Posted on 02/15/2014 8:22:44 PM PST by Uncle Chip
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A 47-year-old software developer was convicted Saturday of attempted murder for shooting into a carful of teenagers after an argument over what he called their "thug music," but jurors couldn't agree on the most serious charge of first-degree murder.
After more than 30 hours of jury deliberations over four days, a mistrial was declared on the murder charge that Michael Dunn faced in the fatal shooting of one of the black teens. The 12 jurors found him guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and a count of firing into an occupied car....
A sentencing date will be set at a hearing next month. Each attempted second-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while the fourth charge carries a maximum of 15.....
Earlier in the day, the panel said in a note to Judge Russell L. Healey that they were having trouble reaching agreement on the murder charge. He asked them to continue their work, and they went back to the deliberation room for two more hours.....
Prosecutors contended that Dunn opened fire because he felt disrespected by Davis.....
"That defendant didn't shoot into a carful of kids to save his life. He shot into it to save his pride," Assistant State Attorney John Guy told the jury earlier in the week. "Jordan Davis didn't have a weapon, he had a big mouth."....
The Dunn trial was prosecuted by the same State Attorney's Office that handled the Zimmerman case.
State Attorney Angela Corey said her office planned to retry Dunn on a first-degree murder charge, and she hoped jurors would come forward and tell prosecutors where they questioned their case.
Jurors declined to talk to the media.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
This verdict doesn’t make much sense, they say he’s guilty of ‘attempted murder’ for shooting and not killing some of the people, but they can’t decide if he’s guilty of any level of murder for the one guy he did kill. It’s not really very logical.
maybe it means that he tried to murder, but really sucked at it.
They don’t get to pick and choose the level.
It’s either guilty or not guilty of first degree murder as chosen by the prosecutor.
Maybe some of them think he was guilty of the killing, but that the first degree charge didn’t fit.
Angela Corey is an evil moron. Probably the worst prosecutor in America. It’s a miracle he got convicted of anything.
At least he’ll do SOME time. I guess.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/02/guilty-jury-finds-michael-dunn-guilty-of-most-charges/
“They don’t get to pick and choose the level. It’s either guilty or not guilty of first degree murder as chosen by the prosecutor.”
Second- and third-degree murder are lesser included offenses for first-degree murder, meaning that yes, jurors do get to “pick and choose the level.” Here, the jurors clearly couldn’t choose which level fit.
My guess is that Angela Corey’s strategy of overcharging defendants backfired on her here.
If she had just charged him with Murder 2 instead of Murder 1 on that count they would probably have a Murder 2 verdict but she gave the jury too many choices and that’s what you get.
In FLorida it’s up to the judge whether to allow the jury to consider lesser charges. By default, no they can’t.
I prosecuted a large number of murder cases of varying degree and always found that jurors had problems with the “premeditation” requirement where the act seemed spontaneous. You only have to “plan” a mere nano-second before, but it was something with which jurors struggled.
I figure those kids just ditched the gun. Even after being shot at, wouldn't open up on a car load of kids unless I really felt my life was in danger. I don't think this guy is any different.
This verdict doesn’t make much sense, they say he’s guilty of ‘attempted murder’ for shooting and not killing some of the people, but they can’t decide if he’s guilty of any level of murder for the one guy he did kill. It’s not really very logical.”
My thoughts too. Was the jury not given a choice of lesser murder charge?
Sounds like this is the Corey of Zimmerman shame. A lot depends on something that maybe nobody but God knows now.
However, in general most peaceful “packers” won’t do something like get into shouting matches with punks who are being annoying but nothing worse. Because they know where returning ugliness for ugliness leads.
The “attempted murder” charges are linked to the 10 random shots he fired into the vehicle that could have killed any of the individuals who had not threatened him.
And with those attempted murder convictions he’s facing 75 years already. He’s most likely going to die in prison. If this was self defense, he’s an idiot in how he went about it.
I can see why they would fail to convict on first degree. This is not something he planned on ahead of time.
I would like to see the breakdown on that count:
How many of the 12 hung out for Murder 1 and how many for Murder 2???
Afterall they all agreed on Attempted Murder 2 on the other 3 charges, and the other one, so then why was this so difficult to agree upon and just who was being so disagreeable??
Too bad Florida can’t “Three Strike” him on the counts of attempted murder. He left after shooting and killing his victim and didn’t contact police until there was a description of him and his car on the news. At least he’ll probably have some “thugs” for cellmates.
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