The retrial of Michael Dunn in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis began with prosecutors and defense attorneys beginning to screen 100 potential jurors in Jacksonville, FL.
News 4 Jax reports:
In February, 12 jurors found Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder for firing a dozen shots into an SUV full of teenagers during a confrontation outside a Southside Gate convenience store in November 2012. The panel however, deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge in Davis’ death.
Judge Russell Healey is allowing jury selection to begin, but said he reserves the right to grant a defense motion to move the trial out of Jacksonville if there is difficultly seating an impartial panel.
About 10:30 a.m., the jury pool was brought in, then individual interviews began, with the judge asking each about their knowledge and any opinions they may have of this case. Three jurors said they knew Dunn or one of the lawyers or witnesses in the case.
A few of jurors said they might have a problem being impartial based on media coverage of the case. Healey said he understands that “No one lives in a vacuum.”
“No matter what you read or saw, can you set it aside and sit as a juror in the courtroom and render a verdict based on what you see and hear in the courtroom, not in the media?” the judge told the jurors.
Healey said he hoped a jury could be seated in three days and said the juror could be sequestered during the trial.
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(Photo/Video Source: Jax 4 News)
