Brelo verdict: Cleveland officer acquitted after shooting unarmed couple – now what?

— How can a police officer fire 15 shots into a car with two unarmed people inside and then get acquitted after their deaths?

That’s exactly what happened when a judge announced Saturday that Cleveland police Officer Michael Brelo was not guilty of voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the 2012 deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.

After Russell led police on a 22-mile chase, about a dozen officers fired 137 bullets into his car. None of the other officers was charged with manslaughter.

The reaction to Brelo’s acquittal has been loud but relatively peaceful — at least compared to the violence that wracked Ferguson, Missouri, last November when Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for the death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.

To understand how we got here — and what’s next for Cleveland — here’s what you need to know:

What led up to the shooting?

It started the night of November 29, 2012, when a couple in a car sped away from an undercover officer.

Their engine backfired, sputtering and producing a loud bang in the tailpipe. Prosecutors said officers mistook the noise for gunshots, and a high-speed chase ensued.

Investigators said as many as 62 police cars joined the pursuit at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour through the streets of Cleveland.

After a 22-mile chase, Russell rammed a police car in a middle school parking lot, police said.

That’s when the bullets started flying.

An investigation revealed 13 police officers fired more than more than 100 times in eight seconds. But only one officer, Michael Brelo, was charged with two counts of voluntarily manslaughter.

What exactly did Brelo do?

The 31-year-old officer got out of his police car, climbed atop the hood of Russell’s car and “fired at least 15 shots … downward through the windshield into the victims at close range as he stood on the hood of Mr. Russell’s car,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGlinty said.

Brelo told investigators he thought he and his partner were in danger, believing the couple in the car were shooting.

“I’ve never been so afraid in my life,” the former Marine told investigators. “I thought my partner and I would be shot and that we were going to be killed, at which point I drew my weapon and I shot through the windshield at the suspects.”

Why did the judge decide to acquit?

The decision was reached not by a jury, but by Cuyahoga County Judge John P. O’Donnell alone. He gave several reasons for his verdict:

  • The officers’ first round of gunfire was permissible because they had reason to believe they and the public were at risk.
  • Brelo’s second round was permissible because a reasonable police officer could decide that, even after the 100 shots, the threat might not have been over in part because the pair might still have been moving.
  • While evidence showed Brelo’s gunfire caused at least one wound each to Russell and Williams that would have killed either of them, the pair also suffered other lethal wounds, probably from other officers’ guns.
  • Since evidence doesn’t prove Brelo’s shots were the ones that killed the pair, he can’t be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
  • Brelo is also not guilty of the lesser charge of felonious assault because it wasn’t necessarily clear the threat was over.

What happened after the verdict?

Outside the courthouse, a chorus of protesters chanted a now common refrain: “No justice, no peace.” Some wore shirts that read, “Black lives matter.”

Both slogans have echoed across the country after several recent deaths of black men by police: Michael Brown in Ferguson. Eric Garner in New York. Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.

While most of the protesters were peaceful, at least 71 people were arrested over the weekend for offenses including felonious assault, aggravated rioting, unlawful congregation and failure to disperse, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said.

Dozens of people blocked a Cleveland highway in protest.

But both the mayor and Ohio’s governor praised the majority of protesters who demonstrated peacefully.

“They should be so proud of themselves, and we should look at Cleveland as a model,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

What did the families say?

“All I know is that I don’t trust police no more. No police. None,” Malissa Williams’ brother Alfredo Williams said. “I can’t recover from this. …This verdict isn’t real. This verdict is fake.”

Relatives of Russell and Williams had harsh words for police and the court system.

“We were expecting him to be convicted of at least one of the charges,” Jackie Russell, sister-in-law of Timothy Russell, told CNN on Saturday. “We feel as though basically the judge gave him a pat on the back and said good job for shooting those people.”

Is there a curfew in Cleveland?

No. Unlike Ferguson and Baltimore, where violence has resulted in curfews, Cleveland’s mayor said residents and visitors should carry on normally without worrying about the protests.

“If they cross the line, we will deal with them accordingly, Mayor Frank Jackson said.

“Citizens should not be concerned about that, and they should come downtown and enjoy themselves.”

Does Cleveland have a history of excessive force?

The Department of Justice says yes. Federal investigators said police in Cleveland have been using unnecessary and unreasonable force at a “significant rate,” employing “dangerous tactics” that put the community at risk, according to a DOJ report released last year.

The nearly two-year Justice Department investigation found that Cleveland police use guns, Tasers, pepper spray and their fists excessively, unnecessarily or in retaliation.

Officers also have used excessive force on those “who are mentally ill or in crisis,” the Justice Department said.

Why did the couple speed away?

Russell and Williams were both homeless with a history of mental illness and drug use, according to Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Witnesses said they were most likely looking to buy drugs that night. A police officer ran a license plate check of the 1979 Chevy Malibu that Russell was driving. He had gotten it from a relative, and the check came back clean.

Still, the officer tried to pull him over for a turn signal violation. Russell then sped away.

What’s next for the pair’s families?

The city settled with both families, and each will receive more than $865,000, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported last year. The total settlement amount is $1.5 million for each family, with lawyers receiving 40% of the money. Cleveland said it settled to avoid a drawn-out legal case, but “the settlement is not an acknowledgment of liability.”

What about Tamir Rice?

Officer Brelo’s acquittal isn’t the only police-involved incident stirring unrest in the city. Protesters are also demanding justice after the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Cleveland police.

Tamir was holding a pellet gun when he was killed.

About 200 people carried a coffin from a park to the home of prosecutor Timothy McGinty, CNN affiliate WEWS said.

No charges have been filed in that killing, though Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney recently said the investigation is almost finished.

What’s next for Cleveland?

The city and the Department of Justice will announce how they are moving forward with changes to Cleveland’s police force after last year’s scathing DOJ report, law enforcement officials said.

In December, when then-Attorney General Eric Holder announced the report, the city’s mayor and police chief said they agreed that recommend changes should be implemented. The agreement required the city to create a reform plan.

CNN’s Jason Hanna, Ralph Ellis, Greg Botelho, Evan Perez, Martin Savidge, Catherine E. Shoichet and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.

Freddie Gray funeral draws White House officials, Eric Garner’s family

— Freddie Gray will be laid to rest Monday before the country even knows what really happened to him.

It’s been 15 days since Baltimore police arrested Gray who they said had a switchblade. His lawyer said it was a legal pocket knife.

Fifteen days have passed since Gray was taken into a police van and suffered a fatal spinal cord injury. Eight days since he died, spurring a flurry of protests and questions about what went wrong while he was in police custody.

As Gray’s loved ones gather for his funeral Monday morning, they will be joined by several White House officials and relatives of others who died under questionable circumstances.

A group called Families United for Justice will be on hand to support Gray’s family. The group includes relatives of Eric Garner, who died last July after a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold. Protests erupted after a grand jury declined to indict that officer.

Other members include relatives of Amadou Diallo, who was fatally shot by New York police officers, and Alberta Spruill, who died of a heart attack when police mistakenly threw a stun grenade into her apartment.

The White House is sending its own delegation to Gray’s funeral: Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson, chair of the Obama administration’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force; Heather Foster, an adviser in the White House Office of Public Engagement; and Elias Alcantara with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Exactly what happened to Gray remains a mystery. His family said his voice box was crushed and his neck snapped before he slipped into a coma and died.

News of Gray’s smashed upper spine and officers’ delay in getting him medical care has triggered outrage.

Peaceful protests marred

Hundreds of protesters peacefully rallied against police and Gray’s death on the streets of Baltimore Saturday. But but a small group turned rough.

About a dozen young men smashed police vehicles with garbage cans, climbed on top of the cars and stomped on them.

Some hurled water bottles and other objects at police.

Others funneled their anger toward local businesses, looting or damaging a 7-Eleven, a Michael Kors store and a Subway restaurant.

Baltimore police arrested 35 people, including four juveniles. Six officers suffered minor injuries during the chaos, which ended a week of civil and peaceful protests.

Gray’s twin sister deplored the violence.

“My family wants to say, ‘Can y’all please, please stop the violence,'” Fredericka Gray said Saturday night. “Freddie Gray would not want this.”

Journalists detained by police

Baltimore City Paper said its photo editor, J.M. Giordano, was tackled and beaten by police while covering the protests.

According to the paper, Giordano was standing near protesters when someone threw a rock at police. The police responded, and Giordano was unable to get out of the way.

“They just swarmed over me,” he said. “I got hit. My head hit the ground. They were hitting me, then someone pulled me out.”

The incident was caught on video, which Baltimore City Paper posted online.

And Reuters photographer Sait Serkan Gurbuz said Baltimore police detained him Saturday night.

The police called the detention of the two journalists inadvertent.

“One journalist (Gurbuz) was released with a criminal citation, which is being recalled,” a police statement said. “One journalist (Giordano) was released without any charges.”

The investigation

Police have exchanged criticism among themselves over Gray’s treatment and the investigation.

Cell phone video of Gray’s arrest shows him screaming and being dragged, with some witnesses saying he looked like his leg was injured.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said he was appalled that Gray did not receive proper care immediately. He also said officers should have given Gray timely medical care “multiple times” — such as at the site of the arrest and at other times during his transport to the police station.

Batts also said there are no excuses for the fact that Gray was not buckled into the transport van.

But the Fraternal Order of Police shot back.

“These comments appear to be politically driven and in direct contrast to the commissioner’s own request not to jump to any conclusions until the entire investigation is complete,” union president Gene Ryan said in a written statement.

Police say five of the six officers involved in the arrest have provided statements to investigators, Batts said. The sixth officer has invoked his right to refuse to answer questions.

And while the preliminary work on Gray’s autopsy has been completed, the medical examiner’s office is waiting on toxicology results and might ask spinal experts to look at the case, authorities said. A full report could take 30 to 45 days.

Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta; Miguel Marquez reported from Baltimore. CNN’s Ben Brumfield, Betsy Klein and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report.

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Freddie Gray death: Protests grow; cop union compares them to ‘lynch mob’

— As protesters decrying Freddie Gray’s death plan more rallies in Baltimore Thursday, anger is mounting over a police union’s comparison of the protest to a “lynch mob.”

READ MORE: The death of Freddie Gray: Baltimore protests grow

VIDEO: Why did police chase Freddie Gray?

“While we appreciate the right of our citizens to protest and applaud the fact that, to date, the protests have been peaceful, we are very concerned about the rhetoric of the protests,” the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 said in a statement.

“In fact, the images seen on television look and sound much like a lynch mob in that they are calling for the immediate imprisonment of these officers without them ever receiving the due process that is the constitutional right of every citizen, including law enforcement officers.”

That comparison drew swift and sharp criticism, especially given the history of African-Americans being lynched.

“Which one is the #LynchMob again?” John Cotton tweeted, posting a photo of a peaceful protest next to photos of Gray during his arrest and hospitalization.

“The choice of words is not only ironic, it’s sad,” said Andrew O’Connell, an attorney for Gray’s family.

“Police officers are never the subject of a lynch mob. It’s actually usually the other way around,” he told CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

“And in the context of the powder keg that Baltimore city is right now, referring to the citizens of Baltimore city who are peacefully protesting as a ‘lynch mob’ doesn’t serve to keep the peace. It only heightens the flames, or fans the flames of people who are already on edge.”

Gray died Sunday, one week after he was arrested by Baltimore police.

At some point, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury. His family said his voice box was crushed and his neck snapped before he slipped into a coma and later died.

While Baltimore police say five of the six officers involved in the arrest have provided statements to investigators, the department has not released details of what the officers said or how Gray might have suffered the fatal injury.

More protests to come

Two rallies are scheduled for Thursday in Baltimore: one at noon, and one at 3 p.m. They will follow a series of demonstrations this week, with protesters demanding elusive answers.

Among the questions: Did something happen inside the police transport vehicle that caused Gray’s fatal spinal injury? And what took place in the 30 minutes before police called paramedics to pick Gray up?

“Our position is something happened in that van,” Baltimore police union attorney Michael Davey said. “We just don’t know what.”

But one question has already been addressed: Did officers have the right to chase Gray in the first place?

Police first encountered Gray on April 12 as they patrolled an area known for crime and drug activity. When Gray saw them, authorities said, he started running.

Gray’s family attorney and protesters claim police didn’t have any probable cause to chase him, but did so only because he was “running while black.”

But Davey said officers had every right to chase Gray.

“There is a Supreme Court case that states that if you are in a high-crime area, and you flee from the police unprovoked, the police have the legal ability to pursue you, and that’s what they did,” he said.

“In this type of an incident, you do not need probable cause to arrest. You just need a reasonable suspicion to make the stop.”

Gray was arrested after police found what they said was a switchblade on him. An attorney for Gray’s family has said the knife was a pocket knife of legal size.

Baltimore police have released the names of the six officers involved: Lt. Brian Rice, Officer Caesar Goodson, Sgt. Alicia White, Officer William Porter, Officer Garrett Miller and Officer Edward Nero.

But the department said it will not release personnel records or photos because doing so would violate the law.

‘His leg look broke!’

One video of Gray’s arrest shows officers dragging him to the paddy wagon, his legs dangling limply behind him.

“His leg look broke!” a bystander yells as a witness captures the arrest on a cell phone video.

That witness, who only wants to be identified as Kiona, said she knew Gray as a joker and a ladies’ man. But that day, he said only one thing to her.

“When I ran up the street and seen him, the first thing I asked him was he OK because I heard him screaming,” Kiona said. “He didn’t never say yes or no, he just said ‘I can’t breathe’ and just was yelling.”

Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm said he was disturbed by video of the arrest.

“What I see is a person in distress, and what should have happened is at that point, they should have called for medical attention to help him out,” he told CNN’s “New Day” Thursday morning.

Hamm led the department from 2004 to 2007. He said he was surprised and disappointed by what has happened.

“I thought we were better than that,” he said. “I thought we were better trained than that.”

It’s not clear whether Gray’s leg was broken when he was arrested. His family has not seen the autopsy report yet, attorney William Murphy said.

The medical examiner’s office told CNN it could take up to 90 days to release the report, which is typical.

Police, Justice Department investigate case

The Baltimore Police Department is investigating what happened and will turn over its finding to the state attorney’s office May 1, the department said.

“As with any criminal investigation, detectives will continue to pursue the evidence wherever it leads, for as long as it takes.”

The Department of Justice is also investigating whether Gray’s civil rights were violated during the April 12 arrest.

And Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she “absolutely” believes an outside investigation is needed, especially given the city’s dark history of police misconduct.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the city has paid about $5.7 million over the past four years to settle more than 100 cases of allegations of police wrongdoing.

Police didn’t admit fault in any of the cases. The police union said in a statement Wednesday that the reason for the settlements was simple: City officials believe lawsuits are too costly.

CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin, Catherine E. Shoichet, Kevin Conlon and Dana Ford contributed to this report.

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Blue Bell Ice Cream recalls all products over Listeria concerns

— After weeks of gradual recalls, Blue Bell Creameries is now pulling all of its products off the shelves.

The company is recalling its entire line of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and other frozen snacks because they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the company said Monday.

“Today’s decision was the result of findings from an enhanced sampling program initiated by Blue Bell which revealed that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream half gallons produced on March 17, 2015, and March 27, 2015, contained the bacteria,” the company said in a statement.

“This means Blue Bell has now had several positive tests for Listeria in different places and plants.”

So far, Blue Bell has documented five cases of Listeria in Kansas and three cases in Texas.

“We’re committed to doing the 100 percent right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the market until we can be confident that they are all safe,” Blue Bell CEO and president Paul Kruse said in a statement.

“We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA says.

In the United States, an estimated 1,600 people become seriously ill with Listeria each year; about 16% of these cases result in death.

Although some people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Three people in Kansas have died from Listeria over the past year from an outbreak that may have been linked to Blue Bell products, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in March.

A total of five people there became ill. All of them had been patients at a Kansas hospital, and most of them consumed ice cream while being treated for unrelated causes, the health officials said.

In March, Blue Bell recalled 3-ounce cups of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream after a test found Listeria in one of the cups from the Kansas hospital.

Earlier this month, the recall expanded to pints and half gallon sizes of ice cream.

CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet, Ben Brumfield and Jeremy Grisham contributed to this report.

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Texas nurse who contracted Ebola to sue hospital chain

— She was the first person to ever contract Ebola in the United States, and now she’s going to suing the hospital where she got infected.

Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, will file a lawsuit Monday against the hospital’s parent company Texas Health Resources, her lawyer told CNN affiliate KTVT.

According to the suit, the hospital chain failed to provide proper equipment and training to handle Ebola. Pham contracted the disease last fall while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who started showing symptoms after arriving in Dallas from Liberia.

Pham’s lawsuit also claims Texas Health Resources violated her privacy by sharing her medial records, KTVT said.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Pham wants unspecified damages for physical pain, mental anguish, medical expenses and loss of future earnings. But she told the newspaper that she wants to “make hospitals and big corporations realize that nurses and health care workers, especially frontline people, are important. And we don’t want nurses to start turning into patients.”

Texas Health Resources spokesman Wendell Watson issued a statement in response to the planned lawsuit:

“Nina Pham bravely served Texas Health Dallas during a most difficult time. We continue to support and wish the best for her, and we remain optimistic that constructive dialogue can resolve this matter.”

Another nurse treating Duncan, Amber Vinson, also contracted Ebola. Both nurses recovered after being sent to hospitals specially equipped and trained to handle Ebola — Pham at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, and Vinson at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Pham is still employed and is getting a paycheck from Texas Health Resources, but has not returned to work, KTVT said. She is still suffering fatigue and body aches, but her lawyer told the affiliate it’s not clear whether the ailments are from having Ebola or from the experimental drugs Pham received.

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Douglas McAuthur McCain: From American kid to jihadi in Syria

He was a basketball-loving kid from the Midwest who turned into a jihadi fighting for terrorists in Syria.

Exactly what spurred Douglas McAuthur McCain’s metamorphosis remains murky. But while his radicalization and death have stunned loved ones back home, his actions abroad have raised fears that other Americans may follow suit.

Here’s what we know about the 33-year-old man who died while fighting for ISIS, the radical militant group that has captured swaths of Iraq and Syria and spawned major concerns in the United States:

He grew up in Minnesota

McCain grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of New Hope, his friend Isaac Chase said.

The two lived in the same New Hope apartment building and became fast friends.

“When I first moved here, I didn’t know anyone, so I went to the park and I would see him and his brother and a bunch of other people playing basketball, and he asked me if I wanted to play,” Chase said.

“We just hung out pretty much from 10 o’clock in the morning all the way until nighttime. We’d just play basketball and talk. … He was an older guy that I looked up to. He was actually a good dude.”

Chase described McCain as a nice, quiet young man, but one who was looking for purpose in life.

When Chase joined the Air Force in 2007 and served in Iraq, McCain was impressed that his friend was making something of his life and wanted to do the same, Chase said.

But after learning that McCain died while fighting for ISIS, which is trying to rule an Islamic state across Iraq and Syria, his friend was bewildered.

“It just hurts a little bit knowing that if he was over there and I was over there at the same time, we would’ve been going against each other,” Chase said. “That’s what hurts the most because he was a good person, and I just don’t understand why anyone would do anything to the U.S.”

His family is stunned, too

McCain’s transformation to a jihadi left his family “devastated” and “just as surprised as the country,” said his uncle Ken McCain, who lives in Minnesota.

Chase described McCain’s mother and father as good parents. He said the mother attended church regularly, and the father is deceased.

McCain converted from Christianity to Islam several years ago, his uncle said.

He described the nephew he knew as “a good person, loved his family, loved his mother, loved his faith” — the latter being a reference to the Christianity he practiced before his conversion.

The family wasn’t alarmed by his conversion. But McCain’s Facebook posts sympathetic to ISIS got relatives’ attention, the uncle said.

He said they last heard from McCain several months ago, when he said he was traveling to Turkey.

His cousin insists he’s not a terrorist

McCain’s cousin Kenyata McCain said she can’t believe allegations that her cousin is linked to a terrorist group.

“We’re from Chicago. We grew up in Minnesota. He’s not a terrorist — that’s crazy,” she told CNN affiliate KARE.

“His religion was very important to him, but those people — the ISIS people — they don’t represent what my cousin’s beliefs are or were at all.”

Kenyata McCain wondered if her cousin may have gotten caught up in the wrong crowd.

“Why was he in Syria? … What kind of people was he hanging around? I feel like maybe it was the people he was hanging out with because that’s not who he is. He’s not ISIS,” she said.

He had run-ins with the law back home

McCain had been arrested several times in Minnesota since 2000, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

The alleged offenses included disorderly conduct, speeding, driving after revocation, theft by swindle and giving an officer false information.

The U.S. government had been monitoring him

McCain is the first American known to have been killed while fighting for ISIS.

U.S. counterterrorism investigators had been looking into his activities for some time before his death, a U.S. official said.

The official said McCain was on a list of Americans who are believed to have joined militant groups and who would be stopped and subjected to additional scrutiny if he traveled.

Chase said he can’t understand how McCain could have joined terrorist ranks.

“It don’t make no sense. The Doug I know is a good person, and I wouldn’t even think that he would do anything like that.”

CNN’s Sonia Moghe, Tony Marco, Brian Todd, Melanie Whitley and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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Florida loud music trial: After convictions, both sides not giving up

— After all the comparisons to George Zimmerman, Michael Dunn’s fate turned out very differently.

Dunn, who also killed a black 17-year-old and said he did it in self defense, now faces decades in prison after he shot into an SUV full of teenagers during a spat over loud music.

But this story is far from over. The prosecution wants another conviction. Dunn could appeal the convictions he already has. And once again, the country is at odds about whether racial profiling led to a young man’s death.

Both sides to keep fighting

After 30 hours of deliberation, a Florida jury on Saturday found Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder as well as for shooting into the teens’ vehicle. But jurors didn’t convict him of murder for the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis.

State Attorney Angela Corey said prosecutors will seek a new trial in Duval County on the murder charge.

“Justice for Jordan Davis is as important as it is for any victim,” said Corey, whose office also prosecuted Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was eventually acquitted.

Even without a murder conviction, Dunn faces a lengthy prison term. Each attempted second-degree murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 20 years. There’s also a possible 15-year sentence for the conviction shooting in the teenager’s vehicle.

“You are looking at basically at life in prison,” Dunn’s attorney Cory Strolla said. “At 47 years old, that’s a life sentence regardless of count one.”

Strolla said he would challenge the convictions and would consider asking for a change of venue.

“For the retrial, I almost think we would have to,” the attorney said. But again, I may not be the counsel at that point. We are a long ways away from that.”

Analysts disagree

Criminal defense attorney Carrie Hackett, who was not involved in Dunn’s case, said she thinks the case may have been another example of overcharging.

“I think that there is an issue of overcharging because there’s always a question when you bring a charge that involves intent,” she told “CNN Newsroom” on Sunday. “And in this first-degree murder charge, it’s premeditation. When a jury has to look at — did somebody plan? Was this strategic? Did they communicate this plan to somebody else? That’s a situation where a jury could very easily get hung up on deciding, what was the person’s intention?”

But another attorney, Mo Ivory, said she didn’t think Dunn nor Zimmerman were overcharged.

“What I do think is that the prosecution failed to give the jurors what they needed to know about that very intent,” Ivory said, such as Davis’ character and aspirations.

Ten bullets over music

On November 23, 2012, Michael Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville and parked next to a red Dodge Durango full of teenagers.

Dunn didn’t like the loud music — “rap crap,” as he called it — coming from the teens’ SUV. So he asked them to turn it down.

What followed next depends on whom you believe. Dunn claimed Davis threatened him, and he took matters into his own hands after seeing what he thought was the barrel of a gun sticking out of the Durango.

But prosecutors said Dunn lost control, firing three volleys of shots — 10 bullets total — at the SUV over music he didn’t like.

The prosecution also challenged what Dunn did next: He left the gas station and drove 40 miles away to a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine. There, he walked his dog, ordered a pizza, then drank rum and cola.

After learning almost six hours later that he had killed Davis, Dunn testified that he became “crazy with grief,” experiencing stomach problems for about four hours before taking a nap.

“My intent was to stop the attack, not necessarily end a life,” he testified. “It just worked out that way.”

No gun found

Yet his fiancee, Rhonda Rouer, testified that Dunn had never mentioned any weapon to her — be it a shotgun, a stick, a barrel or a lead pipe — unlike what Dunn had said.

In fact, police found a basketball, basketball shoes, clothing, a camera tripod and cups inside the teenagers’ Durango, but no gun.

And Dunn himself never called police. The first contacts he had with them were at his home in Satellite Beach — 130 miles south of St. Augustine — as he was being apprehended.

Arguing that he wasn’t in a rational state of mind, Dunn admitted, “It makes sense that I should have (contacted authorities). We didn’t. I can’t tell you why.”

‘A little bit of closure’

The lack of a murder conviction led protesters to march outside the Jacksonville courthouse calling for Corey to lose her job.

But Davis’ mother, Lucia McBath, didn’t express any anger when she spoke to reporters Saturday night. She said her family is “so very happy to have just a little bit of closure.”

“It’s sad for Mr. Dunn that he will live the rest of his life in that sense of torment, and I will pray for him,” McBath said. “And I’ve asked my family to pray for him.”

CNN’s Greg Botelho and Sunny Hostin contributed to this report.

Hospital tech David Kwiatkowski, accused of multi-state hepatitis outbreak, to plead guilty

— David Kwiatkowski, a hospital worker accused of causing a multi-state outbreak of hepatitis C last year, will plead guilty to all 14 charges in exchange for a prison term of 30 to 40 years.

Kwiatkowski agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of tampering with a consumer product and seven counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, according to a plea agreement filed Monday.

The outbreak sickened 30 people with hepatitis C, a sometimes-fatal virus that attacks the liver.

How did this happen?

Ten months after he was diagnosed with hepatitis C, Kwiatkowski began working at New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital in April 2011.

Investigators said Kwiatkowski stole syringes of the painkiller fentanyl from patients who were scheduled for surgery.

“Kwiatkowski used the stolen syringes to inject himself, causing them to become tainted with his infected blood, before filling them with saline and then replacing them for use in the medical procedure,” the U.S. attorney’s office in Concord, New Hampshire, said in a statement.

“Consequently, instead of receiving the prescribed dose of fentanyl, patients instead received saline tainted by Kwiatkowski’s infected blood.”

According to the plea agreement, Kwiatkowski told an investigator, “I’m going to kill a lot of people out of this.”

Offenses across the country

Before moving to New Hampshire, Kwiatkowski worked as a traveling medical technician for hospitals in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, officials in those states said.

“The defendant admitted that he diverted drugs in a similar way at Houston Medical Center in Georgia and Hays Medical Center in Kansas,” the plea agreement states. “He estimated that he swapped syringes at least 20 times in Kansas and approximately 30 times in Georgia.

But if a New Hampshire court accepts Kwiatkowski’s plea deal, he can avoid federal criminal charges in Kansas, Maryland and Georgia, the plea agreement states.

Fired in Arizona

Kwiatkowski was fired from an Arizona hospital in 2010 after a fellow employee found him passed out in the men’s room with a syringe floating in the toilet, according to documents obtained by CNN. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Heart Hospital said Kwiatkowski was immediately fired, and he relinquished his license as a radiologic technologist.

The agency that placed Kwiatkowski in the Arizona job had reported the incident to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, according to a spokeswoman for the agency, Springboard, Inc.

But a few weeks later, he was working at Temple University Hospital in Pennsylvania, and then went on to work in Kansas and Georgia before moving to New Hampshire.

CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire

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