ATLANTA — The man who initiated the fatal chase of Ahmaud Arbery withdrew his guilty plea late Thursday and will stand trial next week on federal hate crimes charges.
Greg McMichael, a former police officer and District Attorney’s Office investigator, was set to appear in court for a hearing on Friday morning.
He was to disclose whether he wanted to continue with a guilty plea after an agreement reached with federal prosecutors in Arbery’s killing was rejected by a judge on Monday.
But a court motion filed Thursday by McMichael’s attorney made clear McMichael’s intentions: he is withdrawing from the plea agreement.
“The prior plea agreement is null and void,” the motion states. “Counsel respectfully announce ready for trial on February 7, 2022.”
McMichael and his son Travis, who fired the shotgun blasts that killed the unarmed 25-year-old, had both planned to plead guilty and admit to chasing and shooting Arbery because he was Black. In exchange, they would have spent the first 30 years of their life prison sentences in federal custody.
But U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood rejected the plea agreement following an emotional hearing in which Arbery’s family members said they never agreed to the deal.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told the court she hopes to see her son’s killers serve out their life sentences in state prison, where conditions are tougher.
After refusing to accept the terms of punishment, Wood gave the McMichaels until Friday to decide whether to continue with their guilty pleas and let her decide their punishment or stand trial, set for Monday.
No filings have been posted for Travis McMichael, who killed Arbery after he and his father chased him through their neighborhood outside Brunswick for about five minutes. Travis McMichael’s hearing is still scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday.
In November, the McMichaels and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of Arbery’s murder following a highly publicized state trial that lasted about seven weeks. The McMichaels were sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Bryan, who filmed the cellphone video of Arbery falling dead in the street, got life with parole.
It is unclear whether a plea deal was ever offered to Bryan in the federal hate crimes case. He is set to stand trial Monday along with Greg McMichael.
