Because murder would rquire them to prove to a jury that he intended to kill Ahhmau from the very start, completely premeditated. That he was there to kill him. A jury might not believe that. The defense could argue that while Travis attempting to intimidate him, itwas never his intent to use the weapon until Ahhmaud attacked him. Manslaughter doesnt require premeditation. So its the more likely charge intimidation were proven.
Actually. Not in Georgia.
Manslaughter in Georgia isn’t what you are used to. The two charges of Manslaughter would be as follows.
First. A crime of passion. The classic finding your wife in bed with your Brother and you kill them. It is Georgia saying we understand what happened. You are going to prison. But not for too long.
The second is recess behavior. You are speeding down the road and lose control of your car. You were reckless. You killed a man. We send you to prison. A little while. Not too long. Usually less than 20 years.
Two types of Murder. The premeditated you are familiar with. The second is Felony Murder. You were committing a crime. A felony. Someone died.
We don’t have degrees of Murder like other states. We have two types of manslaughter. And two types of Murder. That’s it.
Now. Are you arguing that chasing Arbery down was merely reckless? Or was it a crime of passion? Because those would be required for the Manslaughter charge.
We don’t have Capital Murder. We don’t have Murder in the First, Second, or Third Degree.
The penalty is at least 20 years. Minimum. The penalty may be life. Or death.
The Prosecutor isn’t seeking the Death Penalty. So figure that Travis will get life. Greg will get Twenty Years. I have said that Roddy has a chance to get off. If he doesn’t. Then at least 20 years.
It would be hard to get a Manslaughter charge with a firearm. I mean. Maybe you were drinking and thought it was unloaded. But short of that. No chance.
So charging the McMichaels with Manslaughter would be impossible in Georgia.