BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge is denying requests to declare a mistrial in the case of three white men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery.
Tensions flared Monday as the Rev. Jesse Jackson joined the slain Black man's parents in court.
Defense attorneys said jurors could have been tainted when they heard weeping in the gallery and saw the civil rights icon sitting with Arbery's family.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley denied the requests and said it was "reprehensible" how a defense lawyer complained about Black pastors in the courtroom.
A cellphone video of Arbery's death on Feb. 23, 2020, deepened a national outcry over racial injustice.
Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William R. Bryan have been charged with malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and a criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
They stand accused of shooting and killing Arbery, who was out on the run on Feb. 23.
In early May, the McMichaels were arrested.
According to the official indictment, Bryan filmed the encounter between the McMichaels and Arbery.
Ten weeks after the shooting, the video was made public.
Two days later, the McMichaels were arrested.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Bryan a few weeks later.