Last weekend, Melissa examined the case against Marissa Alexander, the Jacksonville mother of three who fired a single bullet into her kitchen ceiling two years ago to warn her husband, Rico Gray, against continuing his physical attack on her. Gray, who reacted in violent anger after discovering that Alexander texted pictures of their newborn child to her ex-husband, spoke out earlier this week in an interview with TheLoop21:
“Personally, I wish she would have taken the three years,” Gray said. “I don’t wish 20 years on no one.”
He's referring to the plea deal that Alexander reportedly turned down, a deal that took into account Gray's history of violence. Alexander presumably cast that deal aside because she genuinely believed that she was standing her ground -- both figuratively, and legally. But Florida's "Stand Your Ground" castle-doctrine law somehow didn't apply to her, despite the fact that her case appears to fit the statute to a T.
She was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault in a matter of minutes -- and today, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a sentence she will appeal:
The jury found that she had indeed discharged the firearm in the incident, resulting in her mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years due to Florida's “10-20-Life” statutes...
Afterward U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown also challenged State Attorney [Angela] Corey at the courthouse saying the charges were overboard and labeled the case "institutional racism." She said she has the best domestic violence attorney looking into and as well as other prejudicial outcomes against blacks. This is the beginning, not the end, she said.
Corey was firm in the punishment, noting Alexander's gunshot easily could have ricocheted and hit the children or husband.
Corey, as you may recall, is the same Florida prosecutor who filed charges against George Zimmerman, who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death in February. (Interesting that "Stand Your Ground" may very well be the defense she and her colleagues face from Zimmerman's attorneys.) Sunday being Mother's Day, Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton, has released a stirring video urging Americans to join the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign, which folks like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have joined hoping to drive lawmakers to re-examine laws like "Stand Your Ground."
For those who are unable to watch the video, her message begins, “This will be my first Mother’s Day without my son, Trayvon. I know it will be hard, but with my faith, family, and the outpouring of national support, I will get through." We'll have much more on this on Sunday's show.
Fulton's interview with NPR is just one of our daily reads. Click below the jump to see what else is on our radar today.
- Republicans are really stretching to make something the President said yesterday into a big deal.
- Feministing on the mishandling of sexual assault cases in Montana.
- Bristol Palin goes after the President's kids.
- Why the big Romney story on Mitt Romney's prep-school bullying yesterday is fair game. (More on this later today on this blog.)
- Border patrol agents are being accused of "widespread abuse" on the Mexican border.
- Is the President's SuperPAC in trouble?
- Sady Doyle on The Avengers' successful representation of, and appeal to, women.
- Lastly, Melissa's segments about Marissa Alexander and incarcerated women are below. Again, we'll have much more on this on Sunday.
Melissa Harris-Perry investigates problems with "Stand Your Ground" laws that do not protect women in violent relationships who stand up to their abusers. Elizabeth Schneider, Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, Nona Willis Aronowitz of GOOD magazine, and Kim Dadou, a survivor of domestic violence who was found guilty of manslaughter for killing her boyfriend and served 17 years in jail, join to discuss.
Melissa Harris-Perry and her panel talk about domestic violence victim Marissa Alexander who is being charged of 20 years in prison after firing a warning shot into her kitchen ceiling during a confrontation with her abusive husband. Alexander was denied immunity under "Stand Your Ground."
Leave a Comment:
I really can't believe how many times I've read that if she had just pretended she wasn't innocent she'd have only gotten three years. And it's always said as if it is so reasonable, and that the best anyone should hope for in these circumstances is three years in prison for being innocent. It shouldn't be a lottery, it shouldn't be a coin toss over whether an innocent woman gets three years or twenty. Accepting that as the essential question, is unacceptable.
Thats complete bull! Smh at this country and the justice system.
Where is the outrage from the public on this? Why aren't there any demonstrations for this mother who didn't shoot anyone, but shot to give a warning? I think the media is to blame. The media did not give the attention to this mother - even the Rev. Al Sharpton didn't give a shout out for her, or organize anything the way he did for the other victim in Flordia. But first of all, why should there have to be public input on any issue like this one? The justice system is unfair.
This doesn't look like racism to me. This looks like the jury said, "Woman, you take your beating. It doesn't matter if you fear for your life. If it's your husband, you don't have the same rights as other people."
That is, it is vicious, sexism.
It's called intersectionality.
A 20 year sentence in this case is just crazy! What the heck is wrong with this prosecutor? Has she lost her sense of reality? Voters take note. Legislators, too. The law is much too inflexible if it forces such a sentence. It should be revised, retroactively so Marissa can benefit. Or the governor might consider a pardon. Oh, yeah, it's Rick Scott. Well, forget that one.
Well, you know, Republicans are working hard to convince people that women are too stupid to take care of themselves; I guess now we're too dangerous, as well, and need to be locked away. God forbid a woman stand up and try to defend herself in this society.
I so agreem the media needs to look at more of these stories and out them out there.
Good God Almighty. This is insanity. OK you Tea Partiers who claim you are not racist. Let's just see if you will protest this injustice. Let's just see.
Read the court documents! This blog (and Melissa Harris Peter's "investigation") is grossly inaccurate.
1. She didn't fire "into the kitchen ceiling." She just missed Gray's head as she fired into the wall. The bullet ended up in the living room ceiling after it ricocheted.
2. Gray had his hands up at the time the gun was fired - a universal "I surrender" pose.
3. Her life was simply not in immediate danger. There is no question. Read the court documents. This blog only reports 10% of the facts, and then gets them all wrong.
Inform yourselves - because MSNBC is doing a piss poor job of it.
OKAY, still doesn't deserve a 20 year sentence!!
By law it does. Just the fact that she left and came back with a gun, then pointing it at his head? Sounds good to me. Why did Melissa leave these facts out?
Sorry, double post.
Everyone should see this.
She wasn't isn't in trouble for simply firing a warning shot, she's in trouble because she used deadly force when it wasn't justified according to the law.
She did not fire the weapon into the kitchen ceiling! She was standing in the living room with her husband (and he was next to his 2 kids), she pointed the gun at his head and fired, the bullet barely missed his head, traveled through the wall and then into the ceiling the of the kitchen.
Her husband's testimony (the man she fired the gun at) was basically discounted because against the orders of the court they met up after she was arrested and discussed what he was going to say in her defense.
If you still think her husband is trustworthy, he told the police after the shooting that she threatened to shoot him in the past, and his children told the prosecutor that she was screaming at them during the incident, he then testified those were all lies.
After being arrested for shooting, she drove to his house (again she was not supposed to have any contact with him) and assaulted him and she was arrested again.
Her defense about using stand your ground doesn't work. When she fired the gun, he was not doing anything towards her. She had left the house, got the gun and came back, and he was in the process of leaving when she pointed the gun at him.
Sources:
States Proposed Order Denying Defendants Immunity Claim, ; States Motion in Opposition of Defendants Motion for Immunity, ; Order Denying Defendants Motion for Immunity and Motion to Dismiss, ; Notice of Filing for Determination of Immunity and Motion to Dismiss, ; Notice of Filing for Determination of Immunity and Motion to Dismiss, ; Motion for Determination of Immunity From Prosecution and Motion to Dismiss, ; Arrest report of Marissa Alexander, ; Alleged Victim Disposition,
She fired a gun into a ceiling...... People get less time for murder, rape, child molestation, this is a case of being black, and once again unable to afford representation that changes the outcome. People who come into court with little or no money will have no chance in the justice system, truly it's collect at the door, or serve long sentences of 10, and 20 years for crimes like shoplifting, breaking and entering, auto theft, .... and the majority of them are black. In this case, Stand your ground may have nothing to do with it....but fairness does. Does a person who killed no one, has children, is a contributing member of society deserve this treatment..... of course not.....But if you are black, the chances of you losing your freedom are exponentially higher, if you are poor, unemployed, or had any prior conviction of any kind.......I really am not a fan of Louis Farrakhan but Mr Farrakhan made a good point sometime back..... "They are building for profit prisons at a quicker rate than businesses for buildings"...he said..... and they betting onthe stock exchange they can fill these prisons up with customers.."you" he told his audience.... and he is right
Minimum 20 year sentences for crimes like these were actually put in place ensure fairness and eliminate discrimination. A white man who did the exact same thing (fire a gun at someone's head while two children are standing next to him) would be unable to throw money at this to reduce his sentence - because of the 20 year minimum.
And again, she didn't point the gun at the ceiling and fire to scare him off as he was attacking her. She aimed the gun at a guy who had his hands in the air and hit the wall next to him (the only reason the word "ceiling" is relevant is because that's where the bullet ended up - in a different room after it went through the kitchen WALL.)
Fairness absolutely has to do with everything. We want a white guy of means to not get away with endangering the lives of children as well, don't we?
20 years is steep. I would feel the same if it was a white guy who did the same thing. Would you?
I know what your saying about the law but it is not applied uniformly nor enforced uniformly
The DETAILS are what most people are missing. I was outraged too. But I checked the details and realized that Ms. Alexander is just as violent as her ex. The shooting was an act of reckless endangerment (her children were present). A frightened battered woman doesn't go the man's house and gives him a black eye AFTER she is arrested (the children were present for that too). "Yep, that's the part no one is telling you."
But 20 years in prison is extreme and she was charged with the wrong offence. I hope someone will contact the governor and get him to correct this. If you believe in justice and humanity, you know Ms. Alexander needs therapy and probation. And, those kids need parents who will make their well being the priority.
Actually, I believe even the legislators behind the Stand Your Ground law would argue that the woman was absolutely justified. (In fact, apparently one of the prime justifications for the law was to protect women with abusive husbands.)
Here's why: the alleged abuser was still in the house with Ms. Alexander's children! The argument that one can't leave and come back to fire a warning shot, when an abusive man is in the room with children, is simply ridiculous.
Now, I fully agree that if there are sources that state unequivocally that the woman fired directly AT her husband and missed by accident, that is a different story. But it's not my understanding.
Well.So much for "self defense" and the "right to bear arms" and "stand your ground".