Crime

No Justice in Trial of Killing of 17-Year-Old Jordan Davis

Published

11 years ago

February 20, 2014

Commentary

In the wake of the killings of Oscar Grant in Oakland and Trayvon Martin in Florida, Bay Area residents are again witnessing the emotional uproar over the killing of another young Black man, which once again raises the question if Black lives are less valued in America’s judicial system.

The verdict in the murder case of 17-year old Jordan Davis, apparently shot and killed in a dispute over loud music, caused the same emotional uneasiness as in the other cases.

Although Michael Dunn, 47, was found guilty on three accounts of attempted murder and for firing into an occupied car, the jury was hung on the first-degree murder charge of Davis.

How is possible to find him guilty of attempted murder but not on the main charge of murder?

;“This is the third recent case in Florida where the ‘stand your ground’ law has apparently complicated rather simple cases of murdering young Black teenagers,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson in a statement released this week.

San Francisco Defense Attorney Damone Hale says ultimately Dunn’s defense attorney Cory Strolla “outplayed the prosecution.”

“A trial is a battle of impressions,” Hale said. “A good defense attorney is going to paint the picture that Davis posed a threat.”

Davis was reported to have argued with Dunn, described as getting out of the car, which under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground Law’ could support Dunn’s fear. However, when the vehicle is pulling away there is no reasonable danger caused since the person is leaving, which then explains the jury’s verdict on the attempted murder charges but not the murder charge.

The jury deliberated for 30 hours, which Hale says shows the back and forth limbo, but ultimately the defense was able to get at least one non Black juror to relate to a time when they saw a young Black male in a mall or store and felt threatened.

But given the evidence, he believes a seasoned prosecutor could have destroyed Dunn, Hale said.

“Our system works when the pieces do their job and part of the prosecutors job was to tell the story,” he added. “The prosecutors in Florida are looking like amateurs.”

Rev. Jackson also raised questions about the “competence of State Attorney Angela Corey who has refused to address one of the central issues in both the Jordan Davis and the Trayvon Martin trials – the issue of race.”

“Race was central to all three trials yet Ms. Corey has been reluctant and has refused to bring the relevant issue of race into the two trials of Davis and Martin,” he said.

Unlike Florida’s subjective ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law, which focuses on what a person believes, Hale says California’s law examines if a person’s actions are reasonable.

Based on the facts of the case, he believes if the case tried in California, the only way Dunn would have been able to avoid a life sentence would be if he were offered a plea deal.

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Activism

‘Donald Trump Is Not a God:’ Rep. Bennie Thompson Blasts Trump’s Call to Jail Him

“Donald Trump is not a god,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

Published

10 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he not intimidated by President-elect Donald Trump, who, during an interview on “Meet the Press,” called for the congressman to be jailed for his role as chairman of the special congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Donald Trump is not a god,” Thompson told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

“He can’t prove it, nor has there been any other proof offered, which tells me that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said the 76-year-old lawmaker, who maintained that he and the bipartisan Jan. 6 Select Committee – which referred Trump for criminal prosecution – were exercising their constitutional and legislative duties.

“When someone disagrees with you, that doesn’t make it illegal; that doesn’t even make it wrong,” Thompson said, “The greatness of this country is that everyone can have their own opinion about any subject, and so for an incoming president who disagrees with the work of Congress to say ‘because I disagree, I want them jailed,’ is absolutely unbelievable.”

When asked by The Grio if he is concerned about his physical safety amid continued public ridicule from Trump, whose supporters have already proven to be violent, Thompson said, “I think every member of Congress here has to have some degree of concern, because you just never know.”

This story is based on a report from The Grio.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

Published

5 days ago

December 13, 2024

Oakland Post

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Outgoing D.A. Pamela Price Releases Report on County Gun Violence Epidemic

The 84-page report is divided into two parts: the Public Health Impact of Violence and the Contribution of Structural Inequalities; and the Public Safety Impact of Gun Violence and the Regulation of Firearms. Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

Published

1 week ago

December 8, 2024

Oakland Post

Exclusive interview with County D.A. Price days before recall election. Photo by Ken Epstein.

Pamela Price was recalled in the election on Nov. 5. File photo.

By Post Staff

Criminal Justice Reformer District Attorney Pamela Price, who is leaving office this week after losing a recall election, released a comprehensive report on the gun violence epidemic and public health emergency in Alameda County: “Tackling Gun Violence Epidemic in Alameda County: A Public Health Emergency (2019-2023).”

This report represents an unprecedented collaboration between public safety and public health partners and provides data and recommendations to guide the County’s continued work to reduce violence while advancing justice reform.

Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

“Between 2019 to 2023, an average of three residents were killed by firearms each week in Alameda County, and behind every statistic is a shattered family and community,” said Price.

“Under my administration, the DA’s office has taken bold steps to combat gun violence while promoting equity and healing for survivors,” she said.

The report highlights strategies for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Last month, the DA’s office secured a $5.5 million grant from the California Judicial Council to help improve compliance and case management for gun cases and gun relinquishment orders —the removal of guns from people prohibited from possessing a firearm – with law enforcement and court partners.

This effort builds on Price’s work in 2023 and 2024 in attacking the gun violence epidemic.

“We launched an innovative Gun Violence Restraining Order Outreach Project to educate communities about the availability of tools to remove guns and ammunition from people who are a danger to themselves and others and the intersectionality of domestic violence and gun violence and convened gun violence roundtable conversations with our law enforcement partners and collaborated with the Alameda County Public Health Department to produce this comprehensive report,” she said.

“We supported Oakland’s CEASEFIRE program through its transition and implemented a pilot Mentor Gun Diversion Program with our collaborative court partners, offering non-violent youth in possession of a gun pathways to interrupt the potential for escalating harm.” added Price.