Jordan Davis Father "We don't accept a law that would allow collateral damage to our family members"

[SunsetDreams]

Jordan Davis Parents react after verdict

After four days of deliberations, a Jacksonville, Florida, jury found Michael Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of shooting or throwing a deadly missile, but couldn't reach a unanimous verdict on the most serious charge of first-degree murder in the death of Jordan Davis.

The verdicts were read at around 7 p.m. ET Saturday in court. Dunn didn't show any emotion as each verdict was read. Earlier Saturday afternoon, jurors said they had reached a verdict on four of five counts, but they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on Count 1, which is the first-degree murder charge -- or any of the lesser offenses related to it. Judge Russell Healey instructed the jurors to continue deliberating in hopes of breaking the deadlock.

After jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on the first-degree murder count, a mistrial was declared on that count. State Attorney Angela Corey has already announced prosecutors plan to retry Dunn on the murder charge.
Michael Dunn found guilty on 4 of 5 counts


Today would have been Jordan Davis 19th birthday. My thoughts and prayers go out to Jordan Davis family and friends on this bittersweet day. Happy Birthday Jordan! It is my hope that one day you will get justice for what happened to you.

[ProSense]

1. How does one get

Dunn convicted of attempted murder; hung jury on murder in 'loud-music' trial
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/15/justice/florida-loud-music-trial/

...convicted of "attempted murder," but not convicted for the person actually murdered?

[SunsetDreams]

2. I don't understand it either

It really doesn't make much sense. I suppose I should be happy that he was convicted of anything at all and that he will be in jail for a very long time. What about Jordan Davis? His life meant something, he should have justice for a life that was taken. There were at least 3 bullet holes in that door where Jordan Davis sat. To me that is a targeted killing.

[sked14]

3. Very possibly there were one or two holdouts that wanted 1st degree murder

while the others wanted either 2nd degree murder or manslaughter, if so, that would cause a mistrial.
I wouldn't worry too much, Dunn is going to be retried and very likely convicted for this young man's murder.

[SoCalMusicLover]

27. Wrong!

Someone was holding out for Self Defense on All the top charges.

Anybody who wanted 1st degree would have voted for 2nd degree. The juror question about whether self defense applied to each person separately is evidence of this.

Charging him with even the lowest manslaughter charge would have still had same exact result.

[sked14]

29. Wrong,

your speculating, just as I am and until one of the jurors tells us what happened, my theory is just as valid as yours.

[JJChambers]

4. It makes sense

Dunn'a bullshit story is that Davis picked up what he thought to be a shotgun and then Dunn shot him. We all know it is self-serving bullshit but it's his story. But then the vehicle drove away and Dunn unloaded more rounds into it, after his imaginary threat was gone. So the attempted murder is a slam dunk. He has no defense for it. Sadly at least one of the 12 bought into his story enough to create a reasonable doubt in their mind.

[sked14]

5. You have no way of knowing that one of the jurors bought his story,

the most likely scenario is that one or two jurors wanted 1st degree murder and the rest wanted either 2nd degree murder or manslaughter, that would cause a mistrial, the verdict has to be unanimous.
I wouldn't worry too much, the state will retry him and he'll most likely be convicted.

[WhiteTara]

17. uhhh, I think that is what the last post

said...just what you did in somewhat different words.

Maybe have a bagel with your coffee this morning? It's beautiful outside where I am. and

[sked14]

18. You're right.

I'd much prefer a english muffin with butter and jam.
Beautiful weather here also, sunny, 75, light breeze.

[DallasNE]

20. Stand Your Ground Changes Everything

The prosecution had to prove Dunn's story was false beyond a reasonable doubt that he saw Jordan Davis flash a shotgun. They could believe that Dunn's story was bullshit but that is not proof. No gun was found, the GF said Dunn did not mention seeing a gun meaning he had to shoot, the 3 survivors said there was no gun and no gunfire was returned. Because the SUV pulled away to get out of the line of fire there was an opportunity to ditch a gun if there was one. Never mind that the SUV returned after Dunn pulled away and they called 911, not Dunn. It is like the police officer that shoots an unarmed man. They always say they saw his hand reaching into his waistband. The way the law is written the bar is set impossibly high for conviction because it goes into state of mind. Dunn said he saw a gun now prove him wrong. It can't realistically be done. A retrial will result in either a not guilty verdict or another hung jury. The only remedy is a rewrite of the stand your ground law that defies common sense.

[sked14]

21. Except that the SYG law wasn't used in this trial.

No, it was more than likely how I explained it in my earlier post.

[DallasNE]

26. Um, No. SYG Was Central To The Defense Argument

Here is what Dunn's lawyer said on the issue.

Dunn’s lawyer Cory Strolla cited Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in his closing argument, “His honor will further tell you that If Michael Dunn was in a public place where he had a legal right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force.” As in the George Zimmerman trial, the Stand Your Ground law was included in the jury instructions.

Alluding to public controversy of the law, Strolla added, “It’s not because I wrote it. It’s not cause I like it. We’re not here to change it and we’re not here to fight it. We’re here to apply it.”

[ProSense]

7. No,

"Dunn'a bullshit story is that Davis picked up what he thought to be a shotgun and then Dunn shot him. We all know it is self-serving bullshit but it's his story."

...a "bullshit story" doesn't make "sense."

The fact is that his claim doesn't mesh with reality. This is simply creating an injustice by allowing a murderer's lie to sway the verdict.

[localroger]

6. Holdouts must have been adamant it had to be murder 1

If there was at least one person who refused murder 1, then it's better to hang the jury on that count than to affirm a lesser verdict you don't think is just. Thanks to the other charges Dunn doesn't get to go home like Zimmerman, and the prosecutors get another shot at him (which they've already said they are going to take). So Dunn hasn't gotten away with anything -- he's going to jail for a long time and another jury will have a chance to contemplate whether firing rounds at a retreating vehicle is murder 1.

[YarnAddict]

22. Just a guess here

Could it be the premeditation part of first degree murder? I didn't follow this trial, but was there ever any proof that he intended to kill anyone? Does a self-defense defense imply that he was trying to kill someone?

[barbtries]

25. someone was a hold out on the jury.

maybe we'll learn how it played out, but someone held out on one end or the other.

[Stonepounder]

8. Let me get this straight.

If you shoot into a van full of 4 teenagers playing their music too loud -- and miss -- you are guilty of attempted murder.
If you shoot into a van full of 4 teenagers playing their music too loud -- and your attempt succeeds -- you aren't guilty of murder.

In what universe does this make sense? Shoot and miss, guilty of the attempt. Shoot and kill, not guilty. Sorry, I just can't wrap my brain around this.

I don't care if they retry him and get a conviction. What the hell kind of people are they getting on juries? And did I hear right, it was an all-white jury?

[sked14]

10. They didn't find him not guilty of the murder charge,

most likely there were one or two jurors that wanted 1st murder and the rest wanted 2nd murder or manslaughter, the verdict has to be unanimous.
The state will get it's conviction on the retrial.
No, it wasn't an all white jury.

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

[Stonepounder]

11. Thnaks, I guess I heard wrong

I thought I heard somewhere it was all white, appreciate the correction. It still bothers me that they could find him guilty of 'attempted murder' but not of 'murder'. I suppose I can sort of understand a hold out for 1st vs 2nd, but to have a jury over it? Seems to me more likely there was 1 or 2 that refused to go 1st and wanted a lesser charge. But guess we'll never know.

[MoonRiver]

14. I think one or more jurors will eventually tell us what went down.

But it would be wise for them to keep quiet until the retrial or possibly plea deal.

[sufrommich]

31. "in what universe does this make sense"

Florida. This is Florida's way of saying " black people better know their place here,or else" without actually saying it.

[butterfly77]

9. K&R..

[blackspade]

12. WTF is wrong with these juries in FL?

Seriously?
It had to have been one juror that was holding out.
An explanation is in order.

[sked14]

13. Most likely explaination is that there were one or two jurors holding

out for 1st murder while the rest wanted either 2nd murder or manslaughter and when the holdouts couldn't be convinced to change their minds, a mistrial was declared.

[blackspade]

15. I just finished the other comments.

Thanks for the explanation.

[sked14]

16. My pleasure.

[Pantagruelsmember]

19. Neighbor's interview describing Dunn

In case you're trying to give Dunn the benefit of the doubt, listen to this first:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017175953

[SunsetDreams]

23. Yeah I've seen parts of that one

Thank you for the link.

Have you seen the letters Dunn wrote from jail?

Michael Dunn: Letters from jail

[barbtries]

24. their dignity

and their insistence that their message must be love and justice, really shows their son's murderer up for what he is. i am in tears.

[SoCalMusicLover]

28. THIS WAS DECIDED ON SELF DEFENSE, NOT 1ST VS 2ND DEGREE

One of the final juror questions was whether the Self Defense claim could be applied to each person in the car separately.

Meaning that at least one or more jurors were buying his Self Defense claim.

Anybody that wanted him to go down would have voted for 2nd Degree.

Repeating it over and over, as someone on this thread has been doing, does not make it true.

Blaming the prosecutor for going after 1st Degree was not the problem here. It was one or more of the jurors buying Dunn's cock & bull story. No charge involving Jordan Davis was going to stick, because they had decided Dunn had the right to defend himself against Davis.

[Diamonique]

30. Exactly!

This is so clear. I don't see why folks don't understand it.

There were actually 3 jury question that had to do with self-defense. Somebody on that jury fell for that crap and hung this jury.

Hanging a jury for the difference between M1 and M2 *eally doesn't make sense. No one would do that.

[AverageJoe90]

32. At least *some* justice has been served.

I still hope that they can get Dunn on a second-degree murder charge but if not, at least he'll be likely to spend the rest of his sorry life in prison.

Also, I can't help but note that Jordan Davis & Trayvon Martin seem have a few things in common: both of these guys were born in '95 for one.

[myrna minx]

33. My heart aches for Jordan Davis' family and friends.

My heart aches for him too, for a life cut short by hatred, emboldened by these insane "laws".

[L0oniX]

34. "allow collateral damage to our family members" it's ok if it's our military and drones over there.

Yes indeed ...collateral damage is not acceptable ANYWHERE from ANYONE in ANY form for ANY reason. RIP Jordan.