Factbox: The charges in the Ahmaud Arbery case
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[November 22, 2021]
(Reuters) - Ahmaud Arbery was shot
and killed while, prosecutors say, the 25-year-old Black man was on a
Sunday run in a mostly white neighborhood near coastal Brunswick,
Georgia, on Feb. 23, 2020.
Gregory McMichael, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35, who shot Arbery
with a shotgun; and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, have pleaded
not guilty to nine charges, including murder.
They told police they thought Arbery was running from a crime and they
wanted to make a citizen's arrest. Arbery's family and their supporters
say he was targeted because he was Black.
All three men are charged with the same nine counts: one count of malice
murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault,
one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal intent to
commit a felony.
Malice murder (one count each)
Malice murder is when a person unlawfully and with malice aforethought
causes the death of another person. The decision to commit malice murder
can come in a spilt second or be planned long before.
A malice murder conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with the
possibility of parole, life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole or the death penalty. In this case, the prosecution is not
seeking the death penalty.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/22/images/ads/current/beason_ag_sda_030614.png)
Felony murder (four counts each)
Felony murder occurs when someone commits a serious or inherently
dangerous felony and someone else dies during the crime, even if that
murder wasn't planned.
The classic example is when two people rob a bank and a teller is shot
dead. Even if only one person actually shot the teller, all those
involved in the crime, even if unarmed, are considered equally guilty.
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![](../images/112221pics/news_f11.jpg)
Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski shares evidence during the trial of the
killers of Ahmaud Arbery at the Glynn County Courthouse in
Brunswick, Georgia, U.S., November 18, 2021. Sean Rayford/Pool via
REUTERS/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
It is punished in Georgia by either life in prison
with parole or without parole or the death penalty.
Aggravated assault (two counts each)
Aggravated assault in Georgia is defined as being an assault with
the intent to commit another crime such as murder, robbery or rape
and a weapon is used. It can be punished by one year in prison to a
maximum of 20 years for each count.
False imprisonment (one count each)
A person commits the offense of false imprisonment when he or she
violates the personal liberty of another, illegally arrests,
confines, or detains such person without legal authority. False
imprisonment is punished by one to 10 years in prison.
Criminal attempt to commit a felony (one count each)
It is a substantial effort to commit a specific felony crime. It is
punished by one year in prison or up to half of the maximum period
of time for which he or she could have been sentenced if the crime
was successful.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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