A 25-year-old Black man, Ahmaud Arbery was killed, and 3 white men had been charged with multiple accounts of murder amongst other charges. The verdict was pronounced by the jury comprising of, 9 White women, 2 white men, and 1 black man.
After deliberations for almost 12 hours in two days, testimonies and statements by witnesses were presented in the courtroom. The parents were of the deceased were proud and thanked the prosecution and those who stood by them in their fight for justice. The case had drawn legal attention, and towards other racially incited crimes around the country.
Lindia Dunikoski, who serves as the Senior Assistant district attorney told a news channel that, for the selection of the jury, they had “realized that we had very, very smart, very intelligent, honest jurors who were going to do their job which is to seek the truth.”
After being sure there was no iota of bias that could be brought to the case, the decision was made. “We felt that putting up our case, it doesn’t matter whether they were Black or White, that putting up our case that this jury would hear the truth, they would see the evidence and that they would do the right thing and come back with the correct verdict which we felt they did today,” Dunikoski said.
The case is eventful in its own way, as statistically when a white jury sits to convict whites for the murder of a black the result is seldom in the favor of the latter. Although race was one of the pivotal points of conversation, the prosecution stayed away from it largely, unlike the defense.
#AhmaudArbery should be here.
The McMichaels and Bryan are indeed guilty of taking his life for no other reason than for him being Black.
I’m praying for and thinking of Ahmaud’s family, including his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, who in this moment, is still missing her son. pic.twitter.com/JNKCzfSXP8
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) November 24, 2021
Ahmaud’s case was being represented by their parents and had to hear some awful things, however, they kept believing in the process and continued the legal battle with hope.
Dunikoski recalled, “Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery (Arbery’s mother and father) were advocates for Ahmaud, and they really pushed this one when it first happened,” she said. “And I think the message is that you have to let the criminal justice system work and, in this case, yes, it did work, and to trust, which they did, they trusted us, and they trusted this team to bring justice for them and their family, but to trust the system of the constitution and due process just to let it work.”
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