Jury begins hearing retrial of Florida loud music shooting
By Susan Cooper Eastman JACKSONVILLE Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida jury began hearing the retrial on Thursday of Michael Dunn, a middle-aged white man charged with murder after he shot an unarmed black teenager during an argument over loud rap music. Dunn, 47, a software engineer, fired 10 rounds at an SUV carrying four black teens listening to music at a Jacksonville gas station parking lot in November 2012, killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis. In an earlier trial in February, a jury could not reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge but convicted Dunn on three lesser counts of attempted murder for firing at the three teens who survived in the vehicle, which was parked next to Dunn’s. His sentencing on those charges was postponed until after his retrial on the outstanding charge. The racially charged trial drew comparisons to the case of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in Florida last year in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, another unarmed black 17-year-old. The Jacksonville jury of 10 whites and two blacks is being sequestered throughout the trial, which is expected to last one week. The jury was selected from a pool of 140 people that was whittled to 66 jurors under questioning about their knowledge of the case, social media use, racial bias, gun ownership, and their feelings toward law enforcement. The prosecution team is led by State Attorney Angela Corey who has handled several recent high profile cases that have garnered media attention. Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Corey as special prosecutor in the Zimmerman case. The defense sought a change of venue for the retrial due to publicity surrounding the case. Dunn claimed at his original trial that he acted in self-defense and started shooting in a state of panic after he thought he saw the barrel of a gun in the back window as Davis started to get out of the car. Prosecutors said Davis used foul language when confronting Dunn but that no guns were found in Davis' vehicle and that he died in a defensive position. In the first trial Dunn's attorney said the teens had time to discard any weapon before police arrived. Mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines in Florida for crimes committed with a gun mean that Dunn faces at least 60 years in jail. (Editing by David Adams and Bill Trott)
