Jury selection begins in Ahmaud Arbery federal hate crimes trial

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Jury selection began Monday in the federal hate crimes trial for three White men already convicted on state charges of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger, on Feb. 23, 2020, in Georgia.

Last week, Gregory McMichael withdrew a guilty plea ahead of the trial while U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood turned down plea deals for McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael.

The federal trial is not live streamed and reporters are not permitted to have phones or laptops inside the courtroom.

The McMichaels were convicted on multiple charges including murder in November and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in January. A third man, William "Roddie" Bryan, received a slightly lesser sentence, life in prison with the possibility of parole.

The three men will now stand trial on the federal hate crime charges in the killing of Arbery, who was shot to death by Travis McMichael. The three men initially confronted Arbery, 25, while he was jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick, Ga. They later cornered Arbery using pickup trucks, before he was shot.

All three men face one count of interference with rights over Arbery's race and attempted kidnapping, while the McMichaels are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a gun during and in relation to a crime of violence.

A key difference between the state and federal trials is that, in this case, prosecutors will need to prove motive.

The judge has not given an estimate as to how long the jury selection process will take. Brunswick has a population of approximately 16,000 people.

Lawyers on both sides have requested a broader jury pool. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, issued an order Friday governing courthouse conduct during the jury selection.

Under the rejected plea deal, the McMichaels would have served the first 30 years of their life sentences in a federal penitentiary rather than a state facility in Georgia.

At a hearing, Arbery's family criticized the deal and said they were not consulted about it. The family's desire is to have all three serve their entire sentences in a state prison.