אויב איר קענט ענגליש, האט עטץ דא אביסל מער הסבר אויף די קלאגעס:
Felony murder and malice murder
Georgia does not have degrees of murder but has malice and felony murder.
Under Georgia law, malice murder refers to when someone causes the death of another person "unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied."
Express malice involves a "deliberate intention" to take the life of another human. Malice is implied when the killing is unprovoked and "all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart."
A felony murder is committed when a person causes the death of another person while committing a felony. To be convicted of felony murder, the person must be convicted of the underlying felony.
Prosecutors say the men committed four felonies: two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. So the men faced four counts of felony murder.
Aggravated assault and false imprisonment
The first count of aggravated assault was "with a firearm, deadly weapon." That's when Travis pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at Arbery, prosecutors say.
The second count was an assault with "an object, device and instrument, which when used offensively against a person are likely to result in serious bodily injury." That occurred when Arbery was assaulted with the two pickup trucks, prosecutors say.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley instructed the jury Tuesday that for aggravated assault, "actual injury to the alleged victim need not be shown."
Prosecutors say the men committed false imprisonment when they violated Arbery's personal liberty by confining and detaining him without legal authority, using their pickups. Because they tried to detain him on another street, prosecutors say, they also were charged with one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Citizen's arrest
According to the judge, these were the conditions for a citizen's arrest at the time Arbery was shot:
• A person can make a citizen's arrest when an offense is committed in their presence or "immediate knowledge"; or, based on "reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion," if the crime is a felony and the suspect is escaping or attempting to escape.
• A citizen's arrest cannot be made based on "unsupported statements of others."
• It must happen immediately after the offense.
• A person cannot use "excessive force or an unlawful degree of force" during the arrest.
• A person placed under an unlawful citizen's arrest “has the right to resist the arrest with such force as is reasonably necessary.”
Prosecutors argued the defendants didn't have immediate knowledge that Arbery had committed a crime but instead made assumptions based on neighborhood rumors.
They also said none of the defendants told Arbery or the police that they were trying to make a citizen's arrest that day. Walmsley told the jury, however, that a citizen's arrest can be made even if the suspect is not told they are under arrest.