
<p>We always have to be careful in drawing opinions on media reports of high-visibility criminal trials – or even what all those pundits and legal analysts say about them. ; Their opinions are too often predetermined by their political biases. ; Regardless, public attention requires comment.</p>



<p>There is a lot of political and racial hyperventilating about the Ahmaud Arbery case in Georgia, where three white men chased down and killed a young black man. ; I say “killed” because that is indisputable. ; It will be up to the jury to determine if it was murder.</p>



<p>The first question is why does this case garner so much media and political attention – as does the Rittenhouse case in Wisconsin? ; As you read this, people are being killed – murdered – by the hundreds all across the country. ; White people killing black people. ; Black people killing white people. ; Police killing suspects. ; Criminals killing police. And to the greatest extent, black people killing black people.</p>



<p>I suggest that cases like this &#8212; that appear in the media day-after-day &#8212; have one common trait. ; They are exceptionally good battlegrounds upon which Democrat left-wing political and philosophic groups can advance their narratives and agendas of pandemic racism and permanent victimhood. ; I say “left-wing” because they currently have the advantage of the featly of the only institution that determines what gets massive attention and what gets ignored &#8212; and how the information is spun. ; That, of course, is the powerful east coast elitist media. ; They drive the news – and even attack news outlets that do not share their perspective.</p>



<p>At the core is that fraudulent race card that Democrats use to maintain their black voter base. ; Many black activists build their careers and fortunes on promoting victimization based on exaggerated levels of racism – where it exists and who is responsible. ; This is what has enabled Al Sharpton to ride these cases into a multimillion-dollar personal fortune – and combined salaries in excess of $1 million per year.</p>



<p>Military leaders often say that you never get the get the battle you want to fight &#8212; but must fight the battle you get. ; That is how I look at the situation today. ; The issues today with the Arbery trial may be representative of the greater society … or maybe not. ; But it IS the issue with which we must deal currently.</p>



<p>First the optics. ; They definitely favor the left. ; That has nothing to do with the facts of the case, but the composition and conduct of the trial itself. ; Arbery faces 12 jurors – 11 white and 1 black. ; Without knowing the cultural and racial sentiment of the community, it is not possible to even infer if this means inherent racial prejudices – jurors who will vote race over facts. ; ;</p>



<p>The makeup of the jury is troublesome for two reasons. ; The community in which the trial is taking place is 55 percent black. ; Odds would favor a much greater representation of blacks – especially when one considers our legal right to be judged by a panel of “peers.”</p>



<p>The fairness of the jury was brought into greater question by the judge, who agreed that the selection process followed all the legal requirements. ; BUT … he expressed some discontent in what he viewed as improper elimination of jurors who were black. ; He clearly implied that the defense was abusing their right to reject jurists.</p>



<p>Unlike trials that routinely occurred in the old Democrat-controlled Georgia, the judge does not appear to be prejudiced – and the prosecution is mounting strong arguments for conviction. ; That is a difference worth noting.</p>



<p>The latest controversy over the tactic of the defense came when one of the defense counsels rose to object to the presence in the audience of black pastors – arguing their only purpose is to influence the jury. ; Al Sharpton was seated with the family at the time, but the defense counsel also referred to Jesse Jackson. ; He declared that he did not want to keep seeing “black pastors” sitting with the Arbery family.</p>



<p>That was one of those moments when any rational person starts scratching their head and wondering “what is this guy thinking?” ; Put aside for the moment the reason he would think that a black pastor would have an undue influence to persuade a virtually all-white jury to convict three white guys. ; If the jury was composed of racists – which I do not believe to be the case &#8212; Sharpton’s presence would only deepen their bias.</p>



<p>To say the statement was tone-deaf is beyond an understatement. ; It is difficult to imagine any reason for making those statements other than the attorney is a racist or believes – wrongly, I would argue – that all those white jurors are racists. ; Maybe he was just hoping to influence one juror.</p>



<p>In terms of optics, it was a gift to those who can only see America through a distorted racist lens. We can know that by how fast the crowd of race-baiters made those comments the top story of the day.</p>



<p>The optics were bad, to say the least. ; You are watching a trial in a deep southern state in which a portly attorney defending three white guys for killing an innocent black guy – and having the attorney object to the presence in the audience of a negro minister. ; It looked like a scene from one of those civil rights-themed movies of the 1960s. ; That is called optics.</p>



<p>Then there are the facts of the case. ; I do not take my information from the mainstream media but do a bit more research into what is really happening in the courtroom in terms of the prosecution and defense arguments.</p>



<p>It made me recall the old adage that “desperate times require desperate measures.” ; If the defense seems to be grasping at imaginary racist straws, it may be because … well, to put it simply, they do not have a defense case.</p>



<p>Nothing about the hard facts appear to give ANY justification for the three plaintiffs to chase down Arbery and – as one assailant is quoted as saying – “trap him like a rat.” ; They certainly had no justification for accosting him, assaulting him, and killing him. ; The very attempt to interfere with Arbery’s jogging was the beginning of a series of criminal activities.</p>



<p>As in the death of George Floyd, the facts are too obvious and documented to be denied. ; I suspect this will be a conviction. ; But it only takes one juror to deadlock a jury. ; That would mean a second trial and most likely a more representative jury.</p>



<p>I just do not believe that there are 11 white racists on that jury – even in rural Georgia. ; That is because I do not believe that racism is in the gene of white folks – or that racism is pandemic in America – as the left contends. We saw the left’s promoting of omnipresent inherent racism get disproved in the Floyd case. ; It should again. ; It is not about bad optics, but hard facts.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Ahmaud Arbery trial: bad optics, bad facts
