the South’s history of racial exclusion in jury selection.
Through an open records request, the attorneys for Timothy Tyrone Foster obtained the notes the prosecution team took while it was engaged in the process of picking a jury. The notes showed that potential jurors who were Black had a “b” written by their name.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/us/jury-race-makeup-ahmaud-arbery-case/index.html