They Better Come Back With A "Guilty Verdict"

Deliberations Resume in Loud Music Murder Trial

BY ELIZABETH CHUCK

Jurors resumed deliberations Thursday in the trial of a white Florida man who shot and killed a black teenager after an argument over loud rap music.

Michael Dunn, 47, a software engineer, claims he acted in self-defense when he fired ten rounds at an SUV with four teens inside of it while parked at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station. His shots killed Jordan Davis, 17, of Marietta, Ga.

Dunn is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder for the November 2012 shooting. His case, which has attracted international attention, has been compared to that of George Zimerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted over the summer of the murder of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

But experts say the defense team in Dunn's case faces a much bigger uphill battle than Zimmerman's attorneys did.

The jury of eight whites, two blacks, one Asian and one Hispanic deliberated for two hours on Wednesday, then asked the judge if they could review security camera footage from inside the gas station. The video shows clerks inside the gas station convenience store reacting to the gunfire, and also show's Dunn's fiancee, Rhonda Rouer, who had gone into the store to purchase white wine and chips.

Dunn and Rouer were in Jacksonville for Dunn's son's wedding, which they had just attended before the confrontation. Dunn parked next to the Dodge Durango that Davis was in while Rouer went inside the convenience store. He says he asked the teens to turn down their music.

Dunn told the court on Tuesday the boys were yelling expletives and words like "cracker" after they turned down the stereo, and that he thought he saw a teenager in the backseat reach for what he believed was a gun.

"He had every reason to stand his ground," defense lawyer Cory Strolla said Wednesday.

But prosecutors argued Dunn, who had a concealed weapons permit, was overzealous.

"This defendant does not get to claim self-defense," Assistant State Attorney Erin Wolfson said. "This defendant may have forever silenced Jordan Davis, but he cannot silence the truth. He cannot silence this jury from rendering a fair verdict."

Police say they did not find a weapon in the SUV after the shooting. Rouer, in testimony seen as key by some analysts, testified that Dunn did not mention that night that he had seen a gun in the car, even though he later told police that was why he started shooting.

Reuters contributed to this report.

First published February 13th 2014, 8:22 am