JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A judge asked jurors on Saturday to try working through their difficulties in reaching a verdict on the fate of a Florida man charged with fatally shooting a teen after an argument over loud music.
On their fourth day of deliberations, the jurors told Judge Russell L. Healey that they haven’t been able to reach a unanimous verdict on the first-degree murder charge against Michael Dunn. They said they’ve reached a verdict on four other counts against him.
Healey asked the jury to keep trying. As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the jurors have been deliberating at total of 30 hours.
Dunn is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jordan Davis outside a Jacksonville convenience store in 2012. Dunn claims he shot the Marietta, Ga., teen in self-defense. Prosecutors told jurors Dunn shot the teen because he felt disrespected by Davis during an argument over loud music.
The jury resumed deliberations just after 9 a.m. Saturday, after already deliberating the case for 22 hours over the three previous days. They seemed stuck on whether to convict Dunn on some counts but not others.
After further deliberations, the jurors asked for a clarification on the judge’s instructions from earlier Saturday. The judge complimented them for paying such close attention to detail and sent them back to the deliberation room after answering.
Once they had left the courtroom, the judge added more praise as attorneys for both sides nodded in agreement.
“That just solidifies that these folks are very detailed people. They’ve paid very, very, very close attention to everything and they have analyzed this thing from every angle,” Healey told the courtroom. “Whether they can agree or not is another matter. But you certainly can never fault them for their effort and how they have conducted themselves throughout this trial.”
Dunn also faces three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of firing a gun into an occupied vehicle.
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