STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Defense In Ahmaud Arbery Case Will Reportedly Use A Slavery-Era Georgia Law

Attorneys say they will bring out a citizens arrest law from 1863.

Jury selection is currently underway for the three men involved in the death of Ahmaud Arbery and the defense is reportedly ready to use a bizarre law.

According to Reuters, the defense will utilize a 1863 Georgia citizen's arrest law, which was originally meant for slave owners to capture enslaved people who ran away. The defense will reportedly claim they were able to stop Arbery and issue a citizen’s arrest because they believed he was committing a crime.

The law wasn’t repealed until May of 2021.

Greg and Travis McMichael, a white father and son, allegedly armed themselves and pursued Arbery, 25, in a pickup truck after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23, 2020.

Following behind, neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan recorded the incident, taking cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range with a shotgun. The pair said they believed Arbery was a burglar.

Kevin Gough, a lawyer for Bryan, said earlier this month, "Citizen's arrest is a big part of our case, a big part. They changed the law, but changing the law doesn't affect us. It doesn't change what was the law of the land at the time."

RELATED: Department Of Justice Indicts Ahmaud Arbery Killers On Hate Crime, Kidnapping Charges

Immediately following the shooting, the McMichaels and Bryan remained free and were not charged until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. In May 2020, all three were charged with murder and will face trial beginning Feb. 7, 2022.

Additionally, all three men have been indicted on federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges.

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