Dunn letter jury asked about released

Davis' parents ready for possible retrial; Dunn's daughter speaks on network TV

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The state attorney's office on Monday released a letter Michael Dunn dictated to his brother from jail that was sent to family members.

The letter, dubbed the "Black Friday letter," was entered into evidence during Dunn's trial, and the jury asked a question during deliberations about when the letter was written.

The judge answered their question, telling them it was dictated in June.

DOCUMENT: Letter dictated by Michael Dunn in June
(Warning: Contains graphic language)

In the letter, Dunn said he asked that the teens in the SUV he shot into turn the music down. He said it was turned off, and then he explained what happened as he was saying thanks.

"I glanced back and saw the rear windows were down and the back seat was occupied by two very menacing looking black men," Dunn said. "They were literally scowling at me and both had angry expressions."

"They look to be in the early 20's and mean," Dunn said. "I'm middle aged overweight and have a bad back! I mention this, as a confrontation is the last thing I was looking for."

Dunn said he was "sitting in my car, eyes front, windows up." Then he said, "I catch snips of his racial-laced diatribe, Then I hear, I should KILL that mother-(expletive)!"

Dunn said he asked, "Excuse me- are you talking about me?"

He said the guy on the passenger side was completely enraged. Dunn then recounted what happened in the letter, saying, "He bends forward and picked something up with both hands. As he's doing this he says, yeah-I'm going to kill you! and now I can tell what he's picked up, as he just laid a gun barrel against the window sill."

Dunn said he was paralyzed by fear at the sight of the shotgun leaning against the open window.

"Between fear, adrenaline and muscle memory, I grabbed my pistol from the glove box," Dunn said. "As I was doing so, I shouted, 'You're not going to kill me you son of a (expletive)!"

Dunn went on to say that after he fired the shots, he had no idea that anyone had been hit. He said he had heard enough news reports and read about plenty of gangster-style thugs that he was worried about retaliation.

Those close to both sides speak Monday


Meanwhile, Michael Skolnik, the editor-in-chief of GlobalGrind.com, spoke Monday on behalf of Ron Davis and Lucia McBath, two days after Dunn was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and a mistrial declared on a murder charge in the shooting death of Jordan Davis.

Skolnik has been at Davis' parents' side since the 17-year-old was shot and killed in November 2012. He came from New York City to Jacksonville for Dunn's trial.

"I know they can't talk at this moment, but I know that when they do talk they will express their thanks and their gratitude to so many people in the city of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas who have supported them for the past year and a half, which has been the most difficult time," Skolnik said. "So I think as certainly we are disappointed that there was a hung jury on the murder charge of Jordan Davis, I think the family, they wanted to make sure that people knew that that they still had a love and respect and appreciation for the justice that was found for the three other kids.

Ron Davis, the father of shooting victim Jordan Davis, says our kids, "shouldn't live in fear."

Davis' parents are preparing for the strong possibility that the case will go to trial again because of the partially hung jury.

Dunn's daughter, Rebecca, also spoke out Monday from her home in Iowa, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"He's going to protect himself if he sees no other way," she said. "That's what he's going to do."

She said she's rarely stopped crying since the verdict.

"I love him so much. He is my best friend," Dunn said. "I can't imagine living life without him."

Dunn's attorney, Cory Strolla, plans to appeal the ruling on grounds that his client didn't have a fair trial.

"Just a lot of the factors; there are pretrial rulings, there are things that came up, there is evidence that was out, there is jury instructions," Strolla said.

A sentencing hearing for Michael Dunn is set for March 24. And even though he'd be 107 years old before he can be eligible to get out of prison, legal analyst Rhonda Peoples-Waters said she fully expects prosecutors to retry him on that murder charge.

"I'm sure that (State Attorney) Angela Corey's thought process is that she wants justice to be served for Jordan Davis and would want a trial to be had so that it sends a message to this community that those are actions that are unacceptable and not condoned by our law," Peoples-Waters said.