Marissa Alexander, a mother of two, was denied a new trial after she was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting “in the direction of” her husband. Here’s Wonkette’s take:
[A] Florida judge has decided that there will be no new trial for this nice mother of two, Marissa Alexander, who will serve her 20 years in jail for shooting in the direction of her abusive husband, which she did because she couldn’t get to her cell phone or escape because she had run away from him into the garage only to discover that the garage door was broken.
Well lady, Florida would like to remind you that you could have escaped your attacker “through the front or back door,” and also? Going back in the house armed with a gun (where she presumably would have had to go in order to escape through the front or back door, but whatever, we didn’t expect this to make any sense and so far we’re not disappointed) is not “consistent with someone in genuine fear of his or her life.” * * *
It took a jury 12 minutes to find Alexander guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; the judge in that trial did not allow her to cite her husband’s longstanding abuse of her and others, or the state’s Stand Your Ground defense. This is going to shock you, and we know it sounds weird especially since it’s Florida and all, but it’s possible that race was a factor in this decision.
See the full article here.
-Bridget Crawford
