from Presser: my impressions of what is said / not direct quotes
WB arrested around 5:30pm yesterday, booked into local jail
Thanks DA, State police FBI etc.
Thanks Arbery family for patience, city county etc for their patience.
We respected citizens to grant patience and that was done. we appreciate that.
Thanks agents of GBI for their nonstop work investigating. 16 days, proud of the agents for their work.
Once we have the investigation buttoned down Ms. Holmes will receive our file. She DA Holmes will speak next. i will answer questions if I can but I will not speak factually about the evidence in this case. That will come out in a court of law.
Ms. Holmes:
Our office handling prosecution of all accused. grateful for the confidence placed in us. We will make sure we find Justice. broken family Broken community.
Allow us to try things in the courtroom making sure we are able to be ministers of justice. We prefer to answer questions about this case in the court room.
GBI Q& A: was WM armed? I won't speak to the facts on this case.
What is status of investigation of prosecutorial misconduct? Still investigating. Don't anticipate it will take much longer. once done attorney general will get that file. separate team of agents investigating that arm of the case.
What was the last straw that prompted charges? There was no proverbial last straw, turning over stones leads to more and more facts. We reached the point we were convinced probable cause existed. Accumulation of things already there and things discovered over the last 16 days. If we believed WM was nothing more than a witness we would not have
Can you elaborate on FB posts in groups sending a message to people who come into their hood? We have looked at a ton of SM posts, and those will be brought out in court. We have lots of individual pieces of evidence that added up to these charges. We go where the facts take us. If the facts took us to another or others we would go there. Don't anticipate more charges at this time. As to WB we are confident in the charges we have brought.
Why would WB be charged w murder if didn't pull trigger? I would point you to the warrants, if you are committing a felony and that results in the death of another you can be charged with murder. His underlying felony of attempt to imprison led to Arbery murder.
Are any police officers (referring to Rash) under investigation? Acts sometimes are foolish and we frown upon them but it doesn't make them criminal. Difference between criminal acts and those who just have their heads stuck up their hind ends.
HOLMES Q & A:
Too early in the process to decide if change of venue is appropriate.
I have spoken to the family. Conversations are ongoing with family assisting this process step by step.
When is bond hrg for the Ms? none scheduled as yet, defense counsel will likely file a request but that is on them, we will respond.
we understand there will be instances of people attempting to assert their won narratives.
We have complete confidence in the investigation of GBI. Discovery process and whole case file is a bit down the road.
Can you tell us about your own investigators and the role they will play in this, will they do their own investigations? We are confident in the way they and the GBI have been working together. Prescot and Randolph are my offices investigators involved in this case investigation.
GBI again: more appreciation for assistance. We appreciate the tips and calls from the public. I am proud that my department hasn't made any arrests due to public pressure or rumors.
PRESSER IS DONE
