Kamala Harris calls for changes to jury selection process while not commenting on Arbery case

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Vice President Kamala Harris called for changes to the jury selection process on Friday, but did not directly comment on the active trial of the men accused of chasing and fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery. 

The Georgia jury picked to decide on the case consists of one Black juror and 11 White jurors, despite uproar from prosecutors who argued that several Black potential panelists were cut because of their race.

AHMAUD ARBERY DEATH: 12-PERSON JURY CONSISTS OF 11 WHITE JURORS, DESPITE PROTESTS FROM PROSECUTION

When asked about the trial and jury selection and discrimination in the U.S., Harris said she was not going to comment on an active trial "for obvious reasons."

"I don’t want to in any way influence or distract from what are the facts, the evidence in that case," she said. "But on the broader point, we still have a lot of work that we can do to improve the integrity of our criminal justice system."

Harris, a former prosecutor, said she has "worked on that for many years, and that includes ensuring that protections are in place so that anyone that is accused of a crime and charged with a crime has a jury of their peers."

"And we want to put in place all of the safeguards that are available to do that," Harris said.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a press conference in Paris, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Thomas Coex, Pool Photo via AP) (Thomas Coex, Pool Photo via AP)

"For example, over the years, there has been talk about understanding that jurors, if they are a working person, if they work two, or three jobs, unlikely they can sit for hours on end, potentially weeks and weeks on end, and not be at their job…not get paid leave," Harris said. "And they just can’t afford it, which means that we will, in those cases, have a jury that is probably not a jury of peers."

Harris added that there is work "that we’ve always had to do and we actually have embedded in the jury selection procedure, specific objections that, on behalf of a client, a lawyer can make when it becomes clear that there is a systematic and racially-based exclusion of potential jurors."

"We always have to have protections in place in our criminal justice system as a whole, including in our jury selection system," Harris said.

ARBERY CASE: DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAYS HE DOES NOT WANT ANY MORE ‘BLACK PASTORS’ IN COURTROOM

Race is a central issue in the case involving the death of Arbery. 

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley acknowledged on Wednesday that "intentional discrimination" by attorneys for the three White defendants charged in the death of the Black man appeared to have shaped jury selection. But he said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene. Defense attorneys argued that they had reasons other than race for cutting each prospective juror from the panel. 

Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck on Feb. 23, 2020, after they spotted the 25-year-old man running in their neighborhood in coastal Georgia. A neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

During the final day of jury selection – which lasted over two weeks – a long and at-times heated debate over the final jury’s racial makeup erupted in court shortly after the attorneys had completed the selection process.

After both sides had narrowed the panel of 48 prospective jurors to a final jury of 12, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski noted only a single Black juror made the panel.

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She argued that defense lawyers had struck eight Black potential jurors because of their race. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that it is unconstitutional for attorneys during jury selection to strike potential jurors solely based on race or ethnicity.

Laura Hogue, an attorney for Greg McMichael, insisted those jury panelists were cut for other reasons — namely for expressing strong opinions about the case when questioned individually by attorneys.

"I can give you a race-neutral reason for any one of these," Hogue said.

She noted one such juror had written on her juror questionnaire that Arbery was shot "due to his color" and had told attorneys she felt the defendants were guilty.

Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told reporters outside the courthouse she found it "devastating" that only one Black juror will be seated. Still, she said of the final jury: "I’m very confident that they’ll make the right decision after seeing all the evidence."

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Her attorney, S. Lee Merritt, said he still believes the trial will end in a conviction, though defense lawyers had "created a jury that was more favorable for their defendants, an almost entirely white jury."

In Glynn County, where Arbery was fatally shot and the trial is being held, Black people account for nearly 27% of the population of 85,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The judge said 25% of the pool from which the final jury was chosen was Black.

Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones and The Associated Press contributed to this report.