Lead prosecutor in Arbery case: Jury’s decision ‘was a verdict based on the facts’

The lead prosecutor in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case said that the jury’s decision to convict three men in connection with Arbery’s death “was a verdict based on the facts.”

“The verdict today was a verdict based on the facts. Based on the evidence. And that was our goal — was to bring that to that jury so that they could do the right thing, because the jury system works in this country,” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski said during a news conference following the jury’s verdict on Wednesday.

“And when you present the truth to people and they can see it, they will do the right thing. And that’s what this jury did today in getting justice for Ahmaud Arbery,” she added.

Latonia Hines, executive assistant district attorney for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, commended the courage and strength of Arbery’s parents during the case and hailed the jury for their “courage and bravery” in reaching the verdict.

“We commend the courage and bravery of this jury to say that what happened on February 23, 2020, to Ahmaud Arbery — the hunting and killing of Ahmaud Arbery — it was not only morally wrong, but legally wrong. And we are thankful for that,” Hines said. 

The prosecution’s remarks come after three white men were found guilty for murdering Arbery, a Black man, in Georgia in February 2020. A jury convicted the man who shot Arbery, Travis McMichael, on each of the nine counts, including malice murder, that he was facing. His father, Gregory McMichael, was found guilty on eight counts, which included felony murder and aggravated assault.

The man who recorded the shooting, William “Roddie” Bryan, was convicted on six counts, including felony murder and aggravated assault.

Civil rights and personal injury lawyer Ben Crump said in a statement that while Arbery’s family had been given some justice, “we are nowhere close to the finish line.”