law and they violated the rights and committed these criminal acts and were judged accordingly by a jury who paid attention to the facts. >> and paul, last question to you. the defendants are planning to appeal the verdict. but they're all facing hate crime charges. how do you see this all playing out? >> so you know, often people will appeal. i think that the main issue on this appeal will be the georgia citizen arrest law. but especially in a high-profile case like this both the judge and the prosecutors conduct the trial with an eye towards the appeal. prosecutors call that protecting their verdict. and the reality is that guilty verdicts are rarely overturned. >> that is a good thing to know. paul butler, kirk burkhalter, and marq claxton, thanks to all of you for starting off our discussion tonight. we have much more ahead on today's verdict.