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2nd trial begins for man accused of killing teen over loud music in Jacksonville

 
Published Sept. 23, 2014

JACKSONVILLE — Jury selection began Monday in the second trial of a Florida man accused of killing a Georgia teenager during an argument over loud music outside a Jacksonville convenience store.

Attorneys for Michael Dunn, 47, want to move the first-degree murder trial away from Jacksonville, citing widespread publicity about the case.

Circuit Judge Russell Healey has said he'll decide whether to move the trial only after the court sees dozens of potential jurors, a process expected to take at least three days.

Last February, another jury found Dunn guilty of attempted second-degree murder and firing into an occupied vehicle. The jurors deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge.

Prosecutors say Dunn, who is white, killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis of Marietta, Ga., when he fired 10 times into a sport utility vehicle occupied by four black teens.

Dunn hasn't been sentenced on the earlier conviction but faces 60 to 150 years in prison.

The case has stirred racial tensions, and the first trial received significant media coverage, an issue the defense has argued makes getting a fair jury in Jacksonville nearly impossible.

If the judge decides to move the trial, it would probably be postponed for months while a new venue is determined.