Michael Dunn Trial: The Murder of Jordan Davis

[Adub]

I think he will be convicted.

I am NOT trying to defend him but I lived with *this thug music* rattling my windows from 4AM (thug was warming his car for 45 minutes with radio WIDE open outside my bedroom window---so he could take his girlfriend to work and then come home and start to drink and smoke until she got off work), causing headaches, anxiety to the point I was terrified to go outside, fearing for my dogs that stayed outside in our fenced in back yard and coming home to food, paint ball shots, etc and finally a dog that got out of the fence after 7 yrs of him not going near the fence or gate (oh there was a pit bull that was always in heat chained within a foot of our fenceline...) hearing f* this, mf* that, Gd* for hours(I am no prude and curse like a sailor....but never in front of people especially kids much less my stepdaugther), declining parenting time at our home for my Stepdaughter, cops at our home every other day, etc etc etc for six LONG months from December 2011-June 2012.

Cops could never catch him distrubing the peace because that jackarse had a police scanner---one of the skills he learned in years in jail.

Now 6 months of torture is different than a couple of minutes but toward the end me, the girl who will never own a gun, considered getting one for the first time in 45 yrs. There were times I would have shot this thug if I had a gun.

I suffered PTSD for almost a year when I heard the bass of a car. I would actually get the shakes and freeze in terror.

So part of me understands.......

Was he black and scary? Did ya'll live in a low rent neighborhood? And, why were the cops at your home every other day for six months? Do you have an unnatural fear of pitbulls? Or a bad pitbull experience maybe? That scarred you for life? And just what was this thug smoking and drinking?

And what does the dog in heat have to do with the thug next door?

[username]

Sad state of affairs where "I thought, maybe, it might have been a gun...or a pipe...". In fact, it WAS a dangerous weapon:



I'm pretty sick of the gun control debates but I'm telling you 2^nd amendment advocates that these cases don't serve your cause well (in case you didn't notice). He legally owned the gun for 20 years and then went fucknut crazy. The more stories like these that I see, the more I distrust gun owners in general. Y'all seem normal and then one day some rap music makes you snap and you pull your weapon and start shooting. WTH?

I guess the NRA would take the stance that if only the kids in the car had been armed the situation might have somehow turned out better???

[Duchess]

Years ago the black kid would have been pulled from the car and lynched for disrespecting a white man. Now white men just shoot them dead where they stand or sit, whatever the case my be.

[HairOfTheDog]

JURY REQUESTS MADE TO JUDGE DURING DELIBERATIONS

The court has decided not to release the identifications of the jurors, fearing they could be the subject of threats, but a document obtained by CNN affiliate WTLV-TV in Jacksonville showed the makeup of the jury.

It has four white females, two black females, four white males, an Asian female and a Hispanic male, plus four alternates.

I'm anxious on this one. I don't think the jury will acquit, but I do think they may be waffling between first degree and the lesser charge of second degree.

Today, the jury made requests to the judge. They asked to see the following:

1. Details of the letter written by Dunn from jail months after the crime.
2. The full 20 minute surveillance video from the gas station, all angles.
3. The dummy used in court to show the positioning of Jordan Davis and his bullet wounds.

It's my understanding that the judge provided the letter and the surveillance video. The defense objected to the dummy being provided to the jury because the attorney felt the dowels had been repositioned, so the jury was denied that request.

The jury then asked the judge when the letter (item 1) was written and they were told June 2013.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/justice/fl...sic-trial/

[HairOfTheDog]

Greetings from Jail - The Dunn Letters

I'm not sure which letter(s) and what details the jury were provided during their deliberations today.

But, I do know that Dunn wrote over a hundred pages, to friends/family/supporters complaining about blacks and the liberal media and such. Here are a few excerpts.

In a letter to his grandmother, Dunn wrote:
The jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs. This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these (expletive) idiots, when they're threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior.

In another letter, he claims that he's not a racist, he just has no use for "certain cultures":
I'm really not prejudiced against race, but I have no use for certain cultures. This gangster-rap, ghetto talking thug 'culture' that certain segments of society flock to is intolerable. They espouse violence and disrespect towards women. The black community here in Jacksonville is in an uproar against me -- the three other thugs that were in the car are telling stories to cover up their true "colors."

In yet another letter to grandma, he complains about being treated unfairly by the liberal media:
I am amazed at what is going on with the way the media has been covering this case. Their [sic] have been several other shootings here in Jacksonville, yet they are all either black-on-black or black-on-white, and none of them have garnered any attention from the media. I guess it's news when someone dares to not to be a victim, but they are twisting it around sand saying I was the "bad guy."

And in a letter to an unnamed supporter, he wrote:
I'm not getting much in the way of sympathy from the press. They're a bunch of liberal bastards! ... They seem to have a lot of racial guilt, or at least the prosecutors [sic] office does. The jail here is almost all black prisoners. You'd think Jacksonville was 90-90% black judging by the makeup of the folks in jail here! ... My fear is that if I get 1 black on my jury it will be a mistrial as I am convinced they will be racially biased.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18...23805.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Verdict Update

The jury has now deliberated for 19 hours.

They will return tomorrow to try to reach a verdict.

I'm getting nervous. I don't think the prosecution is going to get 1^st degree murder. If they don't, I hope they get 2^nd degree instead of manslaughter.

I can't even think about an acquittal; can't see how any jury could let him walk completely on this one.

[Adub]

Verdict Update

The jury has now deliberated for 19 hours.

They will return tomorrow to try to reach a verdict.

I'm getting nervous. I don't think the prosecution is going to get 1^st degree murder. If they don't, I hope they get 2^nd degree instead of manslaughter.

I can't even think about an acquittal; can't see how any jury could let him walk completely on this one.

It all just makes me want to cuss up a storm. The motherfucker grabs his fucking handgun in a gas station parking lot and opens fire on a vehicle with four teenagers in it after 2 fucking minutes of arguing with them? Or, arguing with just the dead one? And Dunn was so polite, saying please and thank you. Bitch. That's what he is, he is a little bitch.

If even one person on the jury thinks that the murder of Jordan Davis was justifiable then fuck this world. I'm done. Me and Gavi are heading to the hills. We will be living minecraft for reals.

[Pat/Ohio]

I think they'll come back with a verdict fairly soon today. They asked a question today that sounded like they've agreed on everything but one charge. IDK what's to even decide. No way can it be a question when he continued to shoot as the car tried to leave. How can people be so stupid? Anyone see Rhonda's tape with LE? She was not crying or tearful, didn't even sound upset. Nothing like the basket case she was on the stand. This jury is making me nervous, taking way too long. I can't take it if this idiot walks, I really hope this jury finds him GUILTY!

[HairOfTheDog]

I think they'll come back with a verdict fairly soon today. They asked a question today that sounded like they've agreed on everything but one charge. IDK what's to even decide.

I think they'll decide today too, Pat.

When the jury asked if they could submit a verdict on all but one of the counts, they were told "yes". In that case, a mistrial would be declared on only that one count and it would be at the prosecution's discretion as to whether to retry Dunn on that single count alone.

Dunn faces the following charges:
1 count of 1^st degree murder
3 counts of 1^st degree attempted murder
1 count of shooting or throwing a deadly missile

I'm hoping that the count to which the jurors cannot agree is one of the attempted murder charges or the charge of shooting/throwing a deadly missile.

I have a feeling Dunn will be convicted of lessers; that the jury will come back with second degree on the murder charge and second degree or manslaughter on the attempted murder charges. If that's how it plays out, hopefully the sentences for each will add up to some significant amount of time which will have to be served separately, but IMO, it will more likely be concurrent time imposed. If he's not acquitted, I think Dunn's gonna be sentenced to about 10 years. This is based only on how long the jury has been deliberating and their questions/requests -mere speculation.

Really hope my feeling/speculation is wrong. I don't care much if the the jury convicts on lesser charges for the attempted murder counts as long as they find Dunn guilty of 1^st degree on the murder of Jordan Davis.

Tomorrow would have been Jordan Davis's 18^th birthday.

[Pat/Ohio]

OMG, Nothing yet. WTF could be so difficult? HOD, this really worries me, it's been too long. IDT they ordered lunch yet, I'm really hoping they convict Dunn. Based on time though, IDK....the part I worry about is if they think Dunn thought he really was in danger. With witnesses, I don't even see what the problem is + the fact that he never called police after. Hopefully we'll know soon.

[HairOfTheDog]

OMG, Nothing yet. WTF could be so difficult? HOD, this really worries me, it's been too long. IDT they ordered lunch yet, I'm really hoping they convict Dunn. Based on time though, IDK....the part I worry about is if they think Dunn thought he really was in danger. With witnesses, I don't even see what the problem is + the fact that he never called police after. Hopefully we'll know soon.

It is nerve-wracking, Pat.

But, the Casey Anthony jury and the Zimmerman jury came back pretty quickly; just under 11 hours and 17 hours respectively.

So, maybe this Florida jury is taking longer because they wanna check everything over before submitting a guilty verdict. It's possible and it's what I wanna believe - just wish I was feeling it.

[HairOfTheDog]

These are the jury questions and the judge's answers from today's deliberations so far.

1. "Is the defense of self-defense separate for each person in each count?" Judge: "Yes."

2. "Are we determining if deadly force is justified against each person in each count?" Judge: "Yes."

3. "Or, if we determine deadly force is justified against one person, is it justified against the others?" Judge: "No. Self-defense and justifiable use of deadly force applies separately to each count."


Damn.

[Midwest Spy]

At least in the Zimmerman case I could see/understand the argument of self-defense.

Here, I don't see it and can't understand why this wasn't a guilty verdict in less than an hour.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's got me stumped too, MS.

Dunn was not credible on the stand and his self-defense account didn't match his interview with police after they arrested him.

He never called police after it happened, never told his girlfriend that he thought the boys had a gun, lied about how many drinks he'd had, his version of events (the one he told on the stand) don't match what the eye witnesses reported, no gun or stick was found in the car and there was no opportunity for the boys to discard any weapons before authorities arrived at the gas station...

I think what's probably got the jury deadlocked on count 1 is Dunn's reported "mindset" - whether he believed his life was in danger. Florida law allows a person to kill somebody if THE KILLER believed there was reason to fear for his life, unlike some other states where the jury has to believe that any "reasonable person" would have feared for his life. Big difference.

Earlier today, I figured the jury was struggling between 1^st and 2^nd degree murder. Now (based on today's jury questions to the judge), I'm fearing they are struggling between a lesser charge and finding him "not guilty" and having acted in self-defense.

News is reporting that the jury told the judge they'd reached verdicts on 4 of the 5 counts, but couldn't agree when it came to the killing of Jordan Davis. The judge told them to go back and keep working on it.

Note:
I think some media is wrongly reporting that tomorrow would have been Jordan's 18^th birthday. His mom tweeted this earlier today:
"Tomorrow is my boy's 19^th birthday. I pray we will celebrate not only him but a just and righteous verdict. Patiently we wait."

[Duchess]

Sometimes these juries make it difficult for me to stay positive.

[heartbreaker6713]

Cnn is reporting the judge called a mistrial on the murder charge

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/15/justice/fl...homepage-t

[Duchess]

*gasp*

[Duchess]

The Florida jury in the case of Michael Dunn has found him guilty on four charges, including three for attempted second-degree murder, but they couldn't reach a verdict on the most significant charge -- first-degree murder in the death of Jordan Davis.

After the decisions were read out Saturday night in court, Judge Russell Healey -- who moments before had said that the jury had reached a verdict on all counts -- declared a mistrial on the murder count.

Story

[HairOfTheDog]

After the week from hell work-wise and scrubbing all day, finally went out and got a bottle of wine.

Seeing this news about the mistrial on the major count leads me to believe that ³⁄₄ of the bottle will be consumed this evening.

I'm very sad for Jordan Davis, his mother Lucia, his father Ron, his friends Leland and Tevin. And, to a lesser degree, me - losing faith in our ability to apply the laws (especially the flawed ones) with any degree of common sense.

If it weren't for the Julie Corey jury getting it right earlier this week, in lightning speed despite the defendant's lies and the defense attorney's claims of police incompetence, I'd be tempted to head for the hills with Adub and her little man.

[HairOfTheDog]

Just read the full story in Duchess's link. It makes me feel better.

Snip:
Even without a final decision on that count -- and pending defense appeals -- Dunn appears set to face a lengthy prison term.

The jury convicted him on three counts -- one for each of the other teens in the SUV -- of attempted second-degree murder. Dunn was also found "guilty of shooting ... as charged in the indictment," according to the jury's decision read out in court.

Prosecutor Erin Wolfson explained Saturday night that each attempted second-degree murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of at least 20 years. There's also a 15-year sentence possible on the shooting conviction.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope Dunn gets the max on his convictions and loses all appeals - it won't mean justice for Jordan Davis and his loved ones - but, at least it'll keep an unstable killer (IMO) off the streets.

Angela Corey and team have a decision to make - retry Dunn on 1^st degree murder charges, try him on a lesser charge, or drop it. I think I'd wait to hear the sentencing on the lesser attempted murder convictions and consult with the Davis family before making that call, if I were she.