Florida needs to pardon the gal who just got 20 years for firing a warning shot

[think]

What the fuck is wrong with the law enforcement there? It is like they are making the shit up as they go!

[Wait Wut]

1. I'd sign a petition.

I don't live in Florida, but it shouldn't matter. This has just torn me up inside. I can't imagine what her kids are going through.

This case can't go away. It needs to embarass the hell outta Florida. "Stand Your Ground" was friggin' MADE for a case like this, not for some wannabe cop who's afraid of black teenagers.

[think]

4. I'm torn up as well. This is not justice but rather a perversion of it.

How the people who got her this sentence can live with themselves is beyond me.

[rhett o rick]

2. Why didnt the "Stand Your Ground" law apply to her? nm

[Laxman]

5. Really...

or maybe she was just exercising her 2nd Amendment rights?

[Bill219]

6. From what I have read...

After leaving the house the first time, she realized that she did not have her keys. So she grabbed the gun and went back inside the house to get them which is when she fired the warning shot.

It seems like a load of shit that Zimmerman can use the "Stand Your Ground" defense when he was the person chasing after someone , but this poor woman is denied the chance to use that defense and gets this harsh judgement.

[Tx4obama]

9. She never left the house. She went into the garage which is attached to the main living quarters

and the garage door was locked and she couldn't get out.

So, she went back into the main part of the house.

[Cerridwen]

7. Essentially, the prosecutor, angela corey's office, didn't believe her.

Marissa's story didn't fit the definition of "self defense" according to corey.

link

It's very difficult to unscramble a lot of the details coming out. It seems each media outlet has their own slant and their own selective use of details.

[DLevine]

3. I don't know how the prosecutor can sleep at night.

This sentence is outrageous.

[rhett o rick]

10. This is more than a bad prosecutor. The law is apparently messed up and the jury made a bad

decision. I am assuming it was a jury. Judge didnt have much leeway, which is another problem.

[laundry_queen]

24. I heard it only took them an hour to come to a decision.

Which leads me to believe they didn't give a shit.

[coalition_unwilling]

33. She was SYGWB (Standing Your Ground While Black). Florida

juries apply two separate standards of justice to defendants: rich and white get to stand their ground, poor and black not so much.

[dkf]

8. Yes. What happened to her is so incredibly wrong.

If SYG was meant for any case it is this one. I do not understand how this does not apply.

[Honeycombe8]

11. This is outrageous. Someone needs to help her. nt

[think]

12. Yep. I am at a loss as to how this can be considered justice.

This woman deserves to be free. In my eyes the real criminals appear to be the prosecutors that consider this a fair and just punishment for this incident.

[99Forever]

13. She violated the unwritten part of that law.

"No black person shall have the same right to Stand Your Ground as others." It's in the Barney Fife Police Handbook.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Hey, complaining about this state's inconsistent legal enforcement has been a crusade of mine.

[think]

16. It's a very worthy crusade. Florida needs to take a good look at what

they are doing in the name of justice because they have missed the mark completely.

[DavidDvorkin]

15. Won't happen with the current governor.

[think]

17. Speaking of criminals it is Rick Scott who should be doing 20 for medicare fraud

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-05-20/news/fl-rick-scott-governor-hca-20100520_1_medicare-fraud-case-hospitals-in-el-paso-hospital-giant-columbia

[crazyjoe]

18. She got 20 years?? Thats's extreme

She should of never grabbed a firearm and went back into the house, that asking for trouble. Firing a "warning" shot, especially with children in the house, was clearly illegal, and stupid. Anyone on DU that thinks that's ok is a hypocrite.
But giving her 20 years in jail is ridiculous, and an obvious example of black vs white sentencing.

[think]

20. My only point here is the punishment didn't fit the crime

and the punishment is very extreme especially in light of the circumstances. The only way I can see to really rectify the matter is for her to be pardoned.

Perhaps legal eagles have a better solution but to let this woman sit in prison for any extended length of time for shooting a warning shot is a complete miscarriage of justice.

[crazyjoe]

21. agreed, 20 years is a long friggin time, she didn't hurt anyone.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

23. According to one reported story,

she gave the shootee a black eye a few months after being released on bail.

A few months after Alexander was released on bail on orders to have no contact with Gray, she got into an altercation with him at his home that gave him a black eye, Corey said. Alexander was charged with battery.

“Instead of her trying to work toward a resolution, about four months into this thing, claiming to be so afraid of this man, she went barging to his house and attacked him,” Corey said. “So it didn’t show much of her being remorseful of what happened and being a peaceful person.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/marissa-alexander-prosecutor_n_1504428.html

Of course, that's only part of the story.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

22. The "warning shot" seems to not have put a bullet through the ceiling, but through a wall.

She said it was a warning shot. Why should anyone not believe her?

[Cave_Johnson]

25. From the CNN article...

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.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/justice/florida-stand-ground-sentencing/index.html

________________________________

Warning shots are never never never never never a good idea.

Shoot for center mass or don't shoot at all.

On a side note, I wonder if she had hollow points.

[crazyjoe]

27. wall..ceiling..it doesn't matter. Once you fire a weapon, you are taking

a huge chance that someone is going to be shot. You never know where that bullet is going to end up, especially in an emotional situation.
There is no defense for her actions, imho.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

35. IMHO, if a bullet hits a wall near a person with whom the shooter is angry, it is less likely to

be a "warning shot" than a miss.

For her, it's too bad that her family who categorized the shot as a "warning shot" couldn't be on the jury.

[coalition_unwilling]

34. She NEVER LEFT THE HOUSE. She went into an attached garage and the

only way she could leave was through the house.

Guy had previously put her in the hospital and had threatened to kill her.

[Kaleva]

19. The governor of Florida has several options.

A full pardon

A pardon without firearm authority (meaning she can't posses a gun in Florida)

A commutation of sentence

A conditional clemency

http://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2011-Amended-Rules-for-Executive-Clemency.final_.3-9.pdf

[Odin2005]

26. Racist double standards.

SYG was obviously meant to apply only to white people.

[crazyjoe]

28. pardon?? i don't think so.

[think]

29. she's been in jail for 458 days already for a warning shot

she fired to defend herself from an abusive husband who admitted physically abusing her on 5 separate occasions. (I've put the husbands word in bold for emphasis):

Subhash: Will Marissa Alexander Do 20 Years for Standing Her Ground Against an Abuser?

~snip~

Beyond this, the media, even those sympathetic to the case, have focused more on the "stand your ground" and "he said/she said" aspects of the case and have largely ignored the most damning piece of evidence: a November 22, 2010 sworn deposition from Marissa's husband/"crime victim"/alleged abuser (found on here or here). In the 66-page document, he not only admits to abusing her at least five times, he also affirms that Marissa never pointed the gun at him or his children and that he did walk toward her before she shot in the air and began "cursing" at her. Some of the most chilling admissions from her husband are made on page 36 in reference to his state of mind during their August 1, 2010 encounter:

"...I just don't know what would have happened. If my kids wouldn't have been there, I probably would have put my hands on her."

"Probably hit her. I got five baby mamas and I put my hand on every last one of them except one."

"I physically abused them; physically, emotionally, you know, it's like...Me, the way I was with women, they was like they had to walk on eggshells around me. You know, they never knew what I was thinking... or what I might do... hit them, push them."

It is unclear to those of us newly acquainted with the case whether or not a jury ever heard or read those words from the deposition. It is also unclear if her husband ever recanted those statements in court. But even for legal minds that acquired their knowledge through watching <em>Law and Order</em>, it does seem clear that her husband's admissions raise enough reasonable doubt that she did nothing wrong. If you look at Florida's "justifiable force" (what is now know as "stand your ground&quot statutes, the intro basically says it all:

~snip

Full article:

http://www.organizingupgrade.com/index.php/blogs/subhash-kateel

Here's the article stating 458 days served already:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143313/Abused-Florida-wife-sentenced-20-YEARS-firing-warning-shot-husband-Stand-Your-Ground-defence-fails.html?ito=feeds-newsxml


So yes, I believe 458 is more than adequate punishment for firing a warning shot when trying to get a way from an abusive husband in a state especially since the state has a stand your ground law.

[Kaleva]

30. She fired thru a wall into the living room where the man and boys were.

She was in the kitchen when she fired the gun.

She was later out on bail and ignored a court order not to have contact with her husband. She ignored that order and allegedly discussed with her husband about what he was to say in his disposition so that she wouldn't be prosecuted. In their final meeting, she attacked her husband who called 911 and she was arrested again and her bail revoked.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/89763383/States-Motion-in-Opposition-of-Defendants-Motion-for-Immunity

[think]

31. Thank you for the information. I must say that changes everything

I am surprised this was not mentioned in many of the main stream reports. I stand corrected.

20 years is still pretty steep but after reading that she should have took the plea bargain.

[Kaleva]

32. I agree on the harshness on the sentence.

I think 20 years is way too much but after reading that report, my opinion on the woman changed.