Brunswick, Georgia (CNN)Travis McMichael's attorney painted Satilla Shores, where McMichael killed Ahmaud Arbery last year, as stricken with crime, its residents as living in a state of fear and his client as a well-trained former Coast Guardsman who was only protecting his neighborhood.
In Monday's closing arguments, defense attorney Jason Sheffield added there was "no evidence whatsoever that Satilla Shores was a place of exercise and jogging for Ahmaud Arbery."
Sheffield's case stood in stark contrast to prosecutor Linda Dunikoski's closing argument that McMichael, along with his father, Gregory McMichael, and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., had no legitimate reason to chase Arbery aside from "assumptions and driveway decisions."
The men targeted Arbery based on his race, Dunikoski alleged, but they want the jury to believe they were conducting a citizen's arrest and that Travis McMichael acted in self-defense in shooting Arbery. In actuality, she said, the men acted on gossip and rumors and had no immediate knowledge Arbery had committed a crime, which is required to claim a citizen's arrest.
"The state's position is all three of these defendants made assumptions -- made assumptions about what was going on that day and they made their decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery (while they were) in their driveway because he was a Black man running down the street," she said.
The arguments follow 10 days of proceedings and testimony from 23 witnesses. The defense rested Thursday. Lawyers and the judge worked Friday on jury instructions.
The McMichaels and Bryan, who are White, face charges including malice and felony murder in the killing of Arbery, a Black man who was chased by the trio February 23, 2020. They have pleaded not guilty.
The judge allotted three hours for both sides to state their cases.
Travis McMichael just wanted to talk, lawyer says
Travis McMichael had every right to stop Arbery, Sheffield said, because of a string of previous crimes in Satilla Shores. The defense attorney conceded that many of the crimes were not reported and reminded jurors that some of the McMichaels' frightened neighbors testified they didn't call 911 because the crimes were already over and the perpetrators gone. Instead, they wanted to take care of matters as a neighborhood, creating a Facebook page, purchasing cameras and establishing a watch program, Sheffield said.
Compounding the McMichaels' fear was that a few weeks before the Arbery shooting, Travis McMichael encountered a man in the neighborhood who ducked into the shadows behind a house, and when Travis McMichael splashed his headlights on the man, the man pulled up his shirt and reached into his pocket.
"That totally freaks out Travis," Sheffield said.
Travis McMichael "spent almost a decade of his life learning about duty and responsibility" in the US Coast Guard, the attorney said.
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski presents her closing argument to the jury Monday.
"He received extensive training on how to make decisions that would ultimately impact his beliefs as a petty officer and a boarding officer in the Coast Guard. He ventured into some of the most treacherous waters 200 miles off the coast of the United States. He trained relentlessly about his duty and his responsibility," Sheffield said.
"Even after active service and working in the Coast Guard, he trained weekly on what the law provided that he do, what his responsibilities were, how he would make decisions in critical moments of policing and critical moments of rescue," Sheffield added.
McMichael testified during the trial he received Coast Guard training on the use-of-force continuum and de-escalation. Gregory McMichael is a former police officer and a ex-prosecutorial investigator.
Because of his training, Travis McMichael pulled up alongside Arbery and tried to talk to him, Sheffield said, but Arbery "takes off running down the street." McMichael continued his pursuit and tried to de-escalate the situation -- "we want to know what's going on," the lawyer says -- but Arbery "bolts," which raised Travis McMichaels' suspicions.
By the time Travis McMichael got out of his truck, he was fearing for his life, as well as the life of his father, who had suffered a hip injury, stroke and heart attack in the past, Sheffield said. If Travis McMichael's intention had been to kill Arbery, he would've done it earlier in the chase, and no one's life was threatened until Arbery "ran across the front of the truck," the lawyer said.
When Sheffield finished, the judge called recess for lunch. Gregory McMichael's and Bryan's legal teams are slated to make closing arguments after the break.
Prosecution: There can be no citizen's arrest
Dunikoski was emphatic that the McMichaels and Bryan were not law enforcement but rather the "initial, unjustified aggressors" in the incident, and none of them mentioned a citizen's arrest to police because they had no first-hand knowledge of a crime being committed.
"'Hey, where are you coming from?' They don't know where he's coming from. 'What are you doing?' They don't know what he's doing. Remember Mr. Bryan heard, 'What did you steal?' They don't know what he's done. They don't know why he's out there running. They don't have immediate knowledge. They have no knowledge. They have speculation," she said.
In order to claim you are exacting a citizen's arrest, Dunikoski said, defendants cannot be the initial aggressor or commit a felony during the arrest. "Wanting to question Ahmaud demonstrates uncertainty," Dunikoski said, and Arbery was simply being a "looky loo," inspecting an under-construction home and nothing more, she said.
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A defense lawyer stopped Dunikoski during her closings and took issue with her summary of the citizen's arrest law.
The defendants committed multiple felonies, Dunikoski said, pointing out that Arbery tried to evade the men for five minutes before Travis McMichael confronted and killed him. She also sought to cast doubt on the notion Arbery was the aggressor when he was unarmed on foot and being chased by three men, two of them armed, in two trucks.
In addition to murder charges, the defendants also face counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
"The bottom line is but for their actions, but for their decisions, but for their choices, Ahmaud Arbery would be alive," Dunikoski said.
The men's lawyers outline suspicions
Arbery's family has said he was out for a jog -- a common pastime for the 25-year-old -- when he was killed.
Defense attorneys say the McMichaels, suspecting Arbery of burglary, tried to conduct a citizen's arrest. Bryan, the defense says, saw the McMichaels chasing Arbery, joined the pursuit and attempted to cut Arbery off, before recording video of the younger McMichael shooting Arbery.
Travis McMichael testified he shot Arbery in self-defense as he and Arbery wrestled over McMichael's shotgun.
The McMichaels, according to their attorneys, and several neighbors were concerned about people entering an under-construction home -- and Travis McMichael had encountered a strange man in the neighborhood nearly two weeks before the shooting.
According to testimony, a neighbor called police February 23 to say a man -- later identified as Arbery -- was at the construction site. Arbery ran off as the man called police, the neighbor testified.
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Gregory McMichael, investigators testified, said he saw Arbery run by the McMichaels' home and gave chase, believing Arbery matched the description of someone who had been at the site.
The prosecution has said surveillance videos show Arbery there multiple times, including the day he was killed, but he never broke in or took anything. Witnesses also testified the McMichaels did not know at the time that Arbery had been at the site that day.
The property's owner, Larry English Jr., testified in September he probably told the McMichaels about incidents on his property, but he never authorized the McMichaels to confront anyone.
After his father saw Arbery, Travis McMichael testified, they jumped in their truck and caught up to Arbery, trying twice to talk to him. Arbery did not respond, Travis McMichael said.
Bryan, prosecutors allege, saw the chase and -- not knowing what was happening -- got in his truck and joined the pursuit, at one point striking Arbery with his vehicle.
Travis McMichael eventually drove ahead of Arbery, he testified, parked his vehicle, exited and pointed his shotgun at Arbery, telling him to stop. He testified Arbery darted to him, grabbed the rifle and struck McMichael before he then shot Arbery.
Arbery never threatened anyone, Travis McMichael says
Dunikoski challenged McMichael over what she said were inconsistencies in his accounts, including when and where he told Arbery to stop. When he first spoke to police, she said, he could not remember if Arbery grabbed the gun and he failed to mention that he and his father were making a citizen's arrest, a key point of the defense.
McMichael was "scattered" and "mixed up" in the hours after the shooting, he responded.
"This is the most traumatic event I've ever been through in my life," he said.
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McMichael also acknowledged several times that he never saw Arbery armed, never heard Arbery threaten him and that Arbery showed no interest in conversing with McMichael.
Bryan nor Gregory McMichael took the stand, and Sheffield suggested health concerns may have played a role in the latter's decision not to testify.
In a county that is 69% White residents and 27% Black, 11 of the 12 jurors are White. Judge Timothy Walmsley said before opening statements the court has "found that there appears to be intentional discrimination" in the jury selection, but he allowed the case to move forward.
If convicted on one of the murder charges, each man could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. All have pleaded not guilty.
All three men have also been indicted on federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges.
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