Attorney: Zimmerman acquittal influenced prosecution of US man charged in loud music killing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The defence attorney for a Florida man accused of fatally shooting of a teenager said Thursday that his client would never have faced trial had it not been for the acquittal last summer of another man who shot and killed an unarmed black youth in the same state.

Michael Dunn is awaiting the jury’s verdict in his murder trial. He claims he shot 17-year-old Jordan Davis in self-defence outside a Jacksonville convenience store in 2012 after an argument over loud music. But prosecutors told jurors that Dunn, who is white, shot the teen because he felt disrespected by Davis, who is black. Davis had the music in his SUV turned back up after a friend complied with Dunn’s request to turn the volume down.

Dunn’s trial was the latest Florida case to raise questions about self-defence and race. It came six months after George Zimmerman was acquitted of any crime for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) south of Jacksonville. The Dunn trial was prosecuted by the same State Attorney’s Office as was the Zimmerman case. Zimmerman identifies as Hispanic and Martin was black.

Dunn is charged with first-degree murder, though jurors could also consider second-degree murder and manslaughter as options for a conviction.

Dunn wouldn’t have been taken to trial had it not been for Zimmerman’s acquittal, said defence attorney Cory Strolla.

“I believe there is a lot vested in this case, politically,” Strolla said. “The case, on the heels of not guilty in George Zimmerman, just escalated that political pressure.”

A spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office said in an email that her office got the Dunn case in December 2012. Zimmerman’s trial took place last summer.

“The prosecution of Michael Dunn began long before the Zimmerman trial,” said spokeswoman Jackelyn Barnard.

Jurors returned Thursday for their second day of deliberations during which they reviewed security-camera video from the convenience story that captured sounds of gun shots from Dunn’s firearm.

The jurors also asked a judge of they could view mannequins and sticks that were presented by prosecutors in the courtroom to reconstruct the angle of the shots that hit Davis.

Circuit Judge Russell Healey said he wanted to do some legal research before answering if they could do so.

Strolla said Dunn is in good spirits as he awaits the verdict.

“From day one, his attitude has been we have the truth. We will prevail,” Strolla said.

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Associated Press writers Derek Kinner in Jacksonville and Mike Schneider in Orlando contributed to this report.