Judge: Ahmaud Arbery's past troubles irrelevant to trial

[SYFROYH]

https://www.wtoc.com/2021/09/01/judge-ahmaud-arberys-past-troubles-irrelevant-trial/?fbclid=IwAR2Q17hD1tBcAXJ4jE7ng7zK-lMCITIQrhPtO3AyZJ8T7U3ZAi0-u7RzN2s

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Defense attorneys for the men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery won’t be allowed to present evidence of the slain Black man’s past legal problems when their clients stand trial for murder, a Georgia judge ruled.

Gregory and Travis McMichael, a father and son, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. are awaiting trial this fall for chasing and killing 25-year-old Arbery last year as he ran in their neighborhood outside coastal Brunswick. Jury selection is scheduled to start Oct. 18.

Attorneys for the McMichaels wanted the jury to hear about Arbery’s past run-ins with law enforcement, including two arrests, to cast doubt on prosecutors’ contention that he was merely an innocent jogger. Defense attorneys say the white men reasonably suspected Arbery had committed a crime when they began the pursuit that ended in his death.

Prosecutors argued that defense lawyers were seeking to put Arbery on trial by making his criminal record and other prior problems part of the case. None of the three defendants knew Arbery, or anything about his past, prior to the shooting. Prosecutors said his past was irrelevant to their decision to arm themselves and ultimately shoot a man who was trying to run away

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[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[MagickMuffin]

2. Good, Ahmaud Arbery is NOT on trial. However, the McMichaels are for murdering him

That's all the evidence the jury needs to hear. The McMichaels are murderers.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. Defense attorneys also put a rape victim on trial.

When she takes the stand her entire sexual past is open to examination and exploitation. While they may not say it outright, the underlying subtext is clear: "She's a slut who seduced this innocent man into having sex with her."

Unfortunately, it often works. The prevailing view in our society is that rape is a sexual act, not a physically violent assault. "If you're being raped, just relax and enjoy it," I've heard said many times, even by men in positions of power. I can't imagine how hard it is being a woman in the U.S. right now -- it must feel like you're a target for the American Taliban, fundamentalists, anti-vaxxers/pro-COVID protesters, anti-abortion activists (who just won a big victory in Texas, thanks to T****'s SCOTUS), the men who still believe that other than as secretaries, nurses and teachers, women have no place in the workplace. And Republicans, of course.

[KS Toronado]

4. Good for the Judge, need more like him.

[Retrograde]

5. Good: it's time this "defense" was done away with

Apologists for people like Kyle Rittenhouse like to bring up the fact that at least one of the people he murdered had a record. They tried to argue that George Floyd had a record and therefore this somehow mitigated what Chauvin does. The victims' pasts do not matter: taking the law into one's own hands is wrong.

[CatWoman]

6. K; R

[crickets]

7. GOOD. K&R for visibility.