Days after Michael Dunn was found guilty on three counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle and a mistrial declared for the first-degree murder count, his shocking proclamation regarding his case has been revealed.
In newly released jail house phone calls, Dunn tells fiancée Rhonda Rouer that he was both the victor and the victim when it came to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jordan Davis.
Davis was killed on November 23, 2012 after a verbal altercation with Dunn, fueled by the teen’s loud music. He was unarmed. Dunn shot at the SUV Davis and his three friends occupied a total of 10 times, hitting Davis with three of the bullets. He claimed self-defense under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
In the revealing calls, recorded from December 2012 and released by the State Attorney’s Office, Dunn also compares himself to a rape victim.
I was the one that was being preyed upon and I fought back. It’s not quite the same but it made me think of like the old TV shows and movies where like how the police used to think when a chick got raped going, “Oh, it’s her fault because of the way she dressed.” I’m like, “So it’s my fault (laughing) because I asked them to turn their music down. I got attacked and I fought back because I didn’t want to be a victim and now I’m in trouble. I refused to be a victim and now I’m incarcerated.”
Dunn continued:
“I’m the f*** victim here,” he said, laughing, during one of the phone calls. “I was the one who was victimized … I’m the victor, but I was the victim too.”
During the call with Rouer, he also complained about being in a jail cell by himself, saying, “But I guess it would be better than being in a room with them animals.” He added a short while later, “I was in a room with three black guys,” CBS News reports.
Throughout the trial, Dunn maintained he was attacked by the teenagers. Police never found a weapon in the SUV and a medical examiner determined Davis was shot while sitting down. Ballistic tests also show that the door was closed when Dunn shot through it. Dunn, however, testified that Davis got out of the vehicle to approach him.
He never fully explained how he was “attacked.” At defense attorney Cory Strolla’s request, a pre-trial hearing kept a racial bias out of the trial, although Dunn’s admission to his fiancée on the phone regarding his cell mates and racially charged letters to his family from jail paint a different picture of the man described as “calming” by friends.
Sentencing is scheduled for March. The State Attorney’s Office plans to retry Dunn on first-degree murder. We’ll keep you updated on the latest.
SOURCE: Think Progress | PHOTO CREDIT: Handout
