Reader’s guide · Florida
Jordan Davis: what Michael Dunn’s self-defense appeal asked
A guide to Dunn’s 2016 appeal, focused on the motion for acquittal and the court’s review of evidence rebutting self-defense.
- Record
- Dunn v. State, No. 1D14-4924
- Issued by
- Florida First District Court of Appeal
- Date
- November 17, 2016
- Document
- Court opinion
Reading the record
The First District affirmed Michael Dunn’s first-degree murder conviction and three attempted second-degree murder convictions. It wrote specifically about his argument that the trial court should have granted a judgment of acquittal because the State had not rebutted self-defense.
That question concerns the legal sufficiency of the evidence. The appellate judges were reviewing a trial ruling, not sitting as a new jury or conducting another investigation into Jordan Davis’s death.
Pay attention to whose account appears in each passage. A defendant’s testimony, a witness’s observation and the court’s explanation of why a jury could reject self-defense serve different purposes in the opinion.
Questions to take to the source
- What did Dunn ask the trial judge to do in his motion for acquittal?
- Which evidence does the appellate court identify in addressing self-defense?
- Why is a sufficiency ruling different from retrying the case?
Follow the evidence
Open the source record
These links open the cited documents on their hosts. No account or email is needed to read this guide.
- Dunn v. State — 2016 opinion
Court opinion reproduced in Justia’s case-law archive.
Companion reading for True Crime Florida: The Jacksonville Files. This guide addresses the dated records above; later proceedings may have their own decisions.