BARTOW, Fla. — Former Lakeland Commissioner Michael Dunn pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm for killing an alleged shoplifter at his store in 2018.
Dunn, 51, was set to stand trial next week for killing an alleged shoplifter in 2018, but Dunn’s lawyers announced they’d reached a deal with prosecutors.
Facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, Dunn pled guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter with a firearm. When asked who made the decision to change the plea, Dunn’s lawyer, Rusty Franklin said, “That’s always made by the defendant.”
“I am accepting your plea,” said the judge, “I am finding you guilty and will withhold any further disposition.”
Dunn was charged with killing alleged shoplifter Christobal Lopez, 50, as the man tried to leave the military surplus store Dunn managed in October 2018. Surveillance video from inside the Vets Army Navy Surplus in Lakeland shows Dunn grabbing Lopez as he tried to leave the store just before shooting him twice in the torso.
Dunn claims Lopez tried to shoplift a hatchet. According to Dunn, he confronted Lopez at gunpoint and fired when he says Lopez went to grab the hatchet from his waistband.
Dunn first asked for stand your ground immunity in the case given the claim that Lopez reached for the hatchet in his waistband. But that was denied last year.
His lawyers say given the video, Dunn was not sure he could convince a jury he was defending himself.
“You know, self-defense is always tough to prove. The video both helped and hurt. So, we will figure it out,” said Dunn defense lawyer Mark O’Mara. “I think he took responsibility for what he did. And it’s healthy. That’s the way it's supposed to work.”
By pleading guilty to the lesser charge, Dunn faces up to 17.5 years behind bars. But with no mandatory minimum, he could receive no prison time at all.
His defense lawyers plan to ask for leniency.
“You know, he took a life. And he knows that,” said O’Mara, “And of course, he is remorseful for that.”
Over the next 60 days, the state will do a complete background check on Michael Dunn before holding an evidentiary hearing on May 23.
There, both sides will present testimony that could influence the penalty imposed by the judge, with sentencing taking place that same day.
In a statement from the Polk State Attorney’s Office, prosecutors said Dunn’s guilty plea, “Brings closure to the family of the victim, avoids many years of lengthy and costly appeals, and spares the family from enduring the emotional stress of a jury trial.”