SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Jury deliberations are underway in the murder trial of a metro Atlanta attorney accused of running over a real estate investor, 60-year-old Hamid Jahangard following a dispute over a golf ball.
Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was the only TV reporter in court for closing arguments.
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After four days of testimony and 20 witnesses, the fate of Bryan Schmitt is now in the hands of the jury.
“The only thing that escalated the confrontation were this defendant’s intentional and deliberate actions,” said prosecutor Pat Dutcher.
“You got to be a psychopath to say, ‘I’m gonna go run some guy over in the middle of the afternoon in his own driveway with cars going back and forth. That’s just the kind of person I am!’ But we know that’s not the person he is,” defense attorney, Don Samuel said.
During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors attacked Schmitt’s credibility, accusing him of giving conflicting statements to police and witnesses on the night of July 30, 2019.
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That’s when prosecutors say a neighbor’s surveillance camera captured Schmitt heading home from work, driving down River Valley Road, when he heard something bounce off the front of his Mercedes.
They say when he turned around to question the father of 2, who had been bouncing a golf ball on his driveway and talking on the phone. Prosecutors claim he became enraged and intentionally slammed into him.
“It was a violent death. It was a gruesome death. It was a death that left him suffering in the hospital for two days until he was pronounced brain dead,” Dutcher said.
But the defense claims it was all a tragic mistake. Showing jurors how he hit the brakes before the collision.
“He puts the brakes on! He veers to the right! He’s not accelerating as much as he could! He’s not jamming the pedal to the metal. These are all signals that this was not an intentional murder,” Samuel said.
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The defense also said Schmitt immediately stops and jumps out of his car and runs back to render aid.
Schmitt is charged with murder, two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
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