Law pundits have said that one or more of the jurors, therefore, believe Dunn’s story that he felt he was in imminent fear of grievous bodily harm or death when he discharged his handgun at the red SUV, killing Jordan almost instantly.
There were audible gasps in the courtroom, CNN legal analysts report, particularly from Jordan’s family when the judge announced that there was still conflict on the one charge after four days of deliberations. The 1st-degree murder charge is the only one that is important to Jordan’s family, pundits states, because it directly relates to the killing of their son.
Judge Russell Healey ordered the jurors to return to the deliberation room, via the Allen Charge, to try to work out to a consensus the first-degree murder charge. If they cannot reconcile this one charge, there is a danger of a hung jury and the judge could declare a mistrial. That would mean that Dunn would be tried all over again.
The judge could also uphold the jurors’ decision on the four of five charges and then only retry Dunn on the one hung charge.
There has been evidence of tumult in the deliberation room. Reporters have told CNN that the jurors can be heard arguing and yelling through the walls. The judge, therefore, had reportedly ordered the closure of the courtroom to observers and media so that they could not hear what the jurors were saying.
Here is the list of charges that Dunn is facing below, with the number of years in parentheses.
- first-degree Murder (life in prison);
- second-degree murder: (minimum of 25 years);
- manslaughter: (9-30 years);
- three attempted murder charges. (20 years apiece);
- firing at a car: (up to 15 years)
Mark O’Mara, who last year successfully exonerated George Zimmerman of second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, told CNN that Dunn, 47, can still be convicted on the four lesser charges and would still be put away for the rest of his life since he is, in essence, a middle-aged man. O’Mara believes the jurors have agreed to convict Dunn on the latter four charges, but he added that he is speculating based upon the questions the jurors have asked the judge the past two days.
Stay tuned to rolling out for imminent updates.
