Defense lawyers for the three men charged with killing Ahmad Arbery asked a judge for permission to share aspects of Arbery’s past during trial.
Attorneys for father-son duo Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William Bryan made the argument during a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday, reported CNN. Arbery died in February 2020 after Travis McMichael shot him following a physical confrontation.
The incident occurred after the McMichaels and Bryan followed Arbery while he jogged through their Glynn County, Georgia, neighborhood. The trio claims they confronted Arbery to make a citizen’s arrest because they believed he burglarized a home under construction in the community.
The defense team introduced a series of witnesses from law enforcement who claimed to have negative experiences with Arbery.
Jason Sheffield, Travis McMichael’s defense attorney, argued Arbery had a “pattern of conduct and behavior” based on his past convictions and “when confronted about his actions that were under question, his response to that is to get angry and aggressive, physically and verbally,” according to CBS News.
The defense also wants to introduce evidence that Arbery was not taking medicine for schizoaffective disorder, a mental illness. Sheffield called in a nurse who allegedly gave the diagnosis in 2018. He also stated Arbery claimed to suffer from hallucinations that encouraged him to rob, steal and hurt other people.
“The question for the court is, is it possible the mental illness he suffered from… contributed in a significant way to his actions on that day, including engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Mr. McMichael,” Sheffield said during the hearing.
State prosecutors argued the information was irrelevant to the case.
“It’s clearly an effort to go ahead and say, ‘Mr. Arbery wasn’t right, he had some mental health issues, and therefore it’s his fault about what happened,'” Cobb County senior assistant district attorney Linda Dunikoski said during the hearing. “‘He didn’t respond appropriately or correctly to the defendants, and therefore it’s his fault they had to kill him,’ and that’s offensive.”
On Thursday, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy R. Walmsley stated he wanted to review Arbery’s mental health records before he made a final ruling, reported ABC News. He also requested both sides submit a brief detailing, arguing they believe the records should or should not be admitted within 20 to 30 days.
Bryan and the McMichaels remain in custody. They were indicted on federal hate crime charges on April 28. All three suspects pleaded not guilty.
