One of the three white men accused of running down and killing black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia asked for a plea deal, an attorney for Arbery’s mom said on Friday.
William “Roddie” Bryan’s attorney tried to broker the deal before the defense rested its case in the high-profile murder trial on Thursday, but prosecutors rejected the offer, Lee Merritt, lawyer for Wanda Cooper-Jones, told CNN.
Prosecutors declined comment and Bryan’s attorney Kevin Gough claimed not to know about a potential deal when asked about it outside of the courthouse in Glynn County on Friday, CNN said.
The revelation came as Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley met with attorneys to discuss legal direction for the largely white jury ahead of closing arguments on Monday. Gough unsuccessfully made a motion for a mistrial, comparing a pro-Arbery rally outside the court on Thursday to a “public lynching.”
A “left woke mob” was affecting the right to a fair trial, Gough said.
“This case has been infected by things that have nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of these defendants,” Gough said. “This is what a public lynching looks like in the 21st century.”
The rally, which had included the civil rights activists like Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, didn’t disrupt the actual court proceedings, the judge said as he declined the mistrial motion.
Gough had previously caused a controversy during the trial when he asked the judge to ban Jackson from the court.
Bryan, 52, is accused of joining Gregory McMichael, 65, and his son Travis McMichael, 35, as they chased down Arbery in their Satilla Shores on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan shot a video showed the trio chasing 25-year-old Arbery, who they said they thought was a burglar.
Travis Michael confronts Arbery with a shotgun, and after Arbery briefly struggles to try to get the the gun, Travis Michael fires the shot that killed Arbery.
The defense has claimed the men were trying to make a citizen’s arrest, and that the fatal shot went off in self-defense during a struggle over the weapon.
With Post wires
