November 4, 2021: The trial of the three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man shot and killed as he was jogging down a residential street in suburban Georgia began today, and there is only one black juror — so naturally the black community is upset about it. I understand that, but the fact that they are upset about not having more blacks on the jury demonstrates exactly why there shouldn’t be. They feel — correctly — that there would be a better chance of conviction with more black jurors. But, jury selection isn’t supposed to be what color your skin is — it’s supposed to be getting a selection of jurors who will be fair to both sides, and decide on the evidence. Of course, in actual practice — most attorneys will agree that they try to get jurors favorable to their client — but the way it usually works out is that you spend your time trying to knock off all potential jurors who have or likely have a bias against them – and hopefully, you wind up with a jury that is largely neutral, and will decide on the evidence and arguments. Getting a “favorable” jury is a really hard trick these days. Likewise — a very important part the aggrieved portion of the black community should understand is: This is NOT a trial to help Mr. Arbery or his family. Arbery is dead. There is no “justice” for him. That’s way too late. The only real issue of “justice” is whether the men accused get a fair trial or not, and loading the jury with blacks because they feel they should be represented — does not accomplish that. It accomplishes the opposite. Of course, if these men are convicted — the black community will be relieved, and will feel “justice” was finally vindicated — but the truth is — that’s more likely to play out in a civil lawsuit. And for what it’s worth — I think the jury will convict, no matter how many whites are on the panel. The days of white juries letting off a white defendant purely based on race are long over.
Update: All three of these men were found guilty as charged.
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