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Woman sentenced to 20 yrs in jail for firing warning shot to scare off abusive spouse

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(CNN) -- Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband.

Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation.

The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case, has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race.

After the sentencing, Rep. Corrine Brown confronted State Attorney Angela Corey in the hallway, accusing her of being overzealous, according to video from CNN affiliate WJXT.

"There is no justification for 20 years," Brown told Corey during an exchange frequently interrupted by onlookers. "All the community was asking for was mercy and justice," she said.

Corey said she had offered Alexander a plea bargain that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence, but Alexander chose to take the case to a jury trial, where a conviction would carry a mandatory sentence under a Florida law known as "10-20-life."


The law mandates increased penalties for some felonies, including aggravated assault, in which a gun is carried or used.

Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing.

Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall.

She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.

She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot.

"I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do," she said. "That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."

Alexander's attorneys tried to use the state law that allows people to use potentially deadly force anywhere they feel reasonably threatened with serious harm or death.

But a previous judge in the case rejected the request, saying Alexander's decision to go back into the house was not consistent with someone in fear for her safety, according to the Florida Times Union newspaper.

A jury convicted Alexander in March and Judge James Daniel denied her request for a new trial in April.

Daniel handed down the sentence Friday after an emotional sentencing hearing during which Alexander's parents, 11-year-old daughter and pastor spoke on her behalf.

Several people had to be escorted from the courtroom after breaking out singing and chanting about a perceived lack of justice in the case, but Daniel made a point to say that he had no choice under state law.

"Under the state's 10-20-life law, a conviction for aggravated assault where a firearm has been discharged carries a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years without regarding to any extenuating or mitigating circumstances that may be present, such as those in this case," Daniel said.

Brown, the Jacksonville congresswoman, told reporters after the sentencing that the case was a product of "institutional racism."

"She was overcharged by the prosecutor. Period," Brown said. "She never should have been charged."

Brown has been more complimentary about Corey's work in the Trayvon Martin case, where her office filed second degree murder charges against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the February 26 death of the unarmed African-American teen-ager.

That case provoked nationwide protests demanding Zimmerman's arrest after an initial police investigation released him under the "stand your ground" law.

Source
 

kehs

Banned
Would she have got less if she'd shot and killed him?

Probably, stand your ground and all that jazz.

Can't say I sympathize with anyone who shoots a gun in a random direction though.

Alexander chose to take the case to a jury trial, where a conviction would carry a mandatory sentence under a Florida law known as "10-20-life."

What a dumbass.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
You know what, it's hard not to agree with this sentence.

She went back for her keys/grabbed a gun, which is somewhat inconsistant with being terrified for your life, fired a shot into a wall where children were, had the chance for a 3 year term but went to trial knowing the minimum would be 10-20 years.

The race card is total BS.
 

slit

Member
I love how our justice system is so ass-backwards that it tries to preclude anyone, even judges, from being able to think rationally about a given situation. 20 years for that, GTFO.
 

Cat Party

Member
Not a fan of the stand your ground law, and not a fan of discharging firearms to scare someone. But damn, 20 years for this? The problem here is the mandatory sentencing structure, where the judge had no power to reduce the sentence.
 
You know what, it's hard not to agree with this sentence.

She went back for her keys/grabbed a gun, which is somewhat inconsistant with being terrified for your life, fired a shot into a wall where children were, had the chance for a 3 year term but went to trial knowing the minimum would be 10-20 years.

The race card is total BS.

She needed the keys to drive off. She grabbed the gun cause she feared her husband might harm her, amd she needed protection while she picked up the keys.
 

Kettch

Member
You know what, it's hard not to agree with this sentence.

She went back for her keys/grabbed a gun, which is somewhat inconsistant with being terrified for your life, fired a shot into a wall where children were, had the chance for a 3 year term but went to trial knowing the minimum would be 10-20 years.

The race card is total BS.

Yeah, we don't have any of that fair trial by a jury of your peers crap in the US. Take the prosecutor's deal or rot is the American way!

Mandatory sentences are complete bullshit and this shows why.
 

Al-ibn Kermit

Junior Member
She needed the keys to drive off. She grabbed the gun cause she feared her husband might harm her, amd she needed protection while she picked up the keys.

She could have walked away. She could have called the cops. Shooting a warning shot and hoping it would not hit anybody was not the best option. I can't disagree with the prosecutor believing that this is worth pressing charges, since I definitely do not want to see anybody else use this case as a justification for shooting warning shots.

But the sentencing laws for this type of crime are screwed up and should be changed.
 

kehs

Banned
I agree, not being intimidated by the state into accepting guilt makes you a dumb person.

And I realized she would be a black lady as soon as I read the title. Amurica.

Except for the part where plea bargaining don't necessary mean you plead guilty.
 
How is it aggravated assault if no one got shot? His life was never in danger.

Florida just gets everything backwards, consistently. This woman is the kind of person that gun ownership is meant to protect you blockheads. I hate to be that guy, but this is literally a state where a man killed a black youth who was committing no crime and wasn't arrested for months, and a black mother fired a non-lethal round at her abusive husband and got 20 years.

It's obvious that "law abiding citizens" who are allowed to stand their ground doesn't apply to everyone.

"Under the state's 10-20-life law, a conviction for aggravated assault where a firearm has been discharged carries a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years without regarding to any extenuating or mitigating circumstances that may be present, such as those in this case," Daniel said.

What a complete joke.

Except for the part where plea bargaining don't necessary mean you plead guilty.

Do you not understand what a plea bargain is?
 
How is it aggravated assault if no one got shot? His life was never in danger.

Florida just gets everything backwards, consistently. This woman is the kind of person that gun ownership is meant to protect you blockheads. I hate to be that guy, but this is literally a state where a man killed a black youth who was committing no crime and wasn't arrested for months, and a black mother fired a non-lethal round at her abusive husband and got 20 years.

It's obvious that "law abiding citizens" who are allowed to stand their ground doesn't apply to everyone.



What a complete joke.

I don't think you know what assault is.
 
What was a bullshit assumption?

I don't like the concept of plea bargains. It's the same thing as creditors threatening you with million dollar lawsuits unless you settle for some other sum, except it comes with the full weight of the judicial system behind it.

The moronic second sentence of you knew she was a black woman AMURICA.
 

kehs

Banned
black mother fired a non-lethal round at her abusive husband and got 20 years.

Do you not understand what a plea bargain is?

That's wrong. She didn't fire AT him, she fired in random direction. If she had fired at him, she probably would have been able to actually use stand your ground defense that zimmerman is using.

Plea bargain: You can plead no contest.
 
Am I the only one who thinks plea bargains are kinda... not just?
Whatever actions you took to get you into court will remain the same regardless of whether or not you play it "tactical" and accept the plea bargain.
 

ronito

Member
I saw the headline and thought "No way this happened in America. America would NEVER charge anyone for firing a gun."

Forgot about the whole african american woman thing...
 

marrec

Banned
I saw the headline and thought "No way this happened in America. America would NEVER charge anyone for firing a gun."

Forgot about the whole african american woman thing...

An African American Woman has no right to fire a gun at her abusive Husband! She might hurt her kids!
 

andycapps

Member
Hopefully she wins an appeal... Sounds like a case of the law following a formula and not using the common sense in the story. I see no reason for a 20 year sentence anywhere in that article.
 
Again, do you not know what assault is? It's already been explained to you, I'm not sure what more you want.

So say it is the correct charge for a warning shot. Under Florida's stand your ground law, no crime has been committed, because a verbal threat removes the criminal element of her firing the gun.

Honest question - do you believe that 20 years is an appropriate sentence in this case?

has nothing to do with stand your ground

How. How. I've had people beating me over the head with Stand Your Ground rationalizations for months, please, please explain how this does not apply now.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
I've been hearing and mourning over this over the past week. Absolutely horrific. Fuck the racist, patriarchal US judicial system.
 
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