Crime

No Justice in Trial of Killing of 17-Year-Old Jordan Davis

Published

13 years ago

February 20, 2014

Commentary

In the wake of the killings of Oscar Grant in Oakland and Trayvon Martin in Florida, Bay Area residents are again witnessing the emotional uproar over the killing of another young Black man, which once again raises the question if Black lives are less valued in America’s judicial system.

The verdict in the murder case of 17-year old Jordan Davis, apparently shot and killed in a dispute over loud music, caused the same emotional uneasiness as in the other cases.

Although Michael Dunn, 47, was found guilty on three accounts of attempted murder and for firing into an occupied car, the jury was hung on the first-degree murder charge of Davis.

How is possible to find him guilty of attempted murder but not on the main charge of murder?

;“This is the third recent case in Florida where the ‘stand your ground’ law has apparently complicated rather simple cases of murdering young Black teenagers,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson in a statement released this week.

San Francisco Defense Attorney Damone Hale says ultimately Dunn’s defense attorney Cory Strolla “outplayed the prosecution.”

“A trial is a battle of impressions,” Hale said. “A good defense attorney is going to paint the picture that Davis posed a threat.”

Davis was reported to have argued with Dunn, described as getting out of the car, which under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground Law’ could support Dunn’s fear. However, when the vehicle is pulling away there is no reasonable danger caused since the person is leaving, which then explains the jury’s verdict on the attempted murder charges but not the murder charge.

The jury deliberated for 30 hours, which Hale says shows the back and forth limbo, but ultimately the defense was able to get at least one non Black juror to relate to a time when they saw a young Black male in a mall or store and felt threatened.

But given the evidence, he believes a seasoned prosecutor could have destroyed Dunn, Hale said.

“Our system works when the pieces do their job and part of the prosecutors job was to tell the story,” he added. “The prosecutors in Florida are looking like amateurs.”

Rev. Jackson also raised questions about the “competence of State Attorney Angela Corey who has refused to address one of the central issues in both the Jordan Davis and the Trayvon Martin trials – the issue of race.”

“Race was central to all three trials yet Ms. Corey has been reluctant and has refused to bring the relevant issue of race into the two trials of Davis and Martin,” he said.

Unlike Florida’s subjective ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law, which focuses on what a person believes, Hale says California’s law examines if a person’s actions are reasonable.

Based on the facts of the case, he believes if the case tried in California, the only way Dunn would have been able to avoid a life sentence would be if he were offered a plea deal.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Marin County Hires New Director of Public Works

Don't Miss

Stirring the Pot: Keeping Black History Real

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Business

AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

4 hours ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.