Michael Dunn was found him guilty on Saturday on four out of five total charges — including three for attempted second-degree murder — but a Florida jury could not reach a verdict on the big one: the first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis.
After much deliberation, note-passing with the judge, and additional internal discussions, the 12 jurors could not come to a unanimous decision on the main charge, referred to as Count 1. Judge Russell Healey had no choice but to declare a mistrial on the murder count, while accepting the guilty verdict on the others.
Count 1 will likely be retried, the prosecution said after the verdict was read. In the meantime, the other counts will keep Dunn locked up for a minimum of 60 years, possibly as many as 100. At 47-years-old, that is essentially the effect of a life sentence for Dunn.
However, many people reacted strongly on television and social media, finding the mistrial on Count 1 completely unacceptable.
The fourth charge that Dunn was found guilty of was shooting at a car.
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On Nov. 23, 2012, Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville, parking next to a red SUV full of teenagers, including Davis. After complaining to the teens about their loud music, an argument broke out. Dunn claims a gun was then pulled on him, though one was never found.
Dunn opened fire into the red SUV, killing Davis.
With the shooting death of a black teenager in Florida, and the lack of murder conviction, many have compared this case to the one of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin.