3 men convicted of hate crime in Ahmaud Arbery murder ask for convictions to be thrown out

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ATLANTA — The three men who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged through their neighborhood say race had nothing to do with his death.

Wednesday, their attorneys asked a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals to throw out their hate crime convictions and Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandez was there.

There's no way of knowing which way the judges could rule, but the family was there Wednesday and said they're confident the judges saw right through the attorney's arguments.

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Arbery's family did not think they would still be chanting "no justice, no peace" four years after three men murdered him for jogging through their Brunswick, Ga. neighborhood.

"We thought this would be over with now, and for people to keep giving money to these people to appeal, and the way they took my nephew's life... this is destroying my family," Ahmaud's aunt Diane Arbery said.

A judge already found Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and Roddie Bryan guilty of murder and another judge said they killed Arbery because he was Black and deemed what they did a hate crime.

Wednesday morning attorneys for the trio asked a panel of three judges to throw out the hate crime convictions.

No cameras are allowed in the U.S. Court of Appeals, but there is some audio of the proceedings today.

"The race was a non-contributing role in this matter," Greg McMichael's attorney said.

Arbery's family said race was the only factor in the murder and they said it's ridiculous for the attorney's to say he was trespassing.

Justice Coalition attorney Barbara Arnwine said the judges saw right through their ridiculous argument.

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"They did not just sit back and allow that argument to take place. They listened and they challenged it over and over and over again," she said.

Channel 2 Action News will be looking out for the judges' decision in a few months.

The family is now gearing up for another trial with the former Glynn County District Attorney who charged with misconduct for not bringing up charges on Greg McMichael and was friends with him.

Her attorney is currently on the YSL RICO case, so there's no word yet on when her trial begins.

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