20 years for firing a warning shot

  1. You have chosen to ignore posts from StalkingButler. Show StalkingButler's posts

    20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/12/2012 12:31 PM EDT

    No really, and it's worse than that.

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

    Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband.

    Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation.

    The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case, has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race.


    Unbelievable.


     

  2. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/13/2012 6:44 AM EDT

    In Response to 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    No really, and it's worse than that. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/justice/florida-stand-ground-sentencing/index.html Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband . Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation. The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case , has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race. Unbelievable.
    Posted by StalkingButler


    StalkingButler:

    It sure seems to be unbelievable. Of course this an African-American AND a woman.

    On the other hand, this sentence cannot be making George Zimmerman feel esp. confident right now.
     

  3. You have chosen to ignore posts from shumirules. Show shumirules's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 7:13 AM EDT

    In Response to 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    No really, and it's worse than that. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/justice/florida-stand-ground-sentencing/index.html Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband . Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation. The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case , has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race. Unbelievable.
    Posted by StalkingButler


    SHe is lucky the bullet didnt go though the wall and kill someone on the other side.
     

  4. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 7:56 AM EDT

    While pregnant, Marissa Alexander was battered by her husband. On August 1 2010, her premature baby girl, born nine days earlier, was in the Baptist South N.I.C.U. fighting for her life while Marissa fought for life in her own home against an attacker - her husband. She is currently sitting in the Pretrial Detention Facility in Jacksonville FL, Duval County awaiting a sentence for three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm. She was also charged with child abuse because she fired a warning shot in the ceiling of her home. She owned a legitimate and current gun permit that she was trained to used
    So, shumirules, it was not possible for anyone to get hurt with a bullet through the wall because all Marissa Alexander did was fire a warning shot up in the air which hit the ceiling of her own home.

    And yes, she is real lucky. 20 years due to mandatory sentencing for firing this warning shot as the husband with a documented history of abusing her was coming at her once again. And in Florida, the first state with the Stand Your Ground Law, somehow they saw fit to deny this defense after a whole 12 minutes of deliberation.

    In hindsight, Alexander should have shot, and most likely killed her husband as he came towards her since she was obviously in eminent fear of danger. If she had, she most likely would have been acquitted.

    This case illustrates it is far better in those states with the SYG law to shoot the person you feel you are in eminent danger of than do something less drastic, like fire a warning shot in the air. What a great law this is turning out to be AND some form of it is is 26 states.


     

  5. You have chosen to ignore posts from StalkingButler. Show StalkingButler's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 8:58 AM EDT

    The people that are calling racism here are wrong. Anyone who found themselves in a similar situation in this county would be in deep trouble.

    The real problem here is one of an over-reaching government that promotes the successful prosecution of a bad law over this woman's right to self-defense.  This is not the violation of this person's rights due to the color of her skin, it's a violation of all of our rights and this woman is just the latest victim of an uncaring bureaucracy.

    The irony here is that (no doubt) many of the people calling this verdict racist were probably supporters of the law, or at least the politicians that voted for the law, that has condemned this woman to 20 years of captivity.

    President Obama should use his power of clemency to free this woman immediately.



     

  6. You have chosen to ignore posts from WhatDoYouWantNow. Show WhatDoYouWantNow's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 11:37 AM EDT

    Well, this is an example of the deep perversion of justice that results when voters indulge their warm and fuzzy self-righteousness by voting for "get tough on crime" politicians. Said politicians turn around and pass laws with massive mandatory minimums.

    Mandatory minimums do not make sure that the real bad guys do the time they should - those guys would get a lengthy sentence no matter how much discretion the judge has because whatever they did was really bad. All minimums do is ruin lives in questionable cases.

    20 years is an extreme injustice, even if the woman isn't totally innocent.

    SB: As for self-defense, this is an odd intersection of benig in one's home, stand your ground, and the facts: She re-entered the house to get her car keys. But she did not need her car to leave if she felt in danger. She could have just ran to a neighbor's house. Instead, she went back inside to the confrontation.

    This is an opportunity for the governor and/or Obama (I don't know if FL governors can pardon) to show compassion....

    __________________________________________________________________

    Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing.

    Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall.

    She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.

    She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot.

    "I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do," she said. "That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."

    Alexander's attorneys tried to use the state law that allows people to use potentially deadly force anywhere they feel reasonably threatened with serious harm or death.

     

  7. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 11:55 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    Well, this is an example of the deep perversion of justice that results when voters indulge their warm and fuzzy self-righteousness by voting for "get tough on crime" politicians. Said politicians turn around and pass laws with massive mandatory minimums. Mandatory minimums do not make sure that the real bad guys do the time they should - those guys would get a lengthy sentence no matter how much discretion the judge has because whatever they did was really bad. All minimums do is ruin lives in questionable cases. 20 years is an extreme injustice, even if the woman isn't totally innocent. SB: As for self-defense, this is an odd intersection of benig in one's home, stand your ground, and the facts: She re-entered the house to get her car keys. But she did not need her car to leave if she felt in danger. She could have just ran to a neighbor's house. Instead, she went back inside to the confrontation. This is an opportunity for the governor and/or Obama (I don't know if FL governors can pardon) to show compassion.... __________________________________________________________________ Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing. Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall. She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her. She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot. "I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do," she said. "That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here." Alexander's attorneys tried to use the state law that allows people to use potentially deadly force anywhere they feel reasonably threatened with serious harm or death.
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow


    WDYWN:


    Gray, the husband, ran into the street, claiming she threatened to kill him and his boys. Marissa, on his word alone, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    For protecting her life and children she was just sentenced to twenty years in prison, even though Gray has recanted.

    In the state of Florida the Governor can pardon Marissa Alexander.


     

  8. You have chosen to ignore posts from WhatDoYouWantNow. Show WhatDoYouWantNow's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 3:18 PM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    For protecting her life and children she was just sentenced to twenty years in prison, even though Gray has recanted.
    Posted by andiejen


    And from the persepctive of self-defense law, one usually runs into trouble if one has fled a confrontation only to return to it. Even if one was the initial victim.

    The article said she went into the garage, but forgot her car keys, so she went back inside, despite having feet/legs with which to run away if she was in imminent danger.

     

  9. You have chosen to ignore posts from shumirules. Show shumirules's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 9:33 PM EDT

    SYG laws have one thing about them, you need to be in real danger at the time.

    She was alone in the garage, she could have easly left, she went back inside.  That is the main issue I see from this case.
     

  10. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 10:29 PM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : And from the persepctive of self-defense law, one usually runs into trouble if one has fled a confrontation only to return to it. Even if one was the initial victim. The article said she went into the garage, but forgot her car keys, so she went back inside, despite having feet/legs with which to run away if she was in imminent danger.
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow

    WDYWN:

    She was in the garage, but her children were still in the house. The children her husband threatened to kill. She went back in for her children despite the threat to her own life.

    Any mother in the world could understand that action.

     

  11. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/14/2012 10:33 PM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    SYG laws have one thing about them, you need to be in real danger at the time. She was alone in the garage, she could have easly left, she went back inside.  That is the main issue I see from this case.
    Posted by shumirules

    shumirules:

    There is also defense of others. Her premature newborn was in the hospital fighting for life due to the battering she had received during her pregnancy.

    But her other children were still in the house. Gray had threatened to kill them as well. She went back to protect her children from this man with a documented history of abuse.

     

  12. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/15/2012 5:01 AM EDT

    More on why Marissa Alexander's 20 year mandatory sentence is a miscarriage of justice and why Gov. Scott should pardon her as well as why the Florida legislature should rewrite their SYG law.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On Friday, a Florida judge charged Marissa Alexander with three counts of aggravated assault and sentenced her to 20 years in prison for firing a “warning shot” in front of her abusive ex-husband. No one was hurt in the incident but because of a controversial Florida law the 31-year old woman is now facing a mandatory 20-years in prison.

    Her attorneys wanted a new trial based on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law but the Judge presiding the case disagreed.

    MSNBC with more details on the case:

    Her attorneys claimed self-defense and cited the state’s Stand Your Ground law, which gives people some protection from prosecution for using potentially deadly force in cases in which they feel their life is threatened. The law came under nationwide scrutiny during the Trayvon Martin case, when neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot an unarmed teen and authorities waited weeks before charging him.

    But a jury agreed with prosecutors that the law didn’t apply because she left during the argument, got a gun and returned to confront him, WJXT reported.

    On Friday, Judge James Daniel sentenced Alexander to 20 years without parole. Daniel said he had no leniency under Florida’s “10-20-life” law that requires someone convicted of firing a handgun during the commission of a felony to serve 20 years.

    “Ten-20-life is not meant for people like Marissa Alexander,” Alexander’s attorney, Kevin Cobbin told WJXT.“She’s never been in trouble, has a Ph.D. The lady is a great mother to her own kids and her step-children. And the law is not made for her. The legislature did not think about people like her when they made the law.”

    In an op-ed published Saturday, syndicated columnist Roland Martin called Alexander’s imprisonment “a miscarriage of justice.”

    “Judges should have the discretion to consider a variety of factors in sentencing, and I have no doubt had this judge been given flexibility, Alexander wouldn’t be going to prison for 20 years,” Roland wrote on CNN.

    “One hopes that Florida Gov. Rick Scott will find some compassion and grant Alexander a pardon, and the Florida Legislature will revise the law to prevent future miscarriages of justice,” Roland went on to say.

     

  13. You have chosen to ignore posts from StalkingButler. Show StalkingButler's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/15/2012 9:13 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : And from the persepctive of self-defense law, one usually runs into trouble if one has fled a confrontation only to return to it. Even if one was the initial victim. The article said she went into the garage, but forgot her car keys, so she went back inside, despite having feet/legs with which to run away if she was in imminent danger.
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow


    Put yourself in her shoes. How far away do you think she could get without her car? No doubt that her internal calculus told her that without a car she was dead meat and she was probably right.

    So she used her weapon in such a way as to insure that neither she nor her batterer had to be injured. Rather than put her away for 20 years she should have been congratulated for restraint and clear thinking.

    But that's not going to happen because she violated a PC sacred cow by exercising her 2nd amendment right to self-defense and that, my friends, is unforgivable.






     

  14. You have chosen to ignore posts from WhatDoYouWantNow. Show WhatDoYouWantNow's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/15/2012 10:11 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    How far away do you think she could get without her car? .
    Posted by StalkingButler


    That depends entirely on the circumstances. The article you linked does not say the husband chased her into the garage, just that she fled there, turned around, went back into the house, then her husband threatened to kill her, then she shot a wall.

    Nor does the cnn article say, as Andie does, that after she fled, the husband was threatening to kill the children. I didn't go independently researchign it. Just reacting to what the linked article said.

    Hell it doesn't even say he was moving towards her again when he threatened to kill her. Crappy reporting:



    "

    She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.

    She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot.

    "
     

  15. You have chosen to ignore posts from DamainAllen. Show DamainAllen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/16/2012 11:53 AM EDT

    Under Florida law she would have been better off shooting the husband. 
     

  16. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/16/2012 9:26 PM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : That depends entirely on the circumstances. The article you linked does not say the husband chased her into the garage, just that she fled there, turned around, went back into the house, then her husband threatened to kill her, then she shot a wall. Nor does the cnn article say, as Andie does, that after she fled, the husband was threatening to kill the children. I didn't go independently researchign it. Just reacting to what the linked article said. Hell it doesn't even say he was moving towards her again when he threatened to kill her. Crappy reporting: " She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her. She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot."
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow

    WDYWN:

    Her husband had threatened to kill the children. I did not write he had done it again that day. 

    Their was a protective order against him which of course he had violated. There was testimony that he said, "If I cannot have you nobody will." as he moved towards Alexander.

    I agree the reporting could have been better. 

     

  17. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/16/2012 9:32 PM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    Under Florida law she would have been better off shooting the husband. 
    Posted by DamainAllen

    Damian:

    It absolutely seems so in this case. Further, that is probably the lesson many will take from this case. Logic would dictate shootings and homicides will go up because of this case. 

    Gov. Scott on these facts should pardon Alexander. Further, the Florida STG law needs to be rewritten or abolished.

     

  18. You have chosen to ignore posts from WhatDoYouWantNow. Show WhatDoYouWantNow's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/17/2012 11:05 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    Her husband had threatened to kill the children. I did not write he had done it again that day.
    Posted by andiejen


    Well if that threat was made some other time, it makes it harder for her to justify going back into the house. Something would have to make her reasonably fear that the husband would kill the children if she did not return. Was there any evidence she went in to get the children, as opposed to just car keys?
     

  19. You have chosen to ignore posts from WhatDoYouWantNow. Show WhatDoYouWantNow's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/17/2012 11:34 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : Damian: It absolutely seems so in this case. Further, that is probably the lesson many will take from this case. Logic would dictate shootings and homicides will go up because of this case.  Gov. Scott on these facts should pardon Alexander. Further, the Florida STG law needs to be rewritten or abolished.
    Posted by andiejen


    Maybe, maybe not. It's the kind of situation where adrenaline and instinct do most of the thinking. It would take a pretty cold-blooded person in the middle of such a situation to think "gee, now I remember that story about the woman who shot the ceiling, so I'll aim for this person's chest".
     

  20. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/17/2012 11:37 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : Well if that threat was made some other time, it makes it harder for her to justify going back into the house. Something would have to make her reasonably fear that the husband would kill the children if she did not return. Was there any evidence she went in to get the children, as opposed to just car keys?
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow


    WDYWN:

    It has been more difficult than usual to nail down the timeline of that day, despite reading many news articles.

    At this point getting a transcript of the trial seems the best option. But since we are not multi-millionaires, paying for one cannot be justified.
     

  21. You have chosen to ignore posts from andiejen. Show andiejen's posts

    Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot

    posted at 5/17/2012 11:54 AM EDT

    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot:
    In Response to Re: 20 years for firing a warning shot : Maybe, maybe not. It's the kind of situation where adrenaline and instinct do most of the thinking. It would take a pretty cold-blooded person in the middle of such a situation to think "gee, now I remember that story about the woman who shot the ceiling, so I'll aim for this person's chest".
    Posted by WhatDoYouWantNow


    WDYWN:

    I am not so sure about that. People are much more aware of what their rights are and are not concerning guns, etc.

    People here know they have a duty to retreat if possible. Even so, many people I know say they would not retreat and they would worry about legal consequences later whether they intended to use a gun or something else if menaced, esp. within their own home.

    People in Florida must be much more aware they have a STG law there by now. No duty to retreat. In this case the wife had gotten both a protective order and a gun to protect herself as well as her children. But the gun was in the garage. Why...I do not know.