US judge plans jury pool of 1,000 for 2nd Arbery death trial

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the upcoming hate crimes trial of the three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery says she plans to summon roughly 1,000 potential jurors from 43 Georgia counties. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said at a hearing Monday she agreed with prosecutors and defense attorneys that drawing a jury pool from a boarder area of the state was warranted after the murder trial that ended with convictions in state court last month garnered extensive pretrial publicity. Wood said the trial will remain in Brunswick, where Arbery was slain in February 2020. Federal prosecutors say father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan chased and killed 25-year-old Arbery because he was Black.