Kevin Gough, a defense attorney for one of the men found guilty on Wednesday of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, told Fox News that he will file a motion for a new trial next week for his client, William “Roddie” Bryan.
Bryan was found guilty by a jury in Glynn County, Georgia, on six of the nine counts that he was facing: three counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony.
He joined father and son Travis and Georgia McMichael in pursuing Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, after seeing him running in a neighborhood in February 2020.
Bryan drove in his own pickup truck and recorded video on a cell phone of the fatal encounter, which shows Travis McMichael shooting and killing Arbery with a shotgun at close range as he threw punches and tried to grab the gun.
Defendant William “Roddie” Bryan looks on as the prosecutors make their final rebuttal before the jury begins deliberations.
(Octavio Jones/Pool Photo via AP)
Defense attorneys argued at trial that the three men were trying to detain Arbery because they thought he was a burglar, but the prosecution contested that there was no evidence Arbery had committed any crimes.
Travis McMichael was found guilty of all nine charges, while Gregory McMichael was convicted on every count except for malice murder.
AHMAUD ARBERY TRIAL VERDICT: TRAVIS MCMICHAEL FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
Kevin Gough was a controversial figure during the 13-day trial, filing several motions for a mistrial that were all shot down by Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley.
He told the judge on Nov. 11 that he didn’t want “any more Black pastors” in the courtroom after Al Sharpton sat with Arbery’s family, saying their presence may threaten his client’s right to a fair trial.
“Obviously there’s only so many pastors they can have,” Gough told the judge. “And if their pastor’s Al Sharpton right now that’s fine, but then that’s it.”
William “Roddie” Bryan’s defense attorney Kevin Gough presents a closing statements to the jury during the trial of he and Travis McMichael, and his father, Gregory McMichael, at the Glynn County Courthouse, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga.
(AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, Pool)
Gough tried to frame his client as a witness to the pursuit at trial, asking lead investigator Richard Dial if Bryan’s video of the shooting was “consistent with someone who was a witness” instead of a participant.
“He wasn’t a witness,” Dial, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, replied. “It would be consistent that he was still pursuing Mr. Arbery, trying to box him in between two different vehicles.”
AHMAUD ARBERY SUPPORTERS HAPPY BUT SAY THERE’S ‘A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ AFTER VERDICT
Gough asked late in the trial for his client’s case to be severed and tried separately, but the defense pushed back on the attempt and it wasn’t granted.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said that any motions for a new trial are likely to fail, but an argument that Bryan’s case should have been severed from the McMichales may be his best shot.
“They’re going to file their appeals, criminal defendants always do, but it was a pretty clean case in my book,” Rahmani told Fox News Digital.
“What you want as a criminal defense attorney, especially when you’re representing a defendant who is arguably less culpable, and Bryan was arguably less culpable, is to sever him or her from the other defendants, because it’s arguably prejudicial to be tried with Travis McMichael, who pulled the trigger, or Gregory, who said, ‘I’m going to blow your f—— head off,'” Rahmani said. “The severance is the best one.”
Dozens of Black Lives Matter and Black Panther protesters gather outside the Glynn County Courthouse where the trial of Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan is held, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
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Bryan and the McMichaels are also facing federal hate crime charges in a separate case from the state murder charges that they were convicted of Wednesday. Jury selection is set to begin in the federal case in February.
“As far as next steps, obviously federal hate crime charges. Even if you’re successful on appeal, good luck man, now you’re dealing with the feds and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DOJ,” Rahmani said. “That’s a whole other problem for them.”
Fox News’s Claudia Kelly-Bazan contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
(this story/news/article has not been edited by PostX News staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
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