Marissa Alexander Takes Plea Deal (Warning Shot Case)

[orangeblossom]

I still think it's BS that she was even charged, but this is better than the ridiculous 60 years they were originally wanting.


www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/11/marissa_alexander_takes_plea_deal.html


Marissa Alexander will not have to go to trial after accepting a plea deal, in which she pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault in exchange for a three-year sentence, First Coast News reports.




Because of the 1,030 days that she has already spent in jail, Alexander will only have to serve an additional 65 days before being released on Jan. 27. However, according to First Coast News, Alexander could still end up being sentenced to five years in prison because of the second count against her, which is considered an “open plea.”



Alexander’s case drew national attention about four years ago when she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot at her estranged husband, Rico Gray. She unsuccessfully tried to use Florida’s “Stand your ground” law in her defense, as she accused Gray of being an abuser who attacked her first.



Alexander was found guilty on all three counts of aggravated assault in 2012. However, the conviction was tossed after an error was found in the jury instructions. Florida State Attorney Angela Corey then followed up by seeking a 60-year-sentence in the retrial.

[Miss Phryne Fisher]

Not good enough. She needs to be let off TODAY. No penalty, no anything. Fucking Florida.

[iammalcolmx]

So you can't shoot at someone who whups your ass on the regular? This is fucking ridiculous.

[NewOrleans]

nope. nope nope nope. Fuck that noise.

[katietornado]

Nov 24, 2014 18:55:45 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

So you can't shoot at someone who whups your ass on the regular? This is fucking ridiculous.

Correct.  But shooting at random teenagers is totes OK.

[IIOY]

Truly unacceptable and infuriating. I *still* do not understand the legal reasoning in this case, and I'm not saying that to express displeasure with the outcome. I mean I literally do not understand the legal reasoning.

[ttt]

No. This is bullshit.

[thejackpot]

What a travesty. She has endured so much.

[gazpacho]

Nov 24, 2014 18:01:20 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

I still think it's BS that she was even charged, but this is better than the ridiculous 60 years the a plea deal, in which she pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated .[/

Did you know her dad lives in town? They been on. A lot of local shows advocating for her.

[orangeblossom]

Nov 24, 2014 23:05:52 GMT -5 gazpacho said:

Nov 24, 2014 18:01:20 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

I still think it's BS that she was even charged, but this is better than the ridiculous 60 years the a plea deal, in which she pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated .[/

Did you know her dad lives in town? They been on. A lot of local shows advocating for her.

No, I didn't know that.  This is just so ridiculous.  So many people go free for their crimes, and here she's endured all of this, because she defended herself from her abusive husband.  

[downtoearth]

Our system is so broken if a warning shot fired away from an abusive husband can mean any jail time!

[summer]

I forget. What was the penalty for his abuse?

[orangeblossom]

Nov 25, 2014 8:44:00 GMT -5 summer said:

I forget. What was the penalty for his abuse?

Nothing, IIRC. In fact, I believe e was violating the restraining order at the time of the incident. Ether that; or the RO had recently expired.

[LoveTrains]

This case is so enraging to me. WTF.

[redheadbaker]

So, the two times I have brought up this case on FB, someone says that "there's more to the case than is being reported in the news" but never speaks to specifics. What the hell are they talking about?

[orangeblossom]

Nov 25, 2014 9:32:06 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

So, the two times I have brought up this case on FB, someone says that "there's more to the case than is being reported in the news" but never speaks to specifics. What the hell are they talking about?

I think she may also have had assault charges from an altercation with the husband and that supposedly, she was the aggressor in this particular situation or something like that.

I know one of the reasons the sentence was so extreme, is because they said she did it in front of her children and had the potential to hit one of them with the warning shot. Maybe they're taking about that.

They could also be talking about how she went other car and came back and fired the shot and how it was true self defesne, because in that moment she wasn't being threatened. Well, uh, I'm not leaving my ten-day old and other children with a crazed abuser, so you can bet your butt, I'm going to go and get my gun.

Either way, none of those potential "issues" warrant the charges.

[orangeblossom]

A refresher on her case is included in this article. It only makes me more angry when I read the facts again.



.

www.msnbc.com/msnbc/marissa-alexander-accepts-plea-deal?CID=SM_FB

Marissa Alexander, the Florida woman sentenced to 20 years behind bars for discharging a firearm in the presence of her estranged husband and his two sons has agreed to a plea deal. Her case had sparked widespread attention amid allegations that the state’s “Stand Your Ground” was being unfairly applied.

According to the Florida Times-Union, Alexander, who is African American, was ordered on Monday to serve three years in jail after pleading guilty to three felony charges. The 1,030 days she has already been behind bars will count as time served, meaning she will be released on Jan. 27.

In the lead up to the 2010 shooting, Alexander, 32, said she and her husband, Rico Gray, had gotten into an argument over a series of text messages. Alexander, who had given birth to a daughter nine days earlier, had locked herself into the bathroom, at which point Gray broke through the door and grabbed her neck. Alexander testified that she then ran into the garage, couldn’t get the door open and returned with a gun from her car. When Gray threatened, “Bitch, I’ll kill you”, Alexander said she fired the gun as a warning shot. No one was injured, but a jury convicted her in 12 minutes.

Related: Marissa Alexander denied new Stand Your Ground hearing

The case gained national notice after Alexander’s attorneys claimed self-defense and cited Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which also came under fierce criticism after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Under the law, in some circumstances, individuals can use force to defend themselves without first attempting to retreat. George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Martin, was acquitted in 2013 and his attorneys also cited Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute.

A circuit judge had previously denied Alexander request for a new hearing for immunity under the Stand Your Ground law and she was sentenced in 2012 under Florida’s 10-20 Life laws, which involves mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes. The prosecutor in the case was Angela Corey, who also prosecuted Zimmerman. Alexander was granted a new trial last year after the First District Court of Appeal in Florida ruled that a judge didn’t properly instruct the jury on self defense.

After Alexander is released from prison early next year, she will have to spend two years under house arrest with a monitor.

[gazpacho]

Nov 25, 2014 9:32:06 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

So, the two times I have brought up this case on FB, someone says that "there's more to the case than is being reported in the news" but never speaks to specifics. What the hell are they talking about?

A lot of people mention prior domestic violence issues with her husband. Also, I've heard people  bring up the fact that her kids testified against her as "proof". I get angry reading about this case..so angry.

[orangeblossom]

Nov 25, 2014 15:17:12 GMT -5 gazpacho said:

Nov 25, 2014 9:32:06 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

So, the two times I have brought up this case on FB, someone says that "there's more to the case than is being reported in the news" but never speaks to specifics. What the hell are they talking about?

A lot of people mention prior domestic violence issues with her husband. Also, I've heard people  bring up the fact that her kids testified against her as "proof". I get angry reading about this case..so angry.

This.

It makes me angry that the kids, who were telling the truth that therir sorry father was being threatening and that was used against them.

Even the husband has said he didn't want her prosecuted.

It's this prosecutor who's trying to make some kind of message with this case. What, I don't know.