Ahmaud Arbery's family attorney vows to oppose federal plea deal with Travis and Gregory McMichael on hate crime charges in Arbery's murder - CNN
By: Melissa Alonso and Eliott C. McLaughlin (CNN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
(CNN)Gregory and Travis McMichael, the father and son convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery's killing, are entering a plea on federal hate crime charges in order to serve their time in a safer, less crowded prison, a lawyer for Arbery's mother said Monday.
Wanda Cooper-Jones intends to oppose the plea deal at a Monday morning hearing, attorney S. Lee Merritt said. Merritt spoke out after documents were filed Sunday in federal court, ahead of the men's scheduled February 7 trial, showing the defendants had reached the deal with prosecutors. Details of the agreement were not specified, but Merritt said the family "is devastated" by it. The McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole in a Glynn County, Georgia, court in early January for murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black jogger. The men were also indicted on federal hate crimes charges. Ahmaud Arbery's killers sentenced to life in prison for 25-year-old Black man's murder The plea agreement has been sent to the US District for the Southern District of Georgia for consideration, the court filing said. An attorney for Gregory McMichael declined to comment on the agreement Monday. Read More "The (US Department of Justice) has gone behind my back to offer the men who murdered my son a deal to make their time in prison easier for them to serve," Cooper-Jones said in a statement. "I have made it clear at every possible moment that I do no agree to offer these men a plea deal of any kind. I have been completely betrayed by the DOJ lawyers." Merritt called federal prison "a country club compared to state prison," saying the facilities are less populated, have better funding and are "generally more accommodating" than state holding facilities, according to tweets from his account. "By admitting they were motivated by hate when they hunted & murdered Ahmaud Arbery these men get to transfer to safer, less crowded & more orderly federal detention facilities," Merritt tweeted. "In essence they get to publicly brag about their hatred & then be rewarded by the federal government." On January 7, ahead of the McMichaels' sentencing in state court, Merritt said Arbery's mother had rejected a plea deal put forth by federal prosecutors that would've put the McMichaels away for 30 years each. "She rejected that offer because we believe that today the state will move forward with life sentences without the possibility of parole, and we think that's the appropriate sentence," Merritt told CNN at the time. A third man convicted of killing Arbery and also charged in the federal hate crimes case, William "Roddie" Bryan, was not mentioned in Sunday's court filings. Bryan, who shot video of Arbery's killing, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Merritt referred to the plea agreement as a "back room deal" and said, "This is an example of the Department of Justice literally snatching defeat from the jaws of victory." The federal Crime Victims Act guarantees Cooper-Jones' "right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding involving a plea offer," Merritt said, and she intends to exercise that right at Monday's proceeding.
Trial drew national attention
The three defendants were convicted for their roles in Arbery's murder, which occurred on February 23, 2020. The McMichaels told police they believed Arbery was a suspect in recent burglaries in the neighborhood and followed him. Bryan, a neighbor, got in a vehicle and also pursued Arbery as he was jogging. Travis McMichael exited the vehicle after catching up to Arbery, and fatally shot Arbery as the two struggled over McMichael's shotgun. The McMichaels were arrested on May 7, 2020, days after video of the shooting surfaced, and Bryan was taken into custody two weeks later. Demonizing Black victims is an old racist trope that didn't work for defense attorneys this time The subsequent trial drew national attention as the circumstances surrounding the killing were seeped in race, video evidence and the rights and limitations of self-defense using firearms. The case dovetailed with the killings of three Black people -- Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta -- reigniting concerns over racial injustice and prompting civil unrest nationwide. Much was also made about the investigation prior to the trial -- which featured multiple prosecutor recusals -- as well as tactics utilized by some of the defendants' defense attorneys during the trial that were questioned by legal experts and court observers. The presence of civil rights leaders in the gallery during the trial, such as Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson brought condemnations and accusations of undue influence from at least one defense attorney, and another defense attorney's comments on Arbery's toenails drew heavy criticism from Arbery's family and others as offensive.
CNN's Alta Spells and Travis Caldwell contributed to this report.
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So it would skip the life in prison in state and send them directly to club fed?
That's what it sounds like. Only I'm certain they would go to a max security fed prison where it's not exactly a cake walk. Nicer facility? Probably. But they're still locked up for life
I think they should do time in one of Georgia's overcrowded state prisons.
Wasn't it two trials? I was thinking it was. The local one then the fed one.
Imo they should serve both. If they ever get out of the fed jail, go directly to the state.
If they are already sentenced to life without parole, isn't it a waste of money, time and resources to hold the second trial? Outside of a federal death penalty the sentencing cannot make them do any more time. I think the deal is a good thing, use the money saved on something better.
What confused me was the need for federal hate crimes. Does Georgia not have hate crime laws?
It seems to me they could have added the hate crimes in with the original trial.
I would think anyway.
it would be more fun for the 2 klanners to spend some time in general population at the state pen.
I think they only held teh state trial. The fed plea deal is to avoid the cost of a federal trial.
I have to agree with you. They'll pay for their hate crime in a state prison, especially if they go to gen pop. They better find Bubba and Cletus, the leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood, for protection.
Hate crimes are tried under the Fed Major Crimes Act - brings in the FBI and friends.
So any hate crime automatically triggers the feds?
Serious question. I am kind of dumb on things like this.
Although state laws vary, current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation , and/or gender identity.
The Attorney General or someone the Attorney General designates must certify, in writing, that (1) the state does not have jurisdiction; (2) the state has requested that the federal government assume jurisdiction; (3) the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to state charges did not demonstratively vindicate the federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence ; or (4) a prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary to secure substantial justice.
Here, the threesome futched up, 'specially the young'n, calling Arbery a N****r before they killed him - and it is on/in the video.
the feds need to assess what these racist goobers are worth and make sure the federal fines are close to their assets, then put their families close to poverty if they want to do their time at club fed. they both know what will happen to them at the state pen by putting them in with other lifers with nothing to lose. it's long past due to make examples out of white supremacists.
If anyone believes that they are insane. It is on top of. Once they get out of Federal prison; which given their age there is a very high chance they won't. They will still have to serve out their time in state.
As for the club fed BS. Care to spend 30 years there? While it is better than state prison; it is still a prison. Given that they received a plea deal on a hate crime; it will make them popular with only one faction of inmates there. They will have to watch their backs with everyone else.
Great choice. Thirty years in federal prison; followed by life in state prison if you manage to survive that long. Or straight life in state prison.
Dumbasses are getting what they deserve. They are never going be free again; but I guess that isn't enough.
I didn't make up the club fed term. Don't like it tough shit.
The terms of the plea deal are not yet released.
Either way they are in prison for the rest of their lives, period.
I agree that they will probably spend the rest of their lives incarcerated.
What? I missed this part. They talked about the dead man's toenails?
These two ahole's feet could probably cause small children to run in fear.
Let's give the convicted murders the best possible deal, what could be wrong with giving them a safer, less crowded prison. After all, they were so merciful to Arbery. /s