Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 427K views

    Waycross District Attorney Letter Re Ahmaud Arbery

    Uploaded by

    National Content Desk
    Ahmaud Arbery, 25, of Brunswick, Ga., was shot and killed Feb. 23, 2020, as he jogged in a neighborhood near his home. The shooting, which came at the hands of two white men, launched protests after neither man was charged.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Waycross District Attorney Letter Re Ahmaud Arbery

    Uploaded by

    National Content Desk
    427K views3 pages
    Ahmaud Arbery, 25, of Brunswick, Ga., was shot and killed Feb. 23, 2020, as he jogged in a neighborhood near his home. The shooting, which came at the hands of two white men, launched protests after neither man was charged.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Ahmaud Arbery, 25, of Brunswick, Ga., was shot and killed Feb. 23, 2020, as he jogged in a neighborhood near his home. The shooting, which came at the hands of two white men, launched protests after neither man was charged.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    427K views3 pages

    Waycross District Attorney Letter Re Ahmaud Arbery

    Uploaded by

    National Content Desk
    Ahmaud Arbery, 25, of Brunswick, Ga., was shot and killed Feb. 23, 2020, as he jogged in a neighborhood near his home. The shooting, which came at the hands of two white men, launched protests after neither man was charged.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3
    At a glance
    Powered by AI
    The letter discusses the District Attorney's decision to recuse himself from the Ahmaud Arbery case due to a perceived conflict of interest and requests another DA be assigned to review the case.

    The letter was written by the District Attorney to the Glynn County Police Department regarding his decision to recuse himself from the Ahmaud Arbery case.

    The District Attorney believes based on the video evidence and autopsy that Arbery initiated a fight with Travis McMichael during a citizen's arrest and the shooting appeared to be in self defense during a struggle over the shotgun.

    CONS

    ORG

    OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY


    WAYCROSS JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

    George E . Barnhill 306 AlbanyAvenue (912) 287- 4395


    District Attorney Waycross, Georgia 31501 FAX (912) 287 -4399

    Captain Tom Jump


    Glynn County Police Department
    Investigation Division
    157 Public Safety Blvd .
    Brunswick , GA 31525

    Email: tjump @ glynncounty- ga.gov

    Ref: Glynn County , The Shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery , Feb 23rd , 2020

    Dear Captain Jump:

    My office received the Arbery autopsy report [dated 4 / /2020 yesterday and have reviewed it
    yesterday and this morning. We were waiting on this important evidentiary article before
    finalizing our opinions .

    However, since we were initially requested to handle the case the victim s motherhas clearly
    expressed shewantsmyself andmy office off the case. She sees a conflict in thatmy son works
    in the Brunswick District Attorney ' s Office where Greg McMichael retired some time ago . She
    believes there are kinships between the parties [ there are not and has made other unfounded
    allegations of bias [ es ]. As such , I believe it is better formy office to step out and am going to
    recuse myself and the Assistants working forme from handling the case. I am contacting the
    Georgia Attorney General Office and seeking their assistance in finding another District
    Attorney in the State to handle the further evaluation for prosecution this case. That is , to
    determine whether there is sufficient evidence on which to make a Grand Jury presentation or
    not

    Given theGovernor' s current shelter in place order and JusticeMelton s Judicial Emergency
    Order; I can not venture a guess as to when they will move on this request, and once another is
    found; when that District Attorney will have the staff available to review this casefile. I hope
    for all involved itwillmove along as quickly as possible.

    3
    After talkingby telephone with you yesterday , I appreciate there is immediate pressure on your
    department as to the issue of Arrest” . Since I have already given you an initial opinion the day
    after the shooting, I feel I can still comment on this limited issue.

    First
    I am the current elected District Attorney for the Waycross Circuit, I have worked as a criminal
    prosecutor for some 36 years. As an Assistant District Attorney in Waycross and Brunswick , as
    Chief Assistant in Waycross for 20 years and served as the District Attorney the last 5 years ; I
    have been actively involved in over 100murder cases and assisted other prosecutors with at least
    100 more. I have no idea how many Aggravated Assault cases involving gunshots and wounds
    of alltypes; Plus I have attended countless schools, classes and seminars on criminal
    prosecution and criminal acts and evidence. Myself and one ofmy Senior Trial Attorneys have
    reviewed the evidence extensively and concur on allpoints.

    Second
    As to the case at hand: It is my professional belief the autopsy confirms what we had already
    viewed as shown in the video tape, with the photographs & from the witness statements taken
    immediately at the scene. The autopsy supports the initial opinion we gave you on February
    24th , 2020 at the briefing room in the Glynn County Police Department after reviewing the
    evidence you had at that time. Wedo not see grounds for an arrest of any of the three parties.

    Third
    Itappears Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and Bryan William were following, in
    pursuit burglary suspect, with solid firsthand probable cause, in theirneighborhood, and
    asking/ tellinghim to stop. Itappearstheir intentwas to stop and hold this criminal suspectuntil
    law enforcement arrived. UnderGeorgia Law this is perfectly legal,
    OCGA 17 -4 -60 A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his
    immediate knowledge . If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private
    person may arresthim upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion .”

    Fourth
    It clearly appears Travis McMichael and Greg McMichaelhad firearmsbeing carried in an open
    fashion . The investigation shows neither of them to be convicted felons or under felony
    supervision , they were in a motor vehicle owned by Travis McMichael. Under Georgia Law
    this is legalopen carry .

    OCGA 16- 11- 126


    ) Any person who is notprohibitedby law from possessing a handgun or longgun may have or carry on his or her
    person a weapon or long gun on his or herproperty or insidehis orher home, motor vehicle, or place of business
    withouta valid weaponscarry license.
    (b ) Any personwho isnotprohibited by law from possessing a handgun or long gun may haveor carry on his or her
    person a long gun withouta valid weapons carry license, provided thatifthe long gun is loaded, it shall only be
    carried in an open and fully exposedmanner.”

    2 of 3
    Fifth
    The video made by William Bryan clearly shows the shooting in realtime. From said video it
    appears Ahmaud Arbery was running along the right side of the McMichael truck then abruptly
    turns 90 degrees to the left and attacks Travis McMichael who was standing at the front left
    corner ofthe truck . A brief skirmish ensues in which it appear Arbery strikes McMichael and
    appears to grab the shotgun and pull it from McMichael The shot is through Arbery s right
    hand palm which is consistent with him grabbing and pulling the shotgun at the barrel tip , the
    2nd and 3rd wounds are consistent with the struggle for the shotgun as depicted in the video , the
    angle of the 2nd shot with the rear of the buttstock being pushed away and down from the fight
    are also consistent with the upward angle of blood plume shown in the video and that McMichael
    was attempting to push the gun away from Arbery while Arbery was pulling it toward himself.
    The 3rd shot too appears to be in a struggle over the gun . The angle of the shots and the video
    show this was from the beginning or almost immediately became-- a fight over the shotgun .
    Given the fact Arbery initiated the fight, at the point Arbery grabbed the shotgun, under Georgia
    Law , McMichael was allowed to use deadly force to protect himself.
    Just as importantly, while we know McMichael had his finger on the trigger, we do not know
    who caused the firings. Arbery would only had to pull the shotgun approximately 1/ 16th to
    1/ 8th of one inch to fire weapon himself and in the height of an altercation this is entirely
    possible . Arbery s mentalhealth records & prior convictions help explain his apparent
    aggressive nature and his possible thought pattern to attack an armed man .

    OCGA 16 - 3- 21Use of Force in Defense, once confronted with a deadly force situation an individualis allowed to use
    deadly force to defend themselves or others OCGA 16 - 3- 23 . 1Georgia' s NoDuty to RetreatLaw , an individualis
    notrequired to back away from or submit to an attack; OCGA 16 - 3- 24 [b ] The useof force which is intended or
    likely to cause death or greatbodily harm to preventtrespass on or other tortious or criminal interferencewith real
    property other than a habitation or personal property is notjustified unless the person using such force reasonably
    believes that it is necessary to preventthe commission of a forcible felony.
    OCGA 16 - 3- 24 .2 A person properly and legally defending themselvesis immune from prosecution

    For the above and foregoing reasons, itis our conclusion there is insufficient probable cause to
    issue arrestwarrants at this time.

    As to any further issues on whether to presentthis to a Glynn County Grand jury, that willhave
    to wait for the next District Attorney s review . Please consider this an OPEN file until that
    decision is madeand restrict the release of any information under Georgia Open Records
    Act requests.

    Sincerely

    George E . Barnhill
    District Attorney
    Waycross Judicial Circuit

    3 of 3

    You might also like

    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy