Michael Dunn Verdict?

Is Michael Dunn Guilty?

  • Guilty

    Votes: 11 57.9%
  • Guilty on lesser charge

    Votes: 4 21.1%
  • Not guilty

    Votes: 4 21.1%
  • Mistrial

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .

SkyRider

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"JACKSONVILLE -- The trial against Michael Dunn, a Brevard County man charged with shooting a 17-year-old in Jacksonville amid an argument over loud music, has drawn parallels to last year`s trial against George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder for killing Trayvon Martin in Sanford.
Both Martin and Jordan Davis were 17-year-old, unarmed black teenagers, and State Attorney Angela Corey`s office was prosecuting both cases.
But Zimmerman`s former attorney, Mark O`Mara, said he didn`t think his defense in the Zimmerman case would work in Dunn`s.
"In Zimmerman, we had an ongoing argument and altercation," O`Mara explained. "We had physical evidence of a fight. We had an extended period of time of that fight. In the Dunn case, we have none of that."
Testimony in Dunn`s trial continued Monday after getting underway last week in Jacksonville.

Saturday, attorneys questioned detectives and witnesses about the shooting, including an examination of the bullets allegedly fired from Dunn`s gun.
Dunn`s fiancee, Rhonda Rouer, took the stand as well to describe the events that led to the shooting.
Rouer said they pulled into the parking lot of the Jacksonville gas station, and she recalled Dunn being upset about the music coming from Davis` truck.
"I hate that thug music," Rouer recalled Dunn saying.
The jury wanted testimony to continue Sunday, but the judge in the case said attorneys needed time to regroup.

Dunn`s attorney, Cory Strolla, said Dunn shot Jordan Davis in self-defense"

Despite
what appears to be similarities with the George Zimmerman case, the Michael Dunn case has generated nowhere near the public and media attention and outrage. Maybe that is a good thing? On the other hand, maybe the shooting to death of unarmed teenagers in Florida is no longer newsworthy anymore?
 

Aardvark154

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Despite what appears to be similarities with the George Zimmerman case, the Michael Dunn case has generated nowhere near the public and media attention and outrage. Maybe that is a good thing? On the other hand, maybe the shooting to death of unarmed teenagers in Florida is no longer newsworthy anymore?
That's in part because there actually was a self-defense issue in the Zimmerman case. In the Dunn case on the other hand, self defense is a real stretch - not so much because of what he alleges took place, but rather due to his actions after the shooting - which certainly were not those of most people making a self defence claim.
 
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SkyRider

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Looks like the jury is hung on the 1st degree murder charge.

Mark O'Mara was interviewed on CNN.
 

Aardvark154

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Looks like the jury is hung on the 1st degree murder charge.

Mark O'Mara was interviewed on CNN.
Not to sound like a know-it-all, but murder in the 1st degree was a stretch, this really boils down to murder in the 2nd degree or manslaughter. Frankly I can see it going either way on those charges.

Facts such as that he emptied the entire clip into the car as it left the scene going towards the former, jury sympathy going towards the later.
 

danmand

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That is what I predicted.
 

Aardvark154

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A bit of a strange verdict: guilty of three counts of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle. But a mistrial on the charge of Murder in the first degree or the lesser included charges: Murder in the second degree and Voluntary Manslaughter.

I doubt that the prosecutors will opt to retry him on the Murder charge given that the attempted murder charges have a sentence range of up to 20 years on each charge and 15 years on the charge of firing into an occupied vehicle, so up to 75 years on the charges of which he was convicted.
 

SkyRider

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I doubt that the prosecutors will opt to retry him on the Murder charge given that the attempted murder charges have a sentence range of up to 20 years on each charge and 15 years on the charge of firing into an occupied vehicle, so up to 75 years on the charges of which he was convicted.
Angela Corey said that, subject to approval by the Davis family, they will re-file the 1st degree murder charge. Also, it appears that the defense will appeal the guilty verdict. Unlike the Zimmerman trial, the final chapter has not been written on this case.

The talking heads on CNN are doing a detailed analysis of the verdict(s). Jose Baez (Casey Anthony's attorney) is now on CNN.
 

danmand

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Black kids in Florida just have to realize that loud music is threatening to middle aged white people, and will provoke them to stand their ground. It would of course be different, if the black kids could learn to appreciate Mozart instead of rap music.
 

AK-47

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Mar 6, 2009
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In the 6
UnFUCKINGbelievable that all this happened over some loud music.

I hope he rots in jail
 

Aardvark154

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said that, subject to approval by the Davis family, they will re-file the 1st degree murder charge.
I'm not so sure the residents of Duval, Nassau and Clay counties will be particularly thrilled at the cost particularly when even if there were a conviction it is likely that the sentence would be concurrent with the sentence which will shortly be imposed for today's convictions. This seems more about her vanity and "tougher than nails" reputation than real justice.


Fiat justitia is a much better legal maxim than mihi vindictam.

it appears that the defense will appeal the guilty verdict.
Quite standard, in fact in many jurisdictions such appeals are automatic.
 

SkyRider

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I'm not so sure the residents of Duval, Nassau and Clay counties will be particularly thrilled at the cost particularly when even if there were a conviction it is likely that the sentence would be concurrent with the sentence which will shortly be imposed for today's convictions.
Does Florida have a statute of limitation on re-filing a 1st degree murder charge?
 

Aardvark154

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Does Florida have a statute of limitation on re-filing a 1st degree murder charge?
Under the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure the new trial must commence within 90 days of a mistrial being declared.

Fla. R. Crim. Proc. 3.191


_ _ _ _

I'm not the only one who thinks the State's Attorney's Office overcharged in seeking murder in the first degree.
 

SkyRider

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Under the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure the new trial must commence within 90 days of a mistrial being declared.
Ok, now I know what one of the talking heads on CNN meant. He basically said that should Dunn win on appeal on all counts and Angela Corey does not re-file the murder charge within the statute of limitation, then Dunn walks.

Query: What are Dunn's chances on appeal?
 

Aardvark154

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Ok, now I know what one of the talking heads on CNN meant. He basically said that should Dunn win on appeal on all counts and Angela Corey does not re-file the murder charge within the statute of limitation, then Dunn walks.

Query: What are Dunn's chances on appeal?
I haven't followed the trial closely at all, it would depend upon what issues they are raising on appeal. Appeals in the Common Law system are on matters of law it is rare that the issue of "but no jury in it's right mind should have convicted me" is raised and rarer still that it succeeds unless their are other issues of law also being raised (such as DNA testing that shows that it wasn't you).
 

AK-47

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In the 6
It doesnt make a whole lot of sense to retry this case because Dunn is looking at 50+ years in jail on the attempted murder charges alone. At age 47 that he means he'll die in jail, so why retry the whole thing?!

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/justice/florida-loud-music-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Dunn convicted of attempted murder

Even without a final decision on the murder count -- and pending defense appeals -- the 47-year-old Dunn is looking at a lengthy prison term.

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 conviction for shooting into the teenagers' vehicle.

"You are looking basically at life in prison," Strolla said, even as he vowed to challenge the convictions. "At 47 years old, that's a life sentence regardless of count one."

A CNN legal analyst, Paul Callan, said in most cases prosecutors will take some time after a mistrial to reflect on the case before planning the next steps.

"If he winds up with 60 or 75 years in jail, from a pragmatic standpoint it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to retry the case,"
 

james t kirk

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Aug 17, 2001
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Hope he spends the rest of his life in jail running from big mean black guys who truly mean to do him harm.

I only can hope that Zimmerman ends up there too some day.
 
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