Nearly seven months after a jury acquitted George Zimmerman, whose shooting of an unarmed black teenager made him synonymous with Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, the state’s latest drama involving a fatal burst of gunfire and a claim of self-defense began to play out Thursday in a courtroom.
A prosecutor and a defense lawyer presented divergent theories about the motive for what took place at a convenience store.
Assistant State Attorney John Guy, who was part of the team that prosecuted Zimmerman last year, portrayed Michael Dunn who killed Jordan Davis as “fueled by anger” after hearing what he described to his fiancée as “thug music.”
Cory Strolla, Dunn’s lawyer, said that Dunn had been compelled to act and pulled a handgun from the glove compartment of his car only after he felt endangered.
“Jordan Davis threatened Michael Dunn,” Strolla told the sequestered group of 16 jurors.
Strolla added: “He was getting out of the car with a weapon after telling Dunn, ‘You’re dead.’ ” According to Strolla, Davis also used an expletive during that exchange.
Officials retrieved what a prosecutor described as a "pocketknife" from Davis.
Strolla never invoked Stand Your Ground during his opening statement, centered on a shooting he called “tragic.” But he made it clear that he believed Florida law offered Dunn legal cover.
“Michael Dunn had every right under the law to not be a victim,” Strolla said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/us/trial-brings-new-scrutiny-of-self-defense-laws.html
