BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Defense attorneys for the three Georgia men facing federal hate crime charges in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery are asking for more time to file motions in the case.
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis and William Bryan are charged with interference with rights and attempted kidnapping in the pursuit and death of Arbery, who was killed during a Feb. 23, 2020, confrontation in Brunswick’s Satilla Shores neighborhood.
The McMichaels also face a count each of using, carrying and brandishing — and discharging in Travis McMichael’s case — a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
RELATED: Attorneys of men accused in Ahmaud Arbery slaying spar in court | Defense wants ‘no press’ for part of Arbery trial jury selection
All three have pleaded not guilty to those federal charges, which are separate from the state charges each of them faces.
Attorneys representing the McMichaels and Bryan filed a motion seeking a 60-day extension in the federal case, citing the large volume of discovery material, which includes thousands of pages of court documents.
The trio’s attorneys also told the court they had trouble accessing computer files, some of them recorded interviews, involved in the discovery process. The attorneys estimated they could get access to those files by the end of the week.
A judge did not issue a ruling Monday on the defense motion. He said he will take the defense arguments into consideration but indicated he is leaning toward pushing back the deadline for motions by 30 days and then reevaluating.
Marcus Arbery Sr., Ahmaud’s father, told News4Jax after Monday’s hearing that the time that has passed since his son’s killing hasn’t dulled the pain of his family’s loss. He said it’s tough for someone who hasn’t lost a child to understand their hurt.
“Until you been through it, you can’t feel it,” Arbery Sr. told News4Jax. “So it’s hard every day. When we get some justice, it’s going to ease the pain down just a little. But it’ll never go away because we won’t see him no more.”
The men are set to stand trial in October to face murder charges in Arbery’s killing. They have also maintained their innocence in that case.