'He's a mechanic with a Georgia high school education, which isn't saying much': Lawyer for man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery's killing uses client's poor education as defense for not calling 911 and says 'he couldn't take video and call at same time'

The lawyer for the man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery's killing has defended him for not calling 911 'because he couldn't film at the same time' and belittled his client's high school education in a live interview.

Arbery, 25, was chased down and shot outside Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23. He was unarmed and his family said he was out for a jog. The killing was captured on video by William 'Roddy' Bryan who was trailing in a car.

Until the leak of that 36 second video last week no charges had been brought against Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34. They were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault on May 7.

In a Glynn County police report, McMichael senior mentioned 'Roddy' being at the scene of the crime. The McMichaels' defense has been that they were making a citizen's arrest after suspecting Arbery of breaking into and robbing homes in their neighborhood. 

Gregory McMichael claimed that they were trying to 'cut off' Arbery in their vehicle, according to the police report. It also states: 'McMichael stated [Arbery] turned around and began running back the direction from which he came and 'Roddy' attempted to block him, which was unsuccessful.'

Last night CNN's Chris Cuomo asked Bryan: 'In the police report, the McMichaels referred to a "Roddy," I'm assuming that was you, yes?'

But he was quickly shutdown by Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, who interjected: 'Okay, hold on, Chris ... You know what we can talk about without causing problems for anybody. And I know you're trying. But this man cannot be answering substantive questions about the case.'

Cuomo, who is himself a licensed attorney, threw back at the lawyer that he was 'afraid of the facts of this case.' 

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Last night CNN's Chris Cuomo spoke with William 'Roddy' Bryan (left) and his attorney Kevin Gough (right). Cuomo suggested that the lawyer was 'afraid of the facts of this case,' which Gough refuted

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Gregory McMichael, left, and his son Travis McMichael. They were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault on May 7

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In a still from the video filmed by William 'Roddy' Bryan, Ahmaud Arbery stumbles and falls to the ground after being shot as Travis McMichael stands by holding a shotgun in a neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23

Gough responded: 'With all due respect, I'm not afraid of you, I respect you. You're a brilliant, a very good prosecutor. And my client is a mechanic with a high school education and if you've ever been to the high schools around here, that's not necessarily saying much. Okay? And I don't mind if the board of education doesn't like it.'

Cuomo later moved onto the issue of why Bryan had chosen to film the incident rather than call 911. The CNN anchor said: 'When you see something that you know is wrong ... you call the police, I don't care about his education.' 

Bryan's attorney replied: 'Well, first of all, he can't use the phone for a phone call while he's using it as a camera.'

And dismissing Cuomo's notion that he could have stopped filming to ring the police, Gough added: 'If my client had been two seconds, two seconds later, getting where he was, there wouldn't be any video. Not one worth watching. Not one anybody would care about. There'd be nothing other than a young man bleeding out in the street.'

Bryan's attorney went onto add that his client is not considered part of the altercation. 'He's a witness and that's all he's ever been,' Gough told the anchor. 'There is no relationship whatsoever between Roddy and the McMichaels.'

Yesterday it was revealed an autopsy had found Arbery was killed by two close-range gunshot wounds to the chest and that he was also shot through the hand while being chased down by the McMichaels. 

TMZ obtained Ahmaud's autopsy on Monday. The 25-year-old had no drugs or alcohol in his system, and was carrying two tan bandannas which were soaked with blood.

It has taken nearly three months and three different prosecutors for Travis and Gregory McMichael to be arrested and charged with his killing.

Georgia's Attorney General is now investigating the handling of the case amid claims that prosecutors passed it off to protect 64-year-old Gregory, a former police detective who recently worked in the local district attorney's office. 

The case has sparked outrage around the world and some say it is proof of persistent racism in the South. Over the weekend, people ran to honor what would have been Arbery's 26th birthday and armed protesters took to the street. 

On Monday, DoJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said: 'The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia have been supporting and will continue fully to support and participate in the state investigation. We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,' Kupec said in a statement.' 

The McMichaels have both been charged by the state of Georgia with murder and aggravated assault which carry maximum prison sentences of life. 

Georgia has no hate crimes as a state but the federal charge carries a maximum prison sentence of life when the hate crime results in death. A federal prosecution would supersede a state case and could negate it if the defendants were found guilty and the need for a state prosecution reduced.  

It comes as new surveillance video Arbery walking into a construction site on the day of his death, looking around the property and then leaving empty handed the day he was gunned down emerged.   

But the new video obtained by News4Jax appears to undermine their shaky burglary suspect claim. It shows Ahmaud walking into an under-construction house in Brunswick, looking around and then leaving without taking anything. 

In the two months before Ahmaud's killing, there were no reports of suspected burglaries in the area, and the owner of the under-construction property has spoken out to say they have no links to the McMichaels whatsoever. 

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Ahmaud Arbery inside the under-construction home on February 23, the day he was killed. He walked into the house then left empty handed and was later shot dead by Travis McMichael who had chased him with his father, Gregory, a former cop 

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Ahmaud had been out jogging when he came across the home. His family says the footage shows he was not a burglar and that he would have been guilty of trespassing at most

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Another video shows Ahmaud entering the property. It was taken on a surveillance camera on a different home 

The video was shared by the property owner who said they had never had any contact with the McMichaels let alone did they call for them to investigate any break-ins. 

The attorney representing Ahmaud's family says the video shows that at most, Ahmaud would have been guilty of trespassing. 

It's unclear what time the video on the construction site was taken. 

According to the police report into his death, Ahmaud was shot dead at 1.46pm. 

A time stamp on a different surveillance camera video says he entered the construction site at 2.13pm. It's possible that camera was inaccurately running an hour fast. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it is now investigating the video along with the cellphone footage of Ahmaud's killing that went viral.

The property is owned by Larry English. 

Over the weekend, he released a statement through an attorney to say he neither called for the McMichaels to go after Ahmaud, nor did he condone in any way how they killed him. 

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Ahmaud was killed while out jogging on February 23. It is unclear if he had come from his mother's house, which is just under two miles from where the shooting unfolded. The McMichaels said they saw him 'hauling a**' down Satilla Drive and that he'd been seen on surveillance cameras inside homes near them but it's unclear which homes they were referring to. He was shot and killed at an intersection not far from the houses 

'First, and most important, the English family -- the homeowners -- want Ahmaud Arbery's parents to know that they are very sorry for the loss of their son and they are praying for them.

'Second, it is crucial to understand that the English family -- the homeowners -- were not part of what the McMichaels did. 

'The first accounts suggested a link between the McMichaels and the homeowners, but there is none. 

'The English family had no relationship with the McMichaels and did not even know what had occurred until after Mr. Arbery's death was reported to them.

'After seeing Mr. Arbery's photo in news reports, Larry English did not even think Mr. Arbery was the person that appears in this video. 

'Even if it had been, however, Mr. English would never have sought a vigilante response, much less one resulting in a tragic death,' his attorney, Elizabeth Graddy, told First Coast News. 

Ahmaud's parents' lawyer confirmed that it is him in the video. 

'This video is consistent with the evidence already known to us. 

'Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog. He stopped by a property under construction where he engaged in no illegal activity and remained for only a brief period.

'Ahmaud did not take anything from the construction site. He did not cause any damage to the property,' Lee Merritt said.  

Last week, after growing global outrage, the case was taken out of local prosecutors' hands to be investigated by the state. 

Gregory and Travis were both charged with murder and aggravated assault. 

Greg McMichael had investigated Arbery before when he worked as an investigator in the Brunswick DA's office. 

In a letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr recusing himself from the case, Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill said that his own son and Gregory 'both helped with the previous prosecution of (Ahmaud) Arbery'.

Arbery had previously been sentenced to five years probation as a first offender on charges of carrying a weapon on campus and several counts of obstructing a law enforcement officer.

According to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was also convicted of probation violation in 2018 after he was charged with shoplifting.

Arbery had previously been sentenced to five years probation as a first offender on charges of carrying a weapon on campus and several counts of obstructing a law enforcement officer.

According to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was also convicted of probation violation in 2018 after he was charged with shoplifting.

Gregory, who retired from the DA's office in 2019, had not mentioned his involvement in the case to police. 

George E. Barnhill was the second DA to recuse himself in mid-April following pressure from Arbery's family. He claims he only learned of his son's link to the victim 'three or four weeks' ago. 

In his letter, Barnhill added that criminal charges against the McMichaels was unwarranted, citing the criminal history of Arbery's brother and cousin.