Marissa Alexander
| Date | August 1, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Participants | Marissa Alexander (accused) Rico Gray (Alexander's husband) |
| Accused | Marissa Alexander |
| Charges | Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (three counts) |
| Convictions | Guilty |
In May 2012, 31-year-old Marissa Alexander was prosecuted for aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and received a mandatory minimum 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.
Alexander was released on January 27, 2015, under a plea deal that capped her sentence to the three years she had already served.
Alexander was in the home of her estranged husband Rico Gray, when Alexander stated 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 law that allows self-defense, such as lethal force, in life-threatening situations, but a warning shot was not legal at that time.
Alexander, who had no previous criminal record or arrests, sought self-defense immunity prior to trial but was unsuccessful. State Attorney Angela Corey 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 requested 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. 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.
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