Homeowner: Arbery never stole anything
Nearly four-hour deposition shown to jurors Thursday.
Jurors were shown surveillance video of Ahmaud Arbery as he was walking through the home under construction moments before he was killed.
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Travis McMichael (from left), his father, Gregory McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, face murder and other charges in Ahmaud Arbery’s death.
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AHMAUD ARBERY CASE
BRUNSWICK — The owner of a home under construction that Ahmaud Arbery entered at least five times testified the 25-year-old Arbery never took anything from the vacant house in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, according to a video played Thursday.
Arbery was seen running out of the home Feb. 23, 2020, and he was soon chased by three men — Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan. About five minutes later, Travis McMichael killed the unarmed Arbery with shotgun blasts.
The three men, who are white, are now standing trial at the Glynn County Courthouse on murder and other felony charges in the death of Arbery, who was Black.
Thursday marked the trial’s fifth day of testimony.
Larry English, owner of the vacant home, said in a deposition he never saw Arbery steal anything or damage any property while he was there.
“Was anything ever taken from the construction site itself?” prosecutor Paul Camarillo asked him.
“Not that I know of,” English replied.
Jurors watched the nearly four-hour deposition given by English and were played a series of 911 calls he made from his home in the city of Douglas, in Coffee County, Georgia — nearly 100 miles from his Glynn County property, which has a dock overlooking the river.
A deposition is testimony given under oath and where a witness is questioned by attorneys from both sides.
The 51-year-old English did not testify in person Thursday because of poor health, but his videotaped testimony taken Sept. 24 was played to the jury.
The home under construction was unsecured and had no doors and no fence. English had installed motion-activated security cameras around the Glynn County house. He first installed the cameras because he was worried about children walking out on his dock. He installed additional cameras after he believed more than $2,000 worth of electronics equipment and fishing gear had been stolen from his boat.
But he told Camarillo he wasn’t certain when those items were stolen. English brought his boat back and forth between Brunswick and his home in Douglas, he said in the deposition, and he acknowledged those items may have been taken while his boat was stored in Coffee County.
Arbery’s first known visit to the home under construction was Oct. 25, 2019. English called Glynn County dispatchers after his phone alerted him to someone on his dock.
“I got a trespasser there.
He’s a colored guy, got real curly-looking hair,” English told the dispatcher. “He’s tattooed down both arms.”
English also told the dispatcher it looked like Arbery was “plundering around.”
But when asked by Camarillo what he meant by that, English said Arbery “was looking around, checking things out.”
English said he knew both Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael from the neighborhood, but never really spoke to them at length. After Arbery was killed, however, English said Greg McMichael walked up to him in the driveway to discuss the case.
“Some of it was talking about what had happened, and he made the comment that he wished people wouldn’t be talking about it on social media,” English said.
ajc.com
Testimony was still in progress Thursday afternoon when this article was due for print publication. For later developments, please read The Atlanta Journal- Constitution’s complete coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case on AJC.com.
BRUNSWICK — The owner of a home under construction that Ahmaud Arbery entered at least five times testified the 25-year-old Arbery never took anything from the vacant house in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, according to a video played Thursday.
Arbery was seen running out of the home Feb. 23, 2020, and he was soon chased by three men — Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan. About five minutes later, Travis McMichael killed the unarmed Arbery with shotgun blasts.
The three men, who are white, are now standing trial at the Glynn County Courthouse on murder and other felony charges in the death of Arbery, who was Black.
Thursday marked the trial’s fifth day of testimony.
Larry English, owner of the vacant home, said in a deposition he never saw Arbery steal anything or damage any property while he was there.
“Was anything ever taken from the construction site itself?” prosecutor Paul Camarillo asked him.
“Not that I know of,” English replied.
Jurors watched the nearly four-hour deposition given by English and were played a series of 911 calls he made from his home in the city of Douglas, in Coffee County, Georgia — nearly 100 miles from his Glynn County property, which has a dock overlooking the river.
A deposition is testimony given under oath and where a witness is questioned by attorneys from both sides.
The 51-year-old English did not testify in person Thursday because of poor health, but his videotaped testimony taken Sept. 24 was played to the jury.
The home under construction was unsecured and had no doors and no fence. English had installed motion-activated security cameras around the Glynn County house. He first installed the cameras because he was worried about children walking out on his dock. He installed additional cameras after he believed more than $2,000 worth of electronics equipment and fishing gear had been stolen from his boat.
But he told Camarillo he wasn’t certain when those items were stolen. English brought his boat back and forth between Brunswick and his home in Douglas, he said in the deposition, and he acknowledged those items may have been taken while his boat was stored in Coffee County.
Arbery’s first known visit to the home under construction was Oct. 25, 2019. English called Glynn County dispatchers after his phone alerted him to someone on his dock.
“I got a trespasser there.
He’s a colored guy, got real curly-looking hair,” English told the dispatcher. “He’s tattooed down both arms.”
English also told the dispatcher it looked like Arbery was “plundering around.”
But when asked by Camarillo what he meant by that, English said Arbery “was looking around, checking things out.”
English said he knew both Greg McMichael and Travis McMichael from the neighborhood, but never really spoke to them at length. After Arbery was killed, however, English said Greg McMichael walked up to him in the driveway to discuss the case.
“Some of it was talking about what had happened, and he made the comment that he wished people wouldn’t be talking about it on social media,” English said.
ajc.com
Testimony was still in progress Thursday afternoon when this article was due for print publication. For later developments, please read The Atlanta Journal- Constitution’s complete coverage of the Ahmaud Arbery case on AJC.com.