Thread by @MissVWaters

First witness after lunch in the federal hate crimes trial of #AhmaudArbery's murderers is GBI Asst. Special Agent in charge Richard Dial (pictured here in Nov. 2021). He was the GBI's lead investigator in the case. @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial describes video showing #AhmaudArbery in khaki shorts and a white tee, walking into the house under construction. He was seen on motion-activated security cameras. He walked around; had nothing in his hands. House was just framed up; no walls or doors. @wsbradio

@wsbradio The jury is watching other neighborhood security videos that ASAC Dial identifies for them, which show #AhmaudArbery leaving the framed-up house and running down the street. When Arbery passed the McMichaels', Greg was working on boat cushions in the driveway. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial testifies that Greg McMichael went into the house to get his son. Both men grabbed their weapons--Greg, a .357 from his bedroom; Travis, a Remington 12-gauge shotgun. They got into Travis's white F150. Neither called 911. Greg left his phone at home. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Travis McMichael turned right down Burford, the same direction #AhmaudArbery had run. They first caught up to him in front of Roddie Bryan's house, #307. Arbery changed direction and tried to run back. Bryan was working out front of his house. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Bryan was on the front porch. Dial testifies Bryan never said he knew #AhmaudArbery or the McMichaels. Bryan yelled at the truck driver, "Y'all got him?" Bryan did not ask Ahmaud if he was okay, or ask the men in the truck why they were chasing him. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Bryan got his keys from the house, as the McMichaels kept pursuing #AhmaudArbery and caught up to him again at Burford and Zellwood. Travis tried to block Arbery's path. Greg tried to go around the truck to engage Arbery, who changed direction and ran back up Burford @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial testifies Bryan in his black truck now also in pursuit, tried to block #AhmaudArbery's path. Arbery made contact w/his truck's door w/his hand. Glynn Co. Police found a dent in the truck, white fibers consistent with Arbery's shirt, a finger swipe & palm print @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial: The quickest path of travel out of Satilla Shores--Satilla Drive, not turning onto Holmes--was blocked by Roddie Bryan's truck. He'd shot forward into the intersection. #AhmaudArbery was running from Bryan when he went down Holmes. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial: Arbery didn't make it to Zellwood because McMichaels were coming that way toward #AhmaudArbery from Zellwood up Holmes. He sees them, turns and goes back the direction he came. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial: Greg McMichael was by now in the bed of Travis's pickup; he'd been in his grandson's child seat before getting out on Burford. Travis McMichael got out of his truck at door with his shotgun; he raises it as #AhmaudArbery runs toward him. Arbery changes direction @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial: #AhmaudArbery runs around passenger side of truck. When he's at front of passenger side Travis McMichael had moved from around the open driver's door to the front of his truck. When Arbery reached front of truck and turned left, "he was shot by Travis McMichael" @wsbradio

@wsbradio The jury sees the video of #AhmaudArbery's shooting. The three booming gunshots are spaced out by ~4 seconds each. ASAC Richard Dial says the GBI had the video enhanced and in the slow-motion video you can see Travis McMichael raise his shotgun. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial: Greg McMichael called 911 near the end of the chase. Neither McMichael or Roddie Bryan called 911 after setting out after #AhmaudArbery at any other time. Jury hears the 911 call. Now jury will see bodycam of Ofcr. R. Minshew responding to shooting scene. @wsbradio

@wsbradio As with the shooting video, AUSA Bobbi Bernstein warns before playing it that this will be graphic. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial testifies #AhmaudArbery's "dying gasps" were heard on the bodycam video, which was muted when played for the jury. @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial testifies #AhmaudArbery was not armed, had no bag, box, or backpack on him--nothing on him but clothes. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Gov't turns to statements made by defendants. Greg McMichael first spoke to GCPD Ofcr. Brandeberry, says Agent Dial; he tells his story more than once. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Bodycam: Hey sir, says officer. Greg McMichael says he's trying to call his wife. Launches into story: This guy who we've seen numerous times breaking into houses comes hauling ass He's hooked up. I ran in the house: Travis! The guy who broke in the house! #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Greg McMichael on Bodycam: I said come on let's go! Travis runs gets his shotgun cause the other night the guy stuck his hand in his pants. I grab my .357 Magnum--old Glynn County PD issue, by the way, when I was a cop. We take off. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio G McMichael: We see him come around the corner & yell Stop, Stop! He just keeps running. He's looking at us, he's this close. Then Roddie comes. The guy turns around. Roddie pulls out & kinda blocks him. I said Travis, go back that way, we'll head him off! #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

Greg McMichael details the continued chase of #AhmaudArbery: The guy's looking right dead at us he's right here, from me to you! Travis gets out with the damn shotgun. The guy turns and comes at him and Travis shoots him right in the damn chest. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Greg McMichael: They start wrestling, Travis shoots him...He had no--the guy was trying to take the shotgun away.
GCPD: Do me a favor, hang tight.
GM: I would like to get his blood off--I rolled him to check his pulse...he didn't have anything in his hand #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

Court now in afternoon break until ~2:40 PM

Judge Wood is taking the bench again; the jury then enters. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio GBI ASAC Dial is back on the stand. He is about to detail the first time #AhmaudArbery was seen on Larry English's property, Oct 25, 2019, on the dock. Arbery didn't take or disturb anything. Jury views video. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Nov 18, 2019, #AhmaudArbery visited English place again. Video shows him inside the house under construction; wearing shorts; nothing in hands; doesn't take or bother anything. Jury views video. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dec. 17, 2019, #AhmaudArbery visits the English property again, walking in the house under construction. Again in shorts, nothing in hands, doesn't take or bother anything. Jury views this video. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Feb. 11, 2020, was the next time #AhmaudArbery visited the English property, testifies GBI Agent Dial. He was not seen in Satilla Shores between 2/11 and 2/23. He never took anything from the property or had anything in his hands. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Back to bodycam video: Greg McMichael tells GCPD that he has blood on him because #AhmaudArbery's arm was underneath him and he pulled it out because "I didn't know if he was going for a weapon, or what. At that point he was still breathing." @wsbradio

Prosecutor notes Greg McMichael told police that the man his son Travis had shot was "still breathing." Agent Dial testifies that No, none of the three defendants ever tried to render aid to #AhmaudArbery. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Prosecutor keeps parsing through segments of Greg McMichael's comments on bodycam video, pausing so Agent Dial can illuminate them. Dial says #AhmaudArbery never broke into the house under construction; it didn't have doors, or No Trespassing/Keep Out signs. @wsbradio

Gov't: #AhmaudArbery going onto someone's property--is it trespass at least? Dial testifies it wasn't under GA law b/c that requires someone be told to leave and either refuse, or leave and come back @wsbradio

@wsbradio Gov't notes Greg McMichael's statements to police about # of times #AhmaudArbery visited the house is changing and reducing as he retells his story. @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial testifies Greg McMichael said #AhmaudArbery had been caught on video "breaking into places," but Arbery had never gone into any Satilla Shores places except the house under construction. @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial testifies Greg McMichael had never met #AhmaudArbery, only seen him on video in that house walking around. Still on the scene after the deadly shooting, McMichael "called him 'an asshole.'" @wsbradio

@wsbradio Judge Wood calls attorneys for a quick sidebar. Then tells jurors while she's admitted captions and transcripts to help them follow along, it's up to them as a jury to determine whether what THEY see and hear matches up & they should rely on their own view #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Bodycam clip of Travis McMichael saying, "If he would've stopped, this wouldn't have happened." Agent Dial says he is unaware of any law requiring a person to stop because a stranger told them to do so. Testifies Travis said so in a previous proceeding. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Jury sees bodycam clips, then interview clips of Travis McMichael. In one interview, he blamed #AhmaudArbery for this, testifies Dial: "He said that he was pissed that Ahmaud put him in this situation, and that he gave him the opportunity to run by." @wsbradio

@wsbradio Jury is hearing police station interview clips of Greg McMichael, as well: "The whole thing started when I saw this guy running down the street." #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Greg McMichael never said he chased #AhmaudArbery because he saw him coming out of the house under construction that day, testifies Agent Dial. "This guy has just done something he's fleeing from," McMichael speculates to police in his interview. @wsbradio

Jurors heard Greg McMichael explain he yelled Stop, we want to talk to you! but #AhmaudArbery "wasn't having none of that...Pretty sure that's what Travis said when he got out with the shotgun. Don't take a rocket surgeon to figure out the guy was cornered like a rat." @wsbradio

@wsbradio Cross-exam highlights: Travis McMichael's attorney notes w/Agent Dial the police didn't arrest the men until the GBI got involved, after the video of #AhmaudArbery's shooting was released and a prosecutor requested them. Greg had had his attorney release video May 5. @wsbradio

Dial cross-exam: The GBI found probable cause to arrest the men. The January 1 theft of Travis McMichael's gun from his unlocked truck remains unsolved. After #AhmaudArbery shooting, he was cooperative with police on scene and at PD HQ, gave consent to search his phone. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Amy Copeland: One statement Greg McMichael makes consistently is it was his idea to chase #AhmaudArbery, correct? Agent Dial: He saw Mr. Arbery first and alerted Travis McMichael inside the house. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Defense asked if there was any evidence Travis McMichael heard Roddie Bryan yell out, "Y'all got him?" Dial said no. Copeland asked, At one point wasn't Bryan's camera pointing to right of the McMichael truck--an escape path for #AhmaudArbery. @wsbradio

@wsbradio The first officer on the scene, Minshew, did not render aid to #AhmaudArbery, though he was still alive, the defense reiterated with Agent Dial. In these video clips from the scene, did Greg McMichael try to comfort his son? In the video clips, no, replied Dial. @wsbradio

Under cross-exam by AJ Balbo, Agent Dial says he'd reviewed Facebook posts about property thefts--couple guns stolen from unlocked vehicles included Travis McMichael's. @wsbradio #AhmaudArbery

@wsbradio Balbo asked Agent Dial would it raise his concern if an individual kept coming back to an unlit construction site at night. Dial said people do that at any hour. If someone enters dwelling with intent to commit a crime isn't that burglary? Dial says yes. @wsbradio #AhmaudArbery

@wsbradio Dial says Yes, Larry English had reported some items stolen from a boat possibly while stored at his Satilla Drive home and he suspected contractors. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Balbo asked wouldn't it have been difficult for Greg McMichael to make a phone call when scrunched up on his grandson's car seat in Travis's truck. When he got in the back of truck and got cell phone, didn't he call 911? Correct, says Dial. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Balbo: Didn't he start off his 911 call saying "There's a Black male running down the street" then get interrupted? Dial: He was asked what's the emergency, said There's a Black male, then started yelling instructions #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio When Greg McMichael said in only one of his interviews that he yelled to #AhmaudArbery, "Stop or I'll blow your fucking head off!" couldn't he have been being descriptive, not literal? Dial replied that he believes GM was quoting himself. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Balbo asked a question about whether Dial was familiar with the McMichaels going to talk to a homeless man under a bridge. The prosecution objected but Judge said he could talk about it...having reviewed case file #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Cross of GBI ASAC Dial by Pete Theodocion: Roddie Bryan was arrested May 21, 2020. He'd given numerous statements to police by then. Never detained or in custody, all voluntary and even had his attorney with him twice. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio ASAC Dial interviewed Bryan a couple of times. Didn't Bryan give the most important piece of evidence--the video?, asked defense, right at the scene? Pointed out #AhmaudArbery's handprints on the truck? Later gave police his FB password and his phone? @wsbradio

@wsbradio GBI never determined Roddie Bryan had ever communicated with the McMichaels before the Feb. 23 chase and shooting of #AhmaudArbery, ASAC Dial agrees. @wsbradio

@wsbradio Theodocion asked Dial was there anything preventing #AhmaudArbery from running into a yard for most of the chase. Video in front of Roddie Bryan's house is when Bryan heard a McMichael yell "Stop?" Yes. @wsbradio

@wsbradio On Gov't redirect, Dial said it was fairly common for a suspect to cooperate with an investigation and sometimes give consent to searches where evidence is found. GBI search of Roddie Bryan's found found racial slurs on it. #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio

@wsbradio Dial tells prosecutor Larry English had said he was concerned contractors had stolen from his boat; so whether he related concerns about Black man on his property he never mentioned concerns that guy had stolen anything #AhmaudArbery @wsbradio