GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — The trio of Cobb County-based prosecutors who tried three men for the death of Ahmaud Arbery are now reflecting on the trial after it reached its end on Wednesday.
Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski and prosecutors Paul Camarillo and Larissa Ollivierre sat down with Channel 2′s Tony Thomas just hours after the guilty verdicts were read.
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The first question Thomas asked after sitting down with them was what they felt was the most pivotal moment in the trial. They told him it was the moment defendant Travis McMichael took the stand.
“Until Travis took the stand, we didn’t know where they were going with their defense,” Camarillo said.
When Travis McMichael, who admitted to shooting Arbery, took the stand, the prosecution team knew they had to go after him.
Dunikoski poked holes in his testimony by taking the now-famous cell phone footage of the incident frame by frame.
“This was not the same Travis McMichael that was out there on February 23rd, 2020,” she said. “His attorneys had gotten a hold of him and given him great talking points.”
“She did a phenomenal job and that sealed it for us,” Ollivierre commented.
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After the verdicts were read and prosecutors walked out to a cheering crowd, defense attorneys spoke about appeals and devastated clients.
“These are two men who honestly believe that what they were doing was the right thing to do,” said defense attorney Jason Sheffield.
“I could look at him and tell how he felt,” Roddie Bryan’s defense attorney Kevin Gough said.
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Each convicted murderer is facing up to life sentences plus 35 years when they are sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
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