Florida mom gets 20 years for firing warning shots
 

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(CBS News) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida woman who fired warning shots against her allegedly abusive husband has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville had said the state's "Stand Your Ground" law should apply to her because she was defending herself against her allegedly abusive husband when she fired warning shots inside her home in August 2010. She told police it was to escape a brutal beating by her husband, against whom she had already taken out a protective order.

CBS Affiliate WETV reports that Circuit Court Judge James Daniel handed down the sentence Friday.

Under Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing requirements Alexander could receive a lesser sentence, even though she has never been in trouble with the law before. Judge Daniel said the law did not allow for extenuating or mitigating circumstances to reduce the sentence below the 20-year minimum.

"I really was crying in there," Marissa's 11-year-old daughter told WETV. "I didn't want to cry in court, but I just really feel hurt. I don't think this should have been happening."

Alexander was convicted of attempted murder after she rejected a plea deal for a three-year prison sentence. She said she did not believe she did anything wrong.
She was recently denied a new trial after appealing to the judge to reconsider her case based on Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. The law states that the victim of a crime does not have to attempt to run for safety and can immediately retaliate in self-defense.

Alexander's attorney said she was clearly defending herself and should not have to spend the next two decades behind bars.

Alexander's case has drawn support from domestic abuse advocates - and comparison to the case of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who has claimed a "Stand Your Ground" defense in his fatal shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

Only problem is, Zimmerman never claimed Stand Your Ground as a defense. Only the uninformed think he did.

Same thing happened to this white guy in Florida but no one cares http://www.theledger.com/article/200...NEWS/906195060

The reason I bring this up is everyone is parading this story around like it's only blacks get treated "unfairly" in the legal system

The real issue is that people don't understand the law and take chances at trials (rather than accepting plea deals) where the potential severity of their sentences are greatly increased... all because they FEEL they've done "nothing wrong"

We can ALL agree that she didn't necessarily do anything "wrong" morally but she still broke the law by returning with a gun and firing it...

Judges have to follow these minimums even if they don't agree with them which I think was how the judge felt in this case... sucks to be her but you don't gamble with 20 years over pride or emotion

She went outside, got the gun then went back inside and started shooting.

It was not a "stand your ground" case.

She fired one shot into the wall. She maintains that it was a warning shot and the trajectory of the bullet would seem to bear that out.

In any case, no one was hurt and she's now doing more time than the average convicted murder does.

That's pretty fucked up, don't you think?

At least she had a right to have a gun. Sometimes you have to pay for your freedoms and rights :2 cents:

P.S. In my country the thing she did is not a crime at all. I mean our criminal code has no penalty for a "warning shoot". No one was hurt -> no crime.

And this is law?

Like I said, it was not the case of "stand your ground". You can't just start shooting randomly and expect to get away with it.

And she got 20 years because she was probably on parole or with prior convictions.

wrong ... clearly stated in the article posted by OP ...:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Florida... the fucked-up state

OK, i just read up on the case. She was convicted of attempted murder (she refused a 3 year deal).

Basically it went down like this: she got into an argument with her BF, then went to the garage where her car were, got he gun from the glovebox, returned to the house, pointed it at her man and 2 little kids and fired (but missed).

After the initial arrest, she bailed and then went to her BF house and attacked him again.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/89763383/S...n-for-Immunity

I am changing my mind about retiring in Florida one day. All the craziest stories are from the State of Florida time and time again!

Well there is reason why they say "all the crazies coming to florida":

Gray has been arrested twice in Duval County on domestic abuse charges, one resulting in a conviction and a sentence of probation. Alexander also had filed an injunction for protection against Gray.
Him saying it was her thats funny. lol She was leaving but didnt have her keys,so she to go back in to the house fearing for her life she took her gun.

What does Mr. Obama think?

The reality is she probably would have gotten less time if she just killed him.

Strange world…

Took her gun.... and fired it uhmm.. through a closed door i believe with her husband and children on the other side of it and only happened to hit the husband instead of one of the kids?

And... btw... you can't be "fearing for your life" and heading back in to get the keys with a gun. If you fear for your life, you keep moving away from danger.

So without reading the court transcripts, i can surmise that another plausible version that got her convicted of murder was that she got her ass beat, went and got a gun, came back and shot him.

hell she should have just finished his ass off.

But why couldn't you pick a case that had the same circumstances in reality.

One case involved a 17 yr old boyfriend of the daughter in the house and male versus male.

The other case involved a grown man with a restraining order against him for domestic violence. This is male versus female.

Some people might think that shooting a gun to "scare away" the 17 yr old boyfriend was more a display of power simply to threaten rather than a need to defend.

Not even the same kind of case.

i hope they have an amicable divorce, hate to see these things get out of hand.

I thought the "stand your ground" law didn't require a person "to retreat".
That means you can grab your gun and go back inside to get your fucking keys and you
can stand your ground to retrieve them.

What the fuck else does that damn law say?????


:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

did you see what damon wayans said? black folks are the new deer. :helpme

She pleaded no contest to domestic battery in that incident and was sentenced to time served.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2...#ixzz2Z2XPgMfE

i wonder how many times she's been charged like this

that's real love he knew she had a gun :helpme :Oh crap

What is the sentence in the average murder case? With a reliance.

You live in a very strange reality.

No comment but I found this funny

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...18575461_o.jpg

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...18575461_o.jpg

carry on...

Yep, that case proved that if your in a place of authority, no matter what you will win, even if your a fucking predatory scum bag who almost go the beating he rightfully deserved.

Looks who's talking!

:1orglaugh

I skip half your post now because I don't have to read them.
I already know what you are going to say 50% of the time.

Baddog = same opinion on everything.

it actually sounds like they were made for each other, not sure why they are divorcing.

it was prolly a crap shoot as to which one was going to get a 20 year sentence 1st.

Are you and that brassmonkey fuckwit twins or what? You can't stand your ground if you've removed yourself from the threat and are not in immediate danger. If go back to confront the threat, you are initiating a confrontation. If you go get a gun and then confront that person and kill them... then you become a murderer..

I honestly can't believe you fucking morons have the ability to even start a computer... much less navigate to a forum and make a post.

no death penalty? what's this world coming to??!

South Florida is a lot different than the rest of Florida. Might as well be two states. We disagree on just about everything the rest of Florida does.

They fried her just to ket zimmer killer go

На старости лучше в Гондурас. Они там сигары хорошие делают.

Zimmerman was far removed from imminent danger when he dialed 911.
So by your theory Zimmerman then went to confront the threat.

:1orglaugh

20 years is a long ticket id rather go out roastin sum pigs

murica.....

So she hit him, went to the garage and armed herself, fired a shot at him and their son, and he fled...

Just out of curiosity how much legal hot water is the idiot husband in over this?

None?

Yup, great law there.

Actually she would have probably been better off if she had. No one to dispute her version of the events and so on.

That's a pretty fucked up message for the court to send out there, but there you have it.

Yeah that is fucked up.

Stand your ground was not used in his defense. I guess a benefit to being really dumb is never knowing you're really dumb.