BRUNSWICK, Ga., Feb 21 (Reuters) - With closing arguments set to begin Monday in the trial of 3 white men accused of federal hate crimes in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black jogger, in south Georgia, legal experts say the prosecution had a high bar to meet.
Arbery, who had been out for a run through a mostly white neighborhood in February 2020, was chased down by Travis McMichael, now 36; his father, former police officer Gregory McMichael, 66; & neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, 52. The younger McMichael then killed Arbery with a shotgun.
The slaying, caught on cellphone video, was one of several of Black men and women -- often by police -- that helped reignite racial justice protests in recent years.
The 3 men have already been convicted in state court of murder & sentenced to life in prison. The federal prosecution is the first in which those who carried out such a high-profile murder are facing a jury in a hate-crime trial. If convicted, they face up to life in prison, in addition to their state sentences.
Legal experts & court observers say federal prosecutors proved their case but cautioned that predicting what jurors will decide is tricky.
"The prosecution's theory is that they were inveterate racists," said Nirej Sekhon, a professor of criminal law at Georgia State University.
"They need to show that racism saturated every dimension of their lives & informed their decision to chase Mr. Arbery," he said in a telephone interview. "I believe that they've met that bar, that they can tether their (the defendants') mindset to their actions."
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