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3 1/2 Minutes Wins Sundance Award
3 1/2 Minutes is a documentary movie about the Jordan Davis’ murder. For a background on the film, click here to see our previous article. The documentary was presented at the Sundance Film Festival and has won the Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact. Jordan’s parents, Lucia McBath and Ronald Davis, spoke at the acceptance.
“I am grieved that these continuing stories are everyday matters swept away,” HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins said in a statement. “By bringing this powerful film to HBO audiences, we hope to elevate the national conversation around these tragic issues.”
HBO has secured the film’s television rights.
Here’s the award announcement and acceptance.
Here’s the trailer for the movie.
3 ½ Minutes – A Documentary Film About The Death Of Jordan Davis
From the documentary film, 3 1/2 Minutes.
At Sundance, the premier independent film festival, the documentary titled 3 ½ Minutes will take the screen in Utah. Minette Nelson wanted to document a story that would continue the discussion on race and gun violence with a focus on Florida, but she wanted a story that was not as well-known as the Trayvon Martin story. Her son told her about Jordan Davis. She read everything she could about the killing and mailed Ron Davis, Jordan’s father, in April 2013.
“My letter stated that I felt that Jordan’s case could be exemplary of what is wrong with post-racial society in America and that Jordan was no different from my son. Thirdly, that if there had been no gun in the equation, Jordan would’ve gone home safely to his bed that night.”
The 2013 festival’s award for best cinematography went to Marc Silver for the film, “Who Is Dayani Cristal?” Marc Singer directed “3 ½ Minutes.” He has a promotion for the film on his website.
Michael Dunn Sentenced to Life Without Parole
Michael Dunn
The man who was found guilty on three counts of attempted 2nd degree murder, firing a missile, and 1st degree murder, for killing 17-year old, unarmed Jordan Davis, has been sentenced.
Michael Dunn will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole, plus 105 years.
Dunn gave a half-ass apology, stating;
“I want the Davis family to know I truly regret what happened. I’m sorry for their loss,” If I could roll back time and do things differently, I would. I was in fear for my life and I did what I thought I had to do. Still, I am mortified I took a life, whether it was justified or not.”
As soon as a video of the sentencing hearing is available, I’ll update here.
R.I.P. Jordan
Michael Dunn Guilty of 1st Degree Murder
I’m watching interviews on News4jax now.
This is developing, and as reports and videos are made available, I’ll update.
To the jury, GOOD JOB!
R.I.P. Jordan.
Michael Dunn, guilty of 1st degree murder.
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 6 and Verdict Watch
Closing arguments concluded yesterday evening. The State conducted effective closing argument, incorporating the use of Power Point. The defense however, talked for about 80 minutes, often being redundant, and took statements out of context.
Judge Healey is bringing in the jury to give them instructions, and then they start deliberations. We will be on verdict watch.
To watch the jury receive instructions, and if they have any questions for the judge, and when they announce that they have reached the verdict, use any of the following links.
JUSTICE FOR JORDAN DAVIS!
Open Discussion – Sept 30th
Caterpillars, butterflies, moths, crusty old moths, and all creatures great and small,
Earlier, I asked if you would like an open discussion thread this evening to discuss today’s trial in the case of Michael Dunn along with other things. Joseph replied “yes.”
Ask, and ye shall receive.
Along with today’s trial, other news include:
- Ferguson, MO. There have been town hall meetings. Members of clergy were arrested last night and like the previous evening when others were arrested, they were held hostage until the Ferguson Police Department got protesters to either stop protesting, or to march rather than assemble.
- George Zimmerman and his family are back in the news.
- People are talking about the Secret Service at the White House allowing an armed intruder to get inside.
- Yahoo reports that a juvenile was arrested today for shooting a student in a school in Louisville, Kentucky.
- An unarmed grandfather was shot to death in his driveway by a police officer in South Carolina. Turns out that he was killed in February, but it is just now being reported as a comparison to Ferguson, MO. The grandfather, Ernest Satterwhite, was Black. The officer who killed him, Justin Craven, is White.
- Ebola has come to Dallas, TX. For my friends in Texas, stay safe. Stock up on Milk Thistle Extract and Burdock Root which you can find in the vitamin and supplement section of Department and Health Food Stores.
Remember the Golden Rule and do it!
What’s on your mind?
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 5
It is day 5 of the retrial of Michael Dunn for 1st degree murder. Court ended yesterday with the defense bringing on character witnesses. Then, the judge and attorneys started going over jury instructions.
Dunn’s previous trial took 6 days, and that included the state’s rebuttal case. Today, we just might hear from Dunn.
Here are the links to watch live stream:
As videos become available, I will embed them here.
Thanks for watching with us, and for your comments and discussion.
Justice For Jordan!
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 4
We continue following the 1st degree murder retrial of Michael Dunn. Trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. EDT.
Judge Healey instructed the defense to have at least one witness for this afternoon. He expects for the prosecution to rest its case. If things go like they did last time, the defense might take a day and a half, followed by the prosecution conducting a rebuttal.
The defense plans on calling Michael Knox, who is a reconstruction consultant. He reconstructs car accidents. If you’re not familiar with Michael Knox, during Zimmerman’s trial, LLMPapa did a series of videos proving Knox wrong regarding how Trayvon Martin was shot. Rather than use garments, Knox used cardboard in his reconstruction. Our BlushedBrown wrote about it on this blog.
This time, Knox did not go on television showing his reconstruction. Judge Healey has ruled that Knox cannot use animation at trial. We’ll have to wait and see if Knox comes to court with cardboard representing the SUV, its rear seat, and Jordan Davis. Actually, we’ll have to wait and see whether Judge Healey allows Knox to testify as an “expert.”
Live stream can be accessed at the following:
Videos of today’s hearing will be embedded here as they become available. A HUGE “thank you” to Croaker Queen for taping the trial.
If you have been unable to follow the trial and want to catch-up, just click “Justice for Jordan Davis” in the top menu. The posts will appear in order with the most recent date first. Click on the title for the complete post with videos from that day.
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 3
Judge Healey is holding trial on Saturday because the jury is sequestered. Based on statements he made at the end of yesterday’s hearing, he expects for the defense to have witnesses ready on Monday.
As Judge Healey stated, things are rolling along. One reason for that is because the defense has not cross-examined all state witnesses that have testified, and its cross-examination of other state witnesses was mostly a repeat of their testimony.
I will update here with videos as they become available.
JUSTICE FOR JORDAN!
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 2
Good morning caterpillars, butterflies, moths, and all creatures great and small!
We’re following the Michael Dunn retrial.
Yesterday consisted mostly of State prosecutors going in chronological order of witnesses on the scene and law enforcement that first reported on the scene. Click here to watch videos of yesterday’s hearing.
Judge Healey plans to hold court on Saturday because the jury is sequestered.
For live stream, here are some links:
As videos become available, I’ll update here. Read the rest of this entry
Michael Dunn Retrial – Day 1 of Trial
The below are videos from the first day of trial. I’ve also included those of opening statements that are on the previous thread so that the entire hearing for today is on the same page.
I big “thank you” to Croaker Queen for providing the videos. Read the rest of this entry
Michael Dunn Jury Selected- Breakdown
A jury of 8 men and 4 women have been selected to serve on the Michael Dunn 1st degree murder trial for killing 17-year old Jordan Davis.
The jury consists of 10 Whites; 7 white men and 3 white women; and two Blacks, 1 Black man, and 1 Black woman.
Alternates consist of one white man, two white women and one black woman.
The jury will be sequestered. They will not be sworn-in until tomorrow morning because Judge Healey does not want to sequester them tonight.
Action News Jax reports the breakdown: Read the rest of this entry
Open Discussion and Michael Dunn Jury Selection
Caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and all creatures great and small,
Jury selection in the Michael Dunn murder retrial started today. In his first trial, Dunn was found guilty of 2nd degree attempted murder for shooting into the SUV that contained passengers and the driver, including Jordan Davis. The jury however, hung on the 1st degree murder charge for Dunn’s killing of Jordan Davis. Dunn has claimed self-defense.
Dunn’s sentencing on the 2nd degree attempted murder convictions is postponed until after his retrial.
Jury selection is expected to take several days.
Please use this thread to discuss the Dunn jury selection and any other topic that you desire. When trial begins, I will open another thread for reporting and discussion.
Justice of Jordan Davis!
Michael Dunn Trial Update: 2 Weeks Until Trial for Murder of Jordan Davis (Recent Filings Attached)
Thanks so much for the update and links to newly filed pleadings.
In February, a Florida jury found Michael Dunn guilty on four of five charges in a case in which Dunn shot ten times at a car full of teenagers over a dispute that started about loud music. However, the 12 person jury could not come to a unanimous decision on the charge of the murder of Jordan Davis and a mistrial was declared on that count alone. A retrial of that count is scheduled for September 22. Dunn faces a minimum of 60 years for the other convictions. Sentencing has been delayed until after trial has concluded. Read the Rolling Stone Story here and see their appearance on Katie Couric here.
I have the honor of representing Jordan Davis’ family. A story was written about how meeting them changed me. You can find that here.
Trial Update
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FLorida’s 10-20-Life
We have all seen the headlines, “Fla. Mom gets 20 years for warning shot”. We have all heard some of the stories trying to tie this long sentence to race. What most don’t know is the history behind what happened. I’m not talking about what happened to Ms. Alexander but the history behind the sentencing. What most fail to realize is that it wasn’t the crime she was found guilty of, it wasn’t her race and it had nothing to do with a warning shot. It has everything to do with a law.
Since the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, the public has focused largely on Florida’s stand your ground (SYG) law. While many consider this to be an unjust and vague law, to me there is a more unjust law on the books and one that existed before Florida’s SYG law.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Back in the late 90’s there was a surge of violent felonies in Florida in which a gun was used. At the time, Florida had a mandatory sentence of 3 years when a gun was used in a violent felony. Jeb Bush, while running for governor, came up with and ran a campaign platform for the 10-20-Life law. When he was elected in 1999, the State Legislature passed Bush’s proposal and the law went into effect on July 1, 1999. In 2000 it was expanded to cover 16 and 17 year old’s who fire a gun and have prior criminal records. Read the rest of this entry
Neighborhood Watch Commander Arrested For Firing Warning Shot
It happened in Tampa, Florida.
Sam Mobley
Sam Mobley, 70, has won awards and was recognized by and worked closely with the Tampa police to help rid the neighborhood of drug dealers. This week, Mobley was arrested, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for firing two warning shots at a convicted drug dealer. Mobley says that he thought the man had a gun in his hand. The man was not hit.
“I shot low to the ground,” said Mobley. “I didn’t shoot to kill.”
Tampa police arrested Mobley because they say Mobley was not on his property when firing the warning shots. Read the rest of this entry
Why Are People Angry That Race Was Not Mentioned During Deliberations in Dunn’s Trial?
Recently, two of the jurors in the case of Michael Dunn have interviewed with CNN. Both were asked if race was mentioned during deliberations. Both answered “no.” Then, panels discussing the interviews voiced their disagreement with the jury not discussing race during deliberations. Some online sources have also criticized those jurors. Even Jordan Davis’ father said he could not see how it didn’t come up since Dunn’s girlfriend gave credible testimony that he used the words “thug music.”
I am very grateful to the jury for not mentioning race during deliberations, which had they done so, would give Dunn the right to a new trial. The following is why.
In the case of Michael Dunn, like in all other cases, the presiding judge instructs the jury to only consider testimony and evidence presented at trial. The judge also tells the jury the charges. The issue in Dunn’s case is whether he killed Jordan Davis in self-defense. Michael Dunn was not charged with a hate-crime. Read the rest of this entry
Juror In Dunn’s Case Interviews With ABC News
Michael Dunn
Convicted of 3 Counts of
2nd Degree Attempted Murder
Hat-tip to Mindyme62
ABC reports an exclusive interview with Juror Number 4, the home healthcare employee. Known as Valerie, she told ABC News that the issue of self-defense forced the jury into an immediate deadlock and prompted some shouting matches.
Valerie old ABC that the issue of self-defense forced the jury into an immediate deadlock. That led to some shouting matches. Valerie, who wanted a murder conviction, says the group knew within the first hour that they would be unable to reach a unanimous decision on the first count. Read the rest of this entry
Dear Chris Cuomo and CNN
(Quotes in this article contain profanity.)
Chris Cuomo
I’m not one who writes many opinion pieces. Mostly, I like to report to inform. This time however, I feel compelled to address the most recent events. I was one opposed to the airing of Chris Cuomo’s interview of George Zimmerman. I refused to watch the interview, but CNN producers knew how to get excerpts into programming with panels who I did want to hear, such as Don Lemon and attorney Benjamin Crump. Thus, I saw some excerpts of George Zimmerman’s interview and also Cuomo address how he heard protests, but aired it anyway.
CNN moved the airing up a day early, on national Presidents Day, on the heels of the verdicts in the Michael Dunn trial, and Jordan Davis’ birthday, and during Black History month. Read the rest of this entry
Michael Dunn Headed to Prison for the Shots that Failed to Kill
This is a great commentary. A major problem with Florida’s self-defense law is that it does not require the person in fear to retreat. Dunn testified that his question, “Are you talking about me?” was intended to de-escalate when actual de-escalation was for him to simply move his car.
PoliticusUSA
Michael Dunn will likely receive a lengthy prison sentence after a jury found him guilty on three counts of attempted murder and one count of firing into a vehicle. The jury however was unable to reach agreement on the charge of first degree murder for killing Jordan Davis. On that charge, a mistrial was declared, but the four felony counts that Dunn was found guilty of could still send him to prison for up to 75 years. Dunn’s sentencing is scheduled for March 24th.
Dunn was remanded to custody after being convicted, and if the judge gives him anything close to the maximum sentence on each charge, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Yet, the verdict was disconcerting for one simple reason. Dunn was not convicted for murdering Jordan Davis. Had he confined his shooting to firing one or two fatal shots, he conceivably could…
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We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 