GUILTY FL - Marissa Alexander for firing warning shots at husband, Jacksonville, 2010

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wfgodot

wfgodot

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Fla. mom gets 20 years for firing warning shots. (CBS)
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.
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Under Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing requirements Alexander could [not] receive a lesser sentence, even though she has never been in trouble with the law before. Judge James Daniel said the law did not allow for extenuating or mitigating circumstances to reduce the sentence below the 20-year minimum.
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Click to expand...
more, with a picture, at the link
 
This Florida law is absurd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-20-Life
10-20-life.GIF
 
Once knew someone whose ex beat her so badly she was in the ICU. She got a protective order. Her attorney advised her against getting a gun because if she shot him, even at her home, it would appear pre-meditated...
 
FWIW, no state allows for "warning shots".......and when you go for your classes on pistols to get your permit, they teach you not to fire them & the repurcussions of doing so.
This particular female went back into her house a second time and therein lies the problem. How threatened could she have felt--and then to send off "warning shots"....a very aggressive move under the law.


p.s. FL is beautiful




:seeya:
 
Ros said:
Once knew someone whose ex beat her so badly she was in the ICU. She got a protective order. Her attorney advised her against getting a gun because if she shot him, even at her home, it would appear pre-meditated...
Click to expand...

Yes, depending on the state she lives in. Some states have various thresholds for self defense.
There is one state that requires if someone breaks into your home (and is threatening you), you must retreat if you have any option to do so.

It's good to know your own state laws 'cause they're all different.
 
Why is this posted now and what's been going on since then?
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/marissa-alexander-gets-20_n_1530035.html

This states when she went to her former home to retreive some items, unexpectedly found estranged husband there; and they argued.

She exited home, went to car, got gun (or garage, per another article), and WITH THE GUN RE-ENTERED HOME, etc, fired it.

This is a quote from Corey (of the Zimmerman prosecution) (BBM)
“When she [Alexander] discharges a firearm in the direction of human beings, the Legislature says it’s dangerous,” Corey told Brown. “And one of the reasons is because the bullet went through the wall where one of the children was standing. It happened to deflect up into the ceiling, but if it had deflected down it could have hit one of the children.”

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...-years-prison-stand-your-ground#ixzz2Z4nWpG8C​


She had a restraining order against him, but on encountering him, did not leave.
Why the heck not?
She could have exited home, called LE to come to be present, 'keep the peace' (there's another term for it) while she retrieved items from the home.


It seems, imo, charges on the first case did nothing to improve her judgment (from first link, BBM):

"Alexander was also charged with domestic battery four months after the shooting in another assault on Gray. She pleaded no contest and was sentenced to time served."
 
ATasteOfHoney said:
FWIW, no state allows for "warning shots".......and when you go for your classes on pistols to get your permit, they teach you not to fire them & the repurcussions of doing so.
This particular female went back into her house a second time and therein lies the problem. How threatened could she have felt--and then to send off "warning shots"....a very aggressive move under the law.


p.s. FL is beautiful




:seeya:
Click to expand...

Florida is an amazing place to live. I've said it before: the Sunshine Laws emphasize things that go on all over the country.
 
This woman's case could be taken either way. Either the opinion she got too much time when no one was even hurt or that she had no business going in with a gun in the first place since the RO basically told her not to.
 
I rthink she should be set free right now. JMO
 
al66pine said:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/marissa-alexander-gets-20_n_1530035.html

This states when she went to her former home to retreive some items, unexpectedly found estranged husband there; and they argued.

She exited home, went to car, got gun (or garage, per another article), and WITH THE GUN RE-ENTERED HOME, etc, fired it.

This is a quote from Corey (of the Zimmerman prosecution) (BBM)
“When she [Alexander] discharges a firearm in the direction of human beings, the Legislature says it’s dangerous,” Corey told Brown. “And one of the reasons is because the bullet went through the wall where one of the children was standing. It happened to deflect up into the ceiling, but if it had deflected down it could have hit one of the children.”

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...-years-prison-stand-your-ground#ixzz2Z4nWpG8C​


She had a restraining order against him, but on encountering him, did not leave.
Why the heck not?
She could have exited home, called LE to come to be present, 'keep the peace' (there's another term for it) while she retrieved items from the home.


It seems, imo, charges on the first case did nothing to improve her judgment (from first link, BBM):

"Alexander was also charged with domestic battery four months after the shooting in another assault on Gray. She pleaded no contest and was sentenced to time served."
Click to expand...

The way you write it, it seems simple. But real life often isn't. Were her kids there? Where were they in relation to him? Could the kids leave? If the kids couldn't leave, neither could she IMO.
 
mysteriew said:
The way you write it, it seems simple. But real life often isn't. Were her kids there? Where were they in relation to him? Could the kids leave? If the kids couldn't leave, neither could she IMO.
Click to expand...

Read the link that I just posted. They were his kids and he was trying to leave.
 
hambirg said:
This is an interesting read.
Click to expand...
hambirg said:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/89763383/States-Motion-in-Opposition-of-Defendants-Motion-for-Immunity
Twenty years seems harsh, but I agree, after reading the facts, that stand your ground doesn't apply here.
Click to expand...

hambirg,
Thank you very much for the link, which makes the circumstances much more clear.

The motion cites defendant's own testimony in a hearing and info re her previous DV calls (or other alleged but unreported DV incidents) , in which she had not suffered serious bodily harm.

Per defendant’s own testimony at that hearing, she
“had multiple ways to leave the marital home safely…she chose to pass by the Victims [husband and his 2 children],
into the kitchen, and into the garage, where she immediately armed herself [from the glove box of the vehicle],
and proceeded back into the home.
This is inconsistent with a person who is in genuine fear of his or her life.
A person who holds genuine fear for their life would have escaped through a window in the master bedroom or
from one of the multiple exits [front door or dining room slider-doors].”

The motion describes her pointing the gun in the direction of the victims, the husband begging her not to shoot,
so more time for either premeditation or cooling off had elapsed.
Also states she “shot at __, narrowly missing his head.” A warning shot?

“The victims fled the home and called 911 immediately. The defendant stayed in the home and did not call 911.”

Sorry, imo, defendant, I agree with the court that your SYG claim was bogus.

The state’s motion noted the newborn baby was still in the hospital but did not refer to the presence of her other children, IIRC, 11 y/o twins.
If part of her SYG claim had been defense of her children, certainly, imo, the state’s motion would have had to address that aspect of her claim.

The state’s motion did not address any restraining order or protective order (she supposedly had against him, per a news article).
Hmmm, I wonder whether it was still in effect.

If anyone posts to argue SYG applies here, I hope they read the motion itself before doing so.

ETA: I apologize for possible inaccuracy re R/O or P/O in my previous post (basing it on news articles, not court documents). I wish I could still edit it.
 
Not a warning shot if she barely missed his head. And the kids were there.
I say she committed a crime and deserves jail time.

IMO this was not a warning, this was attempted murder.

JMO
 
wfgodot said:
Fla. mom gets 20 years for firing warning shots. (CBS)

more, with a picture, at the link
Click to expand...

Florida State Attorney Angela Corey was behind this one, too. She ignored DNA and Fingerprint evidence in another case and a man sat in prison for 13 years before the State would acknowledge that the evidence in that case even existed. Now you see why the defense was so upset over evidence not being turned over in the recent case she was invovled in.
 
I blame the misleading writeup here. Desperation journalism.
 
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