The jury’s verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial may rest on its interpretation of a centuries-old legal standard
THE DEFENCE hangs on a technicality. In February 2020 Travis McMichael, a 35-year-old white man, shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man going for a jog near Brunswick, Georgia. Robert Rubin, Mr McMichael’s lawyer, argued this month that his defendant “honestly and lawfully attempted to detain [Mr Arbery] according to the law.
Academics have long debated the utility of such laws. Supporters often cite the so-called “shopkeeper’s privilege”, which might allow a proprietor to detain a robber while awaiting the police. Others say the law is necessary for self-defence. But opponents say the privilege is easily abused. Its legacy in America is complicated. Georgia, where Mr Arbery was killed, first codified its citizen’s arrest law in 1863 during the civil war.
Some states are mulling reforms. South Carolina and New York have introduced legislation to repeal their citizen's arrest laws. Following Mr. Arbery’s death, Georgia revised its citizen’s arrest law in May 2021 to restrict its use and bar bystanders from detaining criminals. But because the old version was on the books at the time of Mr Arbery’s death, the defence can still rely on it.
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