Ahmaud Arbery Case: Black Pastors Criticized, State Rests After Gruesome Death Details

BRUNSWICK, GA — After graphic testimony on the three shotgun blasts fired at Ahmaud Arbery, prosecutors on Tuesday rested their case against the three white men accused of killing Arbery in February 2020.

But concerns about prominent Black pastors taking their place with Arbery's parents persisted after the prosecution called its final witness in the seventh day of testimony.

Kevin Gough, the attorney for William "Roddie" Brian Jr., presented a motion to have the court take note of each time a civil rights icon the likes of the Revs. Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton — who separately accompanied Marcus Arbery Sr. and Wanda Cooper-Jones into the gallery over the past week — come into the gallery, for fear their presence might influence or intimidate jurors.

“Just trotting in pastor after pastor after pastor, including pastors from other parts of the country that they have no apparent ministerial relationship with is inappropriate here,” Gough said. “Given the high-profile nature of this case and all the other unusual activities, protests, marches and other things, it's just no reason to take that risk.”

Linda Dunikoski, the Cobb County assistant district attorney serving as lead prosecutor, did not object to Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley taking record of prominent figures or Black pastors, as Gough complained about on two earlier occasions, even going so far as to demand a mistrial.

Earlier Tuesday Georgia Bureau of Investigations medical examiner Dr. Edmund Donoghue testified Arbery died from multiple gunshot wounds and told the prosecutor from the stand that a shotgun blast to Arbery’s chest was the killing shot.

The first shot at close range tore through an artery in Arbery’s right wrist and punched a big hole in the center of his chest, breaking several ribs and causing heavy internal bleeding, said Donoghue, a medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The second shot missed entirely, while the third shot fired at point-blank range ripped through a major artery and vein near his left armpit and fractured bones in his shoulder and upper arm.

“Was the torso shot fatal?” Dunikoski asked Donaghue, the medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in coastal Georgia.

“Yes,” said Donaghue, who examined Arbery’s body on Feb. 24, 2020, the day after the 25-year-old unarmed Black man was killed fleeing three white men.

“Was there anything they could’ve done on-scene to save him?” Dunikoski followed up.

“No,” the medical examiner replied.

See Also: Ahmaud Arbery Case: Defense Demands Mistrial Over 'Black Pastors'

Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, Bryan, are on trial for murder and other charges in connection with the Feb. 23, 2020, shooting death of Arbery. After seeing Arbery wandering inside an unfinished property in their Satilla Shores neighborhood, the McMichaels armed themselves and the trio chased him down in their trucks as he ran. Arbery was shot to death as Bryan filmed the confrontation with his phone.

From the Glynn County Superior courtroom Tuesday, Donaghue said Arbery suffered three gunshot wounds in his chest, under his left armpit and on his wrist.

“Is there anything law enforcement or an EMT could've done to save him?” Dunikoski asked, first referring to the armpit injury.

“No, I don't think so,” Donaghue replied.

Another gunshot likely only grazed Arbery, although buckshot from the blast passed through Arbery's chest, Donaghue said.

He described the injury to Arbery’s hand as likely coming from the same shot that pierced his chest as he tried to move the muzzle of Travis McMichael’s shotgun.

“The shot to the center of his chest and the grazing his hand were the same shot,” Donaghue said as he pointed at a still of the footage Bryan recorded. “You’re seeing Ahmaud Arbery and the defendant struggling. And you’re seeing blood coming from the wound (on the wrist).”

“Would that be consistent with someone pushing a shotgun away?” Dunikoski asked.

“It could be, yes,” Donoghue responded.

“But it’s your opinion that the hand was definitely between the muzzle of the shotgun?” she probed further.

“Yes,” Donoghue replied and suggested that possibly the wound to Arbery’s wrist was also lethal, as he indicated arterial blood was coming from the injury in another still photo. “He could’ve died because it involved the owner artery.”

On cross-examination, Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough suggested that Arbery still posed a threat to his client.

“You saw in the video and in the frame-by-frame a struggle over the gun,” Gough said.

“Right,” Donoghue said.

“You saw in the video and in the frame-by-frame that even with the wound to the wrist, Mr. Arbery was able to swing punches and hit Travis McMichael,” Gough said.

“Yes,” the doctor replied.

“My question is, is it consistent with the wrist wound for Mr. Arbery to have grabbed the gun and for the gun to have been pulled back by Mr. McMichael when it was fired?” Gough asked.

Donoghue responded: “Yes, it is possible.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See Also:

• Ahmaud Arbery Case: Officer Said He Did Not Deputize McMichaels
  
• Ahmaud Arbery Case: Homeowner Never Asked McMichaels To Act
• Arbery Death Trial: McMichaels Unsure If Arbery Was Trespassing
• Ahmaud Arbery Death Trial: McMichael's Story Changed, Police Say
• 1 Black Juror, 11 White Jurors Selected In Ahmaud Arbery Trial