Georgia

Jury hears testimony from owner of home where Ahmaud Arbery was last seen alive

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who owns the home that Ahmaud Arbery was last seen alive in testified in court Thursday as the trial in the killing of Arbery continues.

The property was under construction at the time, but it plays a key role in the case.

Larry English owns the property and was too ill to take the stand. He needs a heart transplant. Instead, his testimony was played on video Thursday.

“Has anything been taken or disturbed?” prosecutors asked English on the video.

“No, nothing taken,” English said.

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas has been in Brunswick since the beginning of the trial. He said jurors seemed to watch intently as surveillance video of Arbery walking through a house under construction was played.

The video was taken moments before Arbery was chased, shot and killed by three neighborhood men.

The jury also heard several 911 calls from English over a period of weeks, alerting police a man later identified as Arbery, and sometimes other people were on his property.

“Did you have any trespassing signs or stay off property signs?” Prosecutors asked English.

“No,” English said.

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Greg McMichael, his son Travis and neighbor Roddy Bryan are charged with murder for following Arbery after he left the house. Travis McMichael shot Arbery during a confrontation a couple blocks away.

The men claim self defense and say they were simply trying to hold Arbery.

English now says nothing was ever stolen.

Jurors watched the videotaped testimony for hours.

Thomas asked metro Atlanta defense attorney Chinwe Foster about that.

“Is the playing of a deposition to the jury different from having live testimony in front of them,” Thomas asked Foster.

“It absolutely is,” Foster said. “I think the jury can get bored because you are sitting for three hours watching a video.”

There were more prayers and protests outside of court today, and at least one lawyer complained it has impacted proceedings inside.

The judge so far has made no changes.

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