A fascinating look at the Ahmaud Arbery murder case in Gwinn County Georgia. I believe that the Georgia statute on the use of force will be key in the case:
O.C.G.A. 16-3-21 states that: (a) A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes that such threat or force is necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person against such other´s imminent use of unlawful force; however, except as provided in Code Section 16-3-23, a person is justified in using force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or a third person or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. (b) A person is not justified in using force under the circumstances specified in subsection (a) of this Code section if he: (1) Initially provokes the use of force against himself with the intent to use such force as an excuse to inflict bodily harm upon the assailant; (2) Is attempting to commit, committing, or fleeing after the commission or attempted commission of a felony; or (3) Was the aggressor or was engaged in a combat by agreement unless he withdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to such other person his intent to do so and the other, notwithstanding, continues or threatens to continue the use of unlawful force.
The deciding factor in this case will be who the jury determines is the aggressor in the confrontation that led to the death of Mr. Arbery.
I don’t see this as a slam dunk for either side, and I think there are ample arguments that both the Defense and the Prosecution could make. This will ultimately go to the jury, probably with a few interlocutory appeals prior to the trial. The whole scenario reads like a law school issue spotting exam question.
Here is a video of the killing. Warning as to graphic violence obviously. I do not post this for the commentary, but because it is the best video of the shooting I have seen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wM1xkAt1I
My only opinion about this is I’m glad I won’t be on that jury.
When will the average person realize the main stream media is the enemy of this country, is evil and literally hates us as a nation? Why in the world did it take some obscure blogger to do what the national media should have done from the get go? The Left will not be content until they have torn this country apart. Disgusting.
Never should have escalated to this ending. Call the cops, follow the guy, record, but deadly force over property theft seems wrong.
And it’s not even clear that he actually stole anything. (And even if he had, it doesn’t justify armed gunmen lying in wait, trying to “arrest” him, and then shooting him when he (understandably) calls them on their BS.
Don is more seasoned in the practice of law than I am (so take my legal take with a grain of salt compared to his), but I see it as a bit more cut and dry than he does. If the gunmen didn’t have a right to “arrest” Arbery in the first place (and I don’t believe they did) then their “self-defense” argument is, at best, what we referred to in law school as “imperfect self-defense”, and thus only a partial affirmative defense to a murder charge … reducing it to manslaughter.
Since Rod Dreher and David French are rarin’ for a murder charge, I’m going to assume that’s not the correct resolution or the most likely one.