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In August 2010, Marissa Alexander’s husband Rico Gray attacked her after finding messages to her ex-husband on her cell phone. According to Raw Story,
“Gray has said in testimony that he had previously warned Alexander that he would kill her if he ever found out that she had been unfaithful.”
Afraid for her life, Alexander went to the garage but couldn’t get out of the broken garage door, so she retrieved a gun (legally registered to her), went back into the house and fired – not at the man threatening to kill her – but into the ceiling to scare him. It did – he grabbed his children and ran.
Unfortunately, it seems in Florida you must actually kill someone to claim a “stand your ground” defence. Alexander’s husband was not hurt and in fact is alive and well; he had also been
“…arrested a year prior to the shooting incident for an attack that put Alexander in the hospital”
yet she faces 20 years without the possibility of parole for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
Judge Daniel, ruling on a “stand your ground” motion stated,
“Alexander’s decision to re-enter the house was “inconsistent with a person in genuine fear of his or her life.”
Ms. Alexander will be sentenced May 11th. The situation was summed up perfectly by the Wonkette blog:
“In Florida, as it turns out, being in “genuine fear of your life” means that you’re white and your attacker is black, so clearly that was her first mistake. Also, if you really want to Stand Your Ground you have to call the police only to ignore their instructions anyway, so there’s that. And crucially, it doesn’t say anywhere if her husband was wearing a hoodie when he was threatening to beat her up, which we hear is a relevant aspect of whether or not black men are actually scary.”
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