The. He told his grandmother that the boys were liars and blames the media for favoring white on black crimes. Simons testified that the cause of Davis' death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of his death was a homicide. [50] ABC News, Australia says the case has become part of the national conversation about the dangers facing young black men in America today. July 3, 2013 - Letter to Cousin Healey eventually agreed to have the transcripts emailed to Gabel for review. They didn't stop on the two hour drive home. The couple drove back to their hotel, ordered a pizza and Dunn made them some alcoholic drinks. "Yes, I know," she replied. [29][30][31], Jury selection in Dunn's retrial began on September 22, 2014, and opening statements took place on September 25. Dunn's insurance company, Progressive Select Insurance, challenged its duty to cover the lawsuit, but dismissed its lawsuit in conjunction with the settlement. "When she was first interviewed, when you would expect someone to tell the truth when their memory is freshest she never mentioned a firearm," said former prosecutor Richard Kuritz. Michael Dunn Trial: Phillip Miranda testifies. Siniscal said he asked Dunn to come out of his home shirtless and with his hands up. Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), Related: Folio Weekly article leads to dismissal of juror in Michael Dunn retrial, Related:Former fiancee of Michael Dunn takes stand, live gavel-to-gavel coverage on ActionNewsJax.com, For Action News on the go, sign up for Action News Mobile & Email alerts, Florida Senator proposes bill to cancel Democratic Party in state, Bartram Trail High School girls lacrosse player denied NIL opportunity, FHP: Man dies after FDOT Road Ranger rear-ends truck, pushes him over edge of Buckman Bridge, PCSO: No charges in case of mail carrier mauled by 5 dogs, Its a monumental win: Newly approved legislation increases required age to work in strip clubs. Davis' mother, Lucy McBath, ran for Congress in Georgia's 6th congressional district in 2018, running on a platform that included reform of gun laws. He wanted his family to give Cory direction. He wanted a Stand Your Ground hearing and a ton of experts, including an expert on the thug sub-culture. He also wanted a more active roll in the press, including mentioning how unreliable the 3 thugs in SUV are. He talks about blacks and says, if more people would arm themselves and kill these fucking idiots when theyre threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior. Further, he says, eventually, we as a society will wake up and realize that we need to arm ourselves, as the government welfare programs have produced a culture of entitlement for a certain segment of our society. And, remember when your mom was robbed? She looked outside and saw Dunn leaning out of his window. Kuritz says judging by the writing in Dunn's letter he believes the accused killer understand it might be presented in court. Your login session has expired. She also wasnt questioned this time around about whether Dunn ever mentioned to her that he thought Davis had a gun. Dunn did not contact the police. Dunn sounds incredulous that he has been imprisoned, andblames Davis 100 percent for what happened. He discusses how he wants to find a slimy civil law lawyer and sue the county for reverse discrimination. We represent the family of Jordan Davis and these letters were made public as evidence in the criminal case. To receive an email when new reviews/interviews are added to Original-Cin, please provide your email address in the form below. The film is currently available for streaming on demand from the documentary streaming service,Impactseries.netorApril 26 on the movie subscription service,Hollywood Suite. Rhonda Rouer was with him the night of the shooting and in the hours after. And it had nothing to do with Mr. Davis profanity-laced reply to the common courtesy request Mr. Dunn said he politely made that the teenagers lower the volume on the car stereo, he added. This contradicted the claim that Mr. Davis was out of the Durango. Rhonda took the stand over the weekend to tell her side of what happened Nov. 23, 2012. The defendants words were also eroded by prosecutors who said the version of events Mr. Dunn gave jurors was different from what he told the police and wrote in a series of jailhouse letters to relatives. Letters exchanged between accused killer, Michael Dunn and his girlfriend could be problematic for his defense. Here is what he says happened after he asked the teenagers in the SUV to turn down their music. Juror #4, previously known as Juror #32 is a white, married man with a 10-year-old child. Black thug. He also asked his daughter to ask her mom to contact him as a neighbor had told someone Dunn choked her. The case has generated international attention because Dunn is white and Davis and his friends in the Durango are all black. At gunpoint? Rouer testified the couple went home to Brevard County after the shooting. Your address will never be shared with any other party. During Simons' testimony, several photos Davis' body were shown to the jury. On Monday morning, the state began by calling Wendy Meacham, an investigator with the Office of the Medical Examiner. Brian told Rhonda what he did on the way back to their hotel after the shoot occurred, and she was inside the store buying liquor when the shooting took place, so she had no idea what he did until their return. Early Saturday morning, Judge Russell Healey excused juror #4 because of a comment made by the juror that got published in Folio Weekly in an article titled, "An Interview with a Dunn Jury reject.". He wanted to entice the mayors office to worry about Jacksonvilles PR. and his crew gained permission to film inside the Jacksonville court house, as long as they did not film the jury. The jail is chock-full of blacks and they all appear to be thugs. He descried the incident and said, Ive never had to deal with people like this- ever. He ends it saying he is plotting (his) own revenge against the system for all the civil rights violations.. He compares himself to My Cousin Vinnie and how he has a foolproof case. John is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law in Florida. [22][23] In his criminal trial, Dunn had been declared "broke. Dunn and his fiance Rhonda Rouer traveled from their home in Brevard County to attend Dunn's son's wedding in Orange Park, near Jacksonville, Florida. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Outside the courtroom,the filmmakerinterviews Jordans grieving, thoughtfulparents, Ron Davis and Lucy McBath - the latter of whom subsequently became a Congresswoman in Newt Gingrichs old Georgia district, running on a gun control ticket. The deputy and two others went to Dunn's home to arrest him. Former WWE RAW Women's champion and UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, has not been on WWE television since her loss at WrestleMania 35 to Becky Lynch, who went home with both the RAW. The shooting, which unfolded in this northern Florida city, has drawn attention once again to the states expansive self-defense laws that allow people who say they feel threatened to use lethal force to protect themselves. [28] Dunn faced a minimum of 75 years in prison on the following counts: a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years for each count of attempted second-degree murder, and up to 15 years for firing into a moving vehicle. [19][20] Forensic scientists determined that in the short distance the boys traveled, a weapon could not have been stashed in a place that would not have been immediately visible to crime scene investigators. Dunn, driving a black Volkswagen Jetta sedan, and his fiance Rhonda Rouer pulled into the right adjacent parking spot. When Daviss fianc returned from the store where she had bought wine, Dunn sped away, leaving three boys with their dying friend. The two went back to their hotel, Rouer said, where Dunn ordered a pizza. The two returned to Dunns home, where he was later arrested. When questioned Saturday, Rouer said they were no longer engaged or in a relationship. [6], Tommie Stornes, Leland Brunson, Jordan Davis, and Tevin Thompson had been spending the day traveling to various malls when they decided to go to the Gate Petroleum gas station in order to buy gum and cigarettes. The Law Offices of John Phillips are based in Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach, Florida, but John is licensed in Florida, Georgia and Alabama and before the U.S. Supreme Court. [9] She testified that Dunn told her "I hate that thug music," before she left the car for the store, though Dunn claims he used the phrase "rap crap. The state called 27 witnesses in the trial, including the young men in the SUV with Jordan Davis and Dunn's then-fiance Rhonda Rouer, who was also there. On their way back to their hotel, Rouer said the two stopped at the Gate gas station on Southside Boulevard to purchase wine and chips. Those friends, Leland Brunson, Tommie Stornes and Tevin Thompson, all testified Friday that Davis cursed at Dunn when he asked them to turn the music down, but didn't threaten him. Almost two years later, a distinctly unhappy Rouer recounted a day that started happily and ended with her now former fiance fleeing a Southside Gate gas station at high speed after he fired 10 shots into a Dodge Durango that contained four black men. We spend time getting to know Jordans friends, troubled by their loss and their own near-death experience. That jury convicted him of three counts of attempted murder but deadlocked on whether he was guilty of Davis' murder. Filmmaker Silver (Who Is Dayani Cristal?) They are still communicating in his code language. He then tries to enforce a version of what happened upon her (which is blacked out). The parking lot and the trash bins were searched four days later after they learned Dunn was claiming self-defense, Musser said. It was probably as simple as - 'He threatened to kill me' and left it at that.". Prosecutors received permission from the court to let the jury handle Dunn's gun. Rouer, Dunn's former girlfriend, was the fifth witness to take the stand in the third day of testimony of the murder retrial. On Saturday Rouer appeared more composed, but she still fought back tears repeatedly while admitting that when Dunn was arrested she thought police were also going to lock her up. . It was life or death.. When Rouer first testified in February during Dunn's original trial, she was visibly shaking and appeared close to collapse. WTEV's Leslie Coursey reports on what's on the tapes. It was also previously reported it was Rhonda who begged her boyfriend to leave the scene in spite of his desire to call the police, so there is something not adding up here. On February 3, the jury selection process in Michael Dunn's murder trial will begin. Rouer recalled Dunn's first words to her. We hear from Jordan's . Please logout and login again. He calls the civil suit we filed bogus. He said he responded to the crime scene.After Rouer's testimony, Sukhan Warf, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab analyst and DNA expert followed. Healey said he was concerned about protecting the identity of the juror. The documentary, directed by Marc Silver, explores the shooting, the trial, and Florida's Stand Your Ground laws. Mr. Dunn said he saw Mr. Davis with a weapon. Rhonda's boyfriend is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Jordan Davis, 17, at a Jacksonville, Fla. convenience store in November 2012. It would be the last good memory Rouer and Michael Dunn would have together. Dunn basically refers to himself as an authority figure to Jordan. "Poor sweetie." Rhonda smirked before leaning over and kissing Arnold on the lips. Check here, Be the first one to comment on this story. The shooting, he told jurors, had nothing to do with the obnoxious bass music or rap crap as he called it Tuesday that thundered out of the teenagers Durango, which was parked alongside his vehicle. But there was one less juror to hear testimony Saturday. Tears streamed down Rhonda Rouer's face and her voice shook as she recounted before jurors for a second time the day Michael Dunn shot a Jacksonville teen. Amidst dailyreports about the trial of policeman Derek Chauvin, the gruesome death of George Floyd, and this weeks police shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota, it may seem perverse to revisit a different racially-charged trial from 2015. Related Story: Transcript of hearing to excuse juror #4 released. He wrote, "I finished a novel I had been reading. When Rouer woke up the next morning, she saw reports on TV about the gas-station shooting. The couple left the afternoon wedding early to see about their seventh-month-old puppy Charlie, Rouer said. ', "Michael Dunn convicted on 4 of 5 charges in loud-music murder case", "Michael Dunn sentenced to life without parole for killing of Florida teenager", "Verdict: Michael Dunn found guilty of first degree murder", "Florida Man on Trial Again in Loud Music Killing", "Prosecutors want to put Michael Dunn in prison before murder retrial", "Life without parole for loud-music murderer in Florida", Michael Dunn sentenced to life without parole for killing of Florida teenager, Appeal filed in Michael Dunn's conviction in teen Jordan Davis' death, "Supreme Court rejects Brevard man's appeal in racially tinged murder of Jordan Davis in Jacksonville", "Ron Davis in contact with Trayvon's father", "Gun Reform Advocate Lucy McBath Heads To Runoff For Georgia House Seat", "Citing Parkland shooting, anti-gun-violence activist is running for Congress in Georgia", "Lucy McBath Wins Georgia Congressional Race Against Karen Handel", "When Black women use motherhood's power to advocate for Black lives", "Timeline: The Black Lives Matter movement", "Black Noise, White Ears: Resilience, Rap, and the Killing of Jordan Davis", "Mother of Jordan Davis Speaks Out: "His Death Doesn't Overshadow His Life" at Democratic Convention", "Movies Sold at Sundance 2015: A Complete & Updated Guide", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Jordan_Davis&oldid=1140842638, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:33. One of those men, 17-year-old Jordan Davis, died that night - a fact Rouer didn't learn about until the next morning. Dunn says it was self-defense. Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), Related: Jordan's Friends Take Stand in Day 2, live gavel-to-gavel coverage on ActionNewsJax.com, Florida Senator proposes bill to cancel Democratic Party in state, Bartram Trail High School girls lacrosse player denied NIL opportunity, FHP: Man dies after FDOT Road Ranger rear-ends truck, pushes him over edge of Buckman Bridge, PCSO: No charges in case of mail carrier mauled by 5 dogs, Its a monumental win: Newly approved legislation increases required age to work in strip clubs. rhonda mathis and attica scott say not only did lapd tell the public one day after it happened, now, eight days later, the body camera video has not been released. Davis' father Ron remained in the courtroom while Davis' mother Lucia McBath left the courtroom.Simons also showed the jury where on Davis' clothing that emergency personnel cut the clothing to perform lifesaving measures, and where on the clothing that gunshots passed through. If you remember about this case when it first happened, youll know Rhonda was with Dunn when the incident that took Jordans life, occurred. They also said the police had failed to thoroughly search the surrounding area, including trash bins close to the parking lot. Prosecutors have pounded on the fact that Dunn was ordering a pizza and walking his dog while Davis was being pronounced dead. In a letter dated December 5, 2012, Michael Dunn wrote to Rouer about her testimony to prosecutors. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The trio said there was never a gun in the car. Dunn has also pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder for firing at three of Davis friends. The trial will resume Monday. We were very happy, Rouer told the court, her voice cracking. He's very loving."[29]. Prosecutors will call two more witnesses and then rest their case. The jury could not reach a verdict about whether to convict Dunn for the murder of Davis at the first trial. Tears streamed down Rhonda Rouers face and her voice shook as she recounted before jurors for a second time the day Michael Dunn shot a Jacksonville teen. [9][12] The front seat passenger, Tevin Thompson, initially complied and turned the volume down, but Jordan Davis requested the volume be turned back up. Follow Rhema Thompson on Twitter@RhemaThompson. She claims that Dunn told her to get in the car. The documentary won the U.S. The couple came to town to attend the wedding of Michael Dunn's son. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. She is a key witness in her boyfriend's -Michael Dunn- murder trial. 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