Michael Dunn murder of Jordan Davis puts Florida’s stand your ground law in headlines

A Florida murder trial, the result from an argument over loud music at a gas station that ended in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, opened this week, reviving a debate over the state’s gun control and self-defense laws.

Michael Dunn, age 47, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis on November 23, 2012.

Four teenage boys were parked next to Dunn at a Jacksonville gas station. Dunn asked the teenagers to turn down the volume of their music. From the back passenger seat, Davis refused and the two exchanged words.

Dunn says he opened fire because he saw the barrel of a gun pointed out the back window at him, though police found no weapon.

The software engineer opened fire on the car saying that he feared for his life, drawing comparisons to the trial of George Zimmerman and the murder of Trayvon Martin.

The case has garnered national and international media attention because of the racial overtones and the self-defense claims.

If found guilty, Dunn faces life in prison. Prosecutors say they won’t seek the death penalty.

Dunn’s attorney, Cory Strolla, has filed motions asking the judge not to allow references in the trial to comments Dunn made in jailhouse letters or phone calls where he referred to Davis and to some inmates as “thugs”, and made other “alleged racial comments,” according to court documents.

“This case has never been about loud music,” Dunn wrote to news anchor Heather Crawford in October. “This case is about a local thug threatening to kill me because I dared to ask him to turn the music down.”