The defence team for the three men on trial for the death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed after he ran through a mostly white neighbourhood in Georgia last year, rested on Thursday and prosecutors said they would not call any rebuttal witnesses.
The jury was told to return on Monday morning to the Glynn County Superior Court in Brunswick for closing arguments.
The people who spoke on behalf of the accused included six neighbors who shared their concerns over crime in the neighbourhood.
One of the accused, Travis McMichael, taking the stand for a second day on Thursday, acknowledged that he had not felt threatened by the black jogger when he shot him in February 2020.
Mr McMichael stated when gave evidence on Wednesday that he felt he was under attack from Arbery after he and two others chased the black jogger through a mostly white neighbourhood.
Under cross-examination, Mr McMichael acknowledged that Arbery did not yell at him, threaten him or show any weapons. Instead, he remained silent and kept moving.
“He just ran?” prosecutor Linda Dunikoski asked.
“Yes, he was just running,” Mr McMichael said.
But Mr McMichael said at one point he did perceive Arbery to be a threat.
“He was coming straight to me that first time. I was thinking, alright he’s going to try to get in this truck or he’s going to try to attack me or my dad or who knows what," he said.
"He was acting weird. He was acting funny when I was trying to talk to him prior so I’m on alert. He turns, runs off. Comes back. I don’t - I’m sure I saw Mr Bryan’s truck in this instance, but I was focused on what I perceived as a threat,” Mr McMichael said on Thursday.
The deadly encounter occurred outside the coastal city of Brunswick on February 23, 2020. Phone footage of the killing sparked outrage when it emerged two months later.
Mr McMichael has pleaded not guilty to murder and other crimes alongside two other accused: his father, Gregory McMichael, and their neighbour, William “Roddie” Bryan.
The prosecution asked on Thursday: "Do you think that Mr Arbery's crime deserved the death penalty?" This question led the defence to request a mistrial, which was denied.
It was the second time a mistrial request was denied in the proceedings.
“I shot him,” Mr McMichael, who is white, said on Wednesday in a trembling voice as he held back tears.
“It was a life or death situation.”
He said that in the final moments, he feared for his life when Arbery grabbed at the shotgun Mr McMichael pointed in his direction.
They grappled, with both men holding on to the weapon, and Mr McMichael pulled the trigger, he said.
The younger Mr McMichael's decision to take the stand was a risky legal manoeuvre as it opened him up to questioning by prosecutors, who have said they might ask him about evidence that he had “racial animus” against black people.
Mr McMichael said that he and his father thought Arbery was a burglar because he had been seen “creeping in the shadows” around a house under construction near by on the night of February 11, less than two weeks before the shooting.
Police had told him that nothing had been stolen from the site on that day, but Mr McMichael said he suspected Arbery may have committed theft on a different occasion, and that he may have been armed.
He and his father grabbed their weapons after Arbery ran past their driveway. They chased him in a pickup truck for five minutes.
“I ask him: 'Hey, what are you doing? What's going on?'" Mr McMichael said. He said he pulled alongside Arbery as he ran on the road.
He said Arbery did not spoke a word in reply and looked angry, with clenched teeth.
“He was mad, which made me think something's happened,” Mr McMichael said.
Prosecutors say the accused had unfairly assumed the worst about a black man out for a Sunday afternoon run.
Defence lawyers have said the men were legally trying to stop Arbery under a now-repealed Georgia citizen's arrest law, and the younger Mr McMichael shot him in self-defence.
They face life in prison if convicted of murder.
The owner of the half-built house where Arbery was seen on several nights in the months before February 2020 has said through a lawyer that the jogger may have stopped there to drink from a tap.
Arbery had nothing on him besides his running clothes and shoes on the day he was shot.
Mr McMichael earlier described law-enforcement training he had during nine years as a US Coast Guard mechanic.
Speaking calmly and often turning to address the jurors directly, he said he had arrest powers, was trained on using force and had reasonable suspicion of a crime.
He never used physical force in his military duties but Mr McMichael said he had been taught that aiming a gun at someone can be used to de-escalate a situation.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
LIGUE 1 FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Nice v Angers (9pm)
Lille v Monaco (10.45pm)
Saturday
Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain (7pm)
Bordeaux v Guingamp (10pm)
Caen v Amiens (10pm)
Lyon v Dijon (10pm)
Metz v Troyes (10pm)
Sunday
Saint-Etienne v Rennes (5pm)
Strasbourg v Nantes (7pm)
Marseille v Toulouse (11pm)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
