Linda Dunikoski, lead prosecutor in the state's case against Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., opened her closing argument by telling the jury that the state has to disprove self-defense and citizen's arrest in the case.
She said that what this case is about is "assumptions and driveway decisions."
"Now, you heard the defense talk about well, probable cause. You are going to have to distinguish between assumptions based on gossip and rumor, and all of this neighborhood talk on Facebook, and actual probable cause to believe a crime had been committed, and someone had committed that crime. The state's position is, all three of the defendants made assumptions."
Dunikoski said that the defendants made the decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery "in their driveways" because "he was a Black man running down the street."
The prosecutor told the jury that instead of calling 911 the defendants decided they would question Arbery.
"The bottom line, they assumed he must have committed some crime that day because he's running real fast down the street, right? They did not call 911. They wanted to stop him and question him before they called 911. How do we know? Because that's what they told the police that night."
She said the defendants shot and killed Arbery "because he wouldn't stop and talk to them."
"They were going to make him, absolutely make him stop," she added.
"But the bottom line is, but for their actions, but for their decisions, but for their choices, Ahmaud Arbery would be alive. And that's why they've been indicted with murder, felony murder, and the four felonies that led to the murder."
The state's closing argument is ongoing.