- The honorable Reverend Jesse Jackson,
who I believe is still here.
He is, Your Honor, I think we all know,
an icon in the Civil Rights Movement.
Not just a witness to it, he's the personification of it.
And in other circumstances, I think everybody would be happy
to have their picture taken, maybe get an autograph.
But in the context of this trial,
we object to his presence in the public gallery
inside the courtroom.
We note that there is a jury assembly room
capable of holding, depending on how we socially distance,
several hundred people, where these proceedings
are being televised live in real time.
The issue that brought up previously is,
how many pastors does the Arbery family have?
We had the Reverend Al Sharpton here earlier last week.
And I'm not keeping track,
and I think the court has indicated
the court doesn't intend to ask anyone to keep track of
who is in the gallery.
We are concerned about, whether it's conscious or unconscious,
the impact of their presence with respect to the jury
and with respect to the proceedings in this case,
and I guess next question is, which pastor is next?
Is Raphael Warnock gonna be the next person
appearing this afternoon?
We don't know.
Your Honor, I would submit,
with all respect to the Reverend Jesse Jackson,
that this is no different than bringing in police officers
or uniformed prison guards in a small town
where a young Black man has been accused
of assaulting a law enforcement officer or corrections officer.
And, again, we are concerned about our client's
right to have a fair trial
and the impact of the presence of these individuals
is gonna have on this case.
And we are asking the court, and again,
with all respect to the honorable
Reverend Jesse Jackson,
that he be observing these proceedings
from the jury assembly room,
where they're being streamed live,
rather than sitting here in the courtroom
where he can visually interact with the jurors in this case.
- All right, Mister Gough, at this point,
I'm not exactly sure what you're doing.
I have already ruled on this court's position
with regard to the gallery,
and with all candor, I was not even aware
that Reverend Jackson was in the courtroom
until you started your motion.
I have indicated the court's position.
The court's position hasn't changed.
At this point, it's almost as if you're just trying
to continue this for purposes
other than just bringing it to the court's attention.
Find that objectionable from the court's standpoint.
I have said over and over and over in this trial
that I am attempting to ensure that, in this courtroom,
that the defendants receive a fair trial.
And I will continue to do that.
I have heard the objection.
I have ruled previously on my position
with regard to the gallery, and that is unchanged.
So then we start getting into what we have now
with individual members,
or individuals coming into the courtroom.
I will say that is directly in response, Mister Gough,
to statements you made, which I find reprehensible.
The Colonel Sanders statement you made last week
I would suggest may be something
that has influenced what is going on here.
In response to that, and to his credit,
Mister Sheffield made some comments,
but did say, "Come one, come all."
And so now the court is faced with balancing
a lot of things going on outside this courtroom
and doing it in a way that respects members of the public's
right to be in the courtroom,
as well as what I'm trying to put out there is a fair trial.
All right?
So you need to understand, everybody,
that your words in this courtroom have an impact
on a lot of what's going on.
And so my measured response at this point
is to balance all of that out
and try to move forward with the trial.
I am not granting a mistrial at this point.