SAVANNAH, Ga. (News Nation) — The father and son charged with murder in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery are asking a Georgia judge for bond and to toss out two charges in their indictment.
Gregory McMichael and his son Travis have been jailed since their arrests in May more than two months after they chased and shot Arbery, a young Black man running in their neighborhood.
Attorneys for the McMichaels said in court filings Thursday that the judge should reject the indictment’s malice murder charge and a second charge that the McMichaels attempted to commit the crime of false imprisonment. Bond was denied last month for a third man charged in the case, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr.
Attorneys for 34-year-old Travis McMichael argued he has no prior criminal history and poses no risk of fleeing.
“He does not have passport, and most importantly, his family, including his parents and three-year-old son, are here in Georgia,” attorneys Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield wrote.
Attorneys for Gregory McMichael, 64, asked for a court hearing on his bond request. No date has been set.
Shortly after the Feb. 23 shooting, Gregory McMichael told police he and his son, Travis armed themselves with guns and got in a pickup truck to chase after Arbery, suspecting he was a burglar. They weren’t arrested until May 7 when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case and cellphone video of the shooting leaked online.
