Appeals court sides with media in Dunn case

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The First District Court of Appeals has once again sided with the media in the Michael Dunn case, this time finding that Judge Russell Healey was wrong to exclude the media for portions of jury selection.

During the first part of jury selection, the media wasn't allowed in the courtroom. Healey then allowed an audio feed into an overflow room, but that kept getting turned off.

Lastly, the media was not in the courtroom when the jury was finalized.

The appeals court ruled those actions and restrictions were improper and violated a "vital component" of First Amendment rights.

The court said it wanted to make sure those restrictions weren't repeated in the retrial. Therefore, all Healey's orders that relate to jury selection are vacated.