I love all the people who know Georgia law better than Attorneys and Judges in Georgia.
This is an issue that comes up in Georgia Law Cases quite frequently, mere presence cases. Give Issa Castro Law Firm a call today 1-770-LAWSUIT.
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Mere Presence does not convey intent. You have to show that they intended to steal something. You have to have some proof of this in Georgia. The presence of Burglary tools as one example. But if you have none of that, then you are left with simple trespass which is what Officer Rush, the cop you love to quote out of context was saying.
Even if he had spoken to Arbery, then he could not have arrested Arbery.
Let’s go ahead and play that game. Let’s say that Arbery had stopped and waited for the cops. The McMichaels would still have been on their way to Prison.
First, the McMichaels had no authority to enforce the no trespassing statute. That is only available by Georgia law to the owner, or the designated representative. English took the legs out of that when he said he had rarely spoken to the McMichaels, and never asked them to keep an eye on the property. Without that, the McMichaels were self appointed vigilantes.
So capturing and holding Arbery would still have been a Felony. Using the weapons would still have been Aggravated Assault. They would have been facing up to ten years in prison for those crimes, when convicted.
The old citizens arrest statute was a Bet your Life move. It is for that fact that I assume that Greg did not shout that Arbery was under arrest, while threatening to blow his fucking head off.
Arbery was not a suspect in the burglaries, the suspect who was caught on camera was a White male, in a vehicle. A vehicle is vital, because one of the things stolen was a Trailer, and it is hard to jog down the road with one of those without someone noticing.
A White Couple was caught on video stealing from the boat. But we’ll blame the Black guy. Because everyone knows Blacks are criminals right?
The racist attitudes of the McMichaels got them into trouble. The self appointed nature of their pursuit insured that they were going to jail, and they put the nails into their own coffins by doing the dumbest thing ever. They relied on the Good Old Boys Network instead of getting a lawyer.