In May 2012, 31-year-old Marissa Alexander was prosecuted for

aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...

with a

deadly weapon A deadly weapon, sometimes dangerous weapon (although some jurisdictions differentiate between the two) or lethal weapon, is an item that can inflict mortal or great bodily harm. By statutory definition, certain items, especially firearms, are d ...

and received a

mandatory minimum Mandatory sentencing requires that people convicted of certain crimes serve a predefined term of imprisonment, removing the discretion of judges to take issues such as extenuating circumstances and a person's likelihood of rehabilitation into co ...

sentence of 20 years in prison. Alexander said that she fired a warning shot after her husband attacked her and threatened to kill her on August 1, 2010, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. Some time after her conviction, a new trial was ordered. Before the new trial could begin, Alexander was released on January 27, 2015, under a plea deal that capped her sentence to the three years she had already served.

Incident

Alexander was in the home of her estranged husband Rico Gray, when Alexander claimed that Gray threatened to kill her via texts on Alexander's phone. Gray had previously abused Alexander, giving her reason to believe that her life was in danger. According to Alexander, she tried to escape through the garage, but the garage door would not open. This account was confirmed by Gray in a sworn deposition, although investigators found no problem with the door. According to all accounts, Alexander then retrieved her gun from her vehicle and went to the kitchen. Alexander fired a "warning shot" towards Gray with his children nearby, which hit the wall near Gray at the height of his head, then deflected into the ceiling. The single shot did not injure anyone. According to one source, Alexander had fired the warning shot because of Florida's

stand-your-ground law A stand-your-ground law, sometimes called a "line in the sand" or "no duty to retreat" law, provides that people may use deadly force when they reasonably believe it to be necessary to defend against certain violent crimes (right of self-defense ...

, a law that allows self-defense, such as lethal force, in life-threatening situations, but the court later disagreed.

Trials

Alexander, who had a history of suffering domestic violence from Gray, and had been previously accused of domestic violence herself, and who had recently been released from jail, returned to Gray's house, despite him having a restraining order forbidding her presence at the house, sought self-defense immunity prior to trial but was unsuccessful. State Attorney

Angela Corey Angela Corey (born October 31, 1954) is a former Florida State's Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties—including Jacksonville and the core of its metropolitan area. She was elected in ...

met with the defendant and offered her a three-year plea deal. Asserting that she acted in self-defense within the bounds of the law, Alexander rejected the offer and took her case to trial. A jury convicted her in twelve minutes, and because of the Florida 10-20-Life mandatory minimum statute, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Alexander was also required to stay away from Gray as part of a court order. On September 26, 2013, an appellate court ordered a new trial, finding that the jury instructions in Alexander's trial impermissibly shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defense. Alexander was released on bail on November 27, 2013 and required to stay under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

. Corey announced that she intended to re-prosecute Alexander, this time aiming for three consecutive 20 year sentences, amounting to a mandatory 60-year sentence if Alexander is found guilty in a second trial. Marissa Alexander retained legal and investigative assistance during her second trial that she did not prior to her first trial, including a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight, private investigator Patrick McKenna, and digital collections and forensics through Capsicum Group. On January 27, 2015, Alexander was released from the Montgomery Correctional Center under a plea deal that capped her sentence to the three years she had already served. She pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault for firing a shot in the direction of her husband. She also agreed to serve two years of house arrest, wearing an ankle monitor. She will be allowed to work, attend classes and take her children to school and medical appointments. Her case helped to inspire a new state law permitting warning shots in some circumstances.

Criticism of prosecutor Angela Corey

Corey was criticized for her handling of the case by Democratic Florida Congresswoman

Corrine Brown Corrine Brown (born November 11, 1946) is an American former politician and convicted felon who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. After a court-orde ...

, who argued that Corey overcharged Alexander and the result of Alexander's case was a consequence of

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organizati ...

Mariame Kaba Mariame Kaba is an American activist, grassroots organizer, and educator who advocates for the abolition of the prison industrial complex, including all police. She is the author of ''We Do This 'Til We Free Us'' (2021). The Mariame Kaba Papers ...

, Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

, anti-domestic violence advocates, civil rights groups, and others also supported the call for Alexander's release from prison. Several groups such as the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(NOW) and the national advocacy group

Color of Change Color of Change is a progressive nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. It was formed in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to use online resources to strengthen the political voice of African Americ ...

petitioned to ask for Corey's removal from this case. NOW called for Corey to resign over the case, saying Corey was "misusing her office and endangering domestic violence survivors." Color of Change stated that they would attempt to collect 100,000 signatures to remove Corey from the case. Corey has defended herself by saying that she believes Alexander fired the weapon out of anger and not fear, and that she endangered the lives of Gray's two children in the process. Corey said, "She discharged a gun to kill them."

Aftermath

In March 2017, Alexander expressed support for reducing minimum sentencing laws and speaking on behalf of women who suffered domestic abuse. She also spoke in favor of strengthening the Stand Your Ground law with the intent of making it more fair and balanced. Due to efforts by

prison abolitionist The prison abolition movement is a network of groups and activists that seek to reduce or eliminate prisons and the prison system, and replace them with systems of rehabilitation and education that do not focus on punishment and government instit ...

s such as

and others to free Alexander, the organization Survived and Punished was created to free women who are incarcerated for defending themselves and their children from

intimate partner violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical abuse, physical, verbal abuse, verb ...

References

External links