Jury Finds Danny Dustin Guilty
Second-Degree Murder of His Father, Stabbed More Than 20 Times
Five years after the stabbing death of Richard Dustin at his Wren Lane home in Middleburg, his son Danny has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the drunken attack.
Dustin has not been sentenced, but the jury has also determined that he is both an habitual offender and a reoffender, to be factored into his prison time. Florida law calls for a mandatory sentence of 16 years, nine months with a possibility of up to life in prison.
According to an investigator for the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, Dustin actually broadcast the events leading up to the March 6, 2020 crime:
The investigation revealed DD was consuming alcoholic beverages and became intoxicated earlier in the day. DD and RD had been in several verbal altercations throughout the day, due to DD’s intoxication. These altercations were transmitted on Facebook Live by DD, and DD can be seen antagonizing RD in the videos. The scene revealed RD was sitting in his recliner when the stabbing began.
In the intervening years between crime and conviction, Dustin proved to be a prodigious jailhouse lawyer, arguing for stand-your-ground status, endeavoring to get key evidence against him thrown out and fighting for better living conditions.
In his instructions to the jury, Circuit Judge James Kallaher asserted that voluntary intoxication was not a defense and that it was up to jurors to determine whether Dustin had acted in self-defense.
