Two of the men convicted in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery filed in court Tuesday (March 8) are seeking an acquittal for their federal hate crime convictions because of where they killed the 25-year-old February 2020.
In a 43-page appeal filing obtained by CNN, Travis McMichael argued that he should be acquitted because he did not chase down and shoot Arbery on public streets and federal civil rights law prohibits willful harm or intimidation in public spaces. His father, Gregory McMichael made a separate filing with the same arguments and both men argued that federal prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence of racial motivation for the killing.
The McMichaels along with their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted on state murder charges in November and sentenced to life in prison. Out of the three of them, only Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
During the federal trial this year, a jury found the three men fatally chased Arbery through the Satilla Shores neighbor in Brunswick, Georgia because of his race. Federal prosecutors revealed racial slurs each of them had a history of using, including while they were at their places of employment.
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