What Michael Dunn partial verdict means for you

Just a few days after Michael Dunn was given a partial verdict there are many legal questions still hanging in the air, but WOKV is breaking down some of those that most directly affect you.

A big concern we’ve heard from you since Dunn was convicted of three counts of attempted second degree murder but had a mistrial declared on his first degree murder charge is what this could mean for how people interact and apply self-defense law. Dunn claims he feared for his life and thought Jordan Davis was holding a gun when he shot at a car with four teens inside, killing Davis. Investigators never found a gun. The murder charge which the jury hung on specifically dealt with Dunn shooting Davis.

“To equate a jury verdict with what’s OK to do out on the street can be a dangerous thing,” says WOKV Legal Analyst Mark Rubin.

Rubin tells me having the mistrial does not give any weight to how either Dunn or Davis reacted to each other. It also does not alter in any way how you should think about the justifiable use of deadly force.

“Whether he was justified in shooting Jordan Davis or not was not solved, or resolved, by this jury,” he says.

Some of that could come from the second trial Dunn will face. The State Attorney’s Office says they intend to retry Dunn on the murder charge, even though he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison from the sentences on the attempted murder convictions.

“The State needs to do some soul searching on what the right charge is for this case,” Rubin says.

He believes the facts as presented in the trial did not support first degree, and says it’s possible we could have had a verdict rather than a mistrial on the murder charge if the State charged second degree instead. In addition to the parameters of a second degree charge, it would also bring a jury of only six people instead of twelve, which Rubin says increases the chance of getting a unanimous verdict.

He expects some changes on behalf of the defense as well.

“The jury determined that ten shots was too many,” Rubin says.

Because the jury hung, it appears that at least some were not able to get past Dunn’s claim of self-defense. If he wants to strengthen his case, however, Rubin says he needs to better explain the apparently excessive force that came with continuing to fire his gun, even as the teens were driving away.

That jury itself gives weight, however, the State Attorney Angela Corey’s anticipated push to keep the second murder trial in Duval County.

“There was somebody on that jury- one or more people- that felt that he [Dunn] was not guilty,” Rubin says.

Because there was some mix on the panel, Rubin says that shows a fair jury was selected and he believes that could happen again, even with the attention the trial gained the first time. Shortly after the verdict was read, Defense Attorney Cory Strolla said he believed this trial was fair, but that it would be nearly impossible to find an impartial jury for another trial in Duval.

Strolla has already said there will be an appeal by Dunn of his current convictions. One potential claim will be that the State Supreme Court changed the jury instructions for manslaughter midway through the trial, forcing all sides to rework their instructions after having already come to an agreement.  Duval is no stranger to convictions being overturned due to jury instruction- improper phrasing in the instructions given to Marissa Alexander’s jury have led to a second trial scheduled for later this year.

That second trial- whether it be the result of an overturned conviction or pursuing the charge that was declared a mistrial- still comes at your dime.