JACKSONVILLE — A Florida woman could end up in prison for 60 years when she’s retried for firing a shot in the direction of her estranged husband and two of his children.
Marissa Alexander, 33, was convicted in 2012 on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 20 years — three counts served concurrently. An appeals court tossed the conviction, saying Circuit Judge James Daniel made a mistake in shifting the burden to Alexander to prove she acted in self-defense.
During jury instructions, the judge said Alexander must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her husband was abusive toward her.
The case drew national attention after Alexander was denied immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
Alexander’s supporters are angry that the state is seeking triple the original sentence.
“It’s unimaginable that a woman acting in self-defense, who injured no one, can be given what amounts to a life sentence,” Free Marissa Now spokeswoman Helen Gilbert said. “This must send chills down the spine of every woman and everyone who cares about women and every woman in an abusive relationship.”
Was this before or afer Uncle Joey told the women of this country to go get a shot gun and fire warning shots if you are scared?
Liberal judges are going to be the death of this country.
Her sentence would have been less if she shot and killed ’em.
She became the aggressor when she left, then returned with the gun according to my hubby, former SA in Fla. She should have taken the original deal offered.
I don’t think the proposed sentence is fair but she left, returned with a weapon, fired on an unarmed man and his family.
She is stupid, her lawyer is stupid, the prosecutor is stupid.
I’m hoping the jury is bright enough to light the halls of justice.
Oh yeah, her ‘supporters’, they are stupid too.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that,
this is excellent blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.