Marissa Alexander is a woman who claims that she had to stand her ground against her abusive husband. According to Alexander, her husband had been beating her while she was pregnant, and she fired a warning shot to keep him away. To protect herself, Alexander got a gun permit and filed a restraining order against her husband. But the judge in this case refused to believe that Alexander was standing her ground.
Oh, by the way – Alexander didn’t kill anyone. She just used the gun to scare her husband away. Zimmerman wasn’t arrested for weeks after killing Trayvon Martin, but Alexander is facing 25 years in prison.
Here is her appeal in her own words:
On August 1 2010, my
My name is Marissa Alexander, I am a mother of three children, but at the present time, I am not able to be with them due to the following circumstances. I am 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. Before my life changed drastically on that August afternoon, I was in the perilous position of leaving an abusive relationship with my husband who has history of violence and documented domestic abuse towards women. Our history included one which required me to place an injunction for protection against violence and was active during the month of August 2010.
In an unprovoked jealous rage, my husband violently confronted me while
using the restroom. He assaulted me, shoving, strangling and holding me against
my will, preventing me from fleeing all while I begged for him to leave. After
a minute or two of trying to escape, I was able to make it to the garage where
my truck was parked, but in my haste to leave I realized my keys were missing.
I tried to open the garage but there was a mechanical failure. I was unable to
leave, trapped in the dark with no way out. For protection against further
assault I retrieved my weapon; which is registered and I have a concealed weapon permit.
Trapped, no phone,
I entered back into my home to either leave through another exit or obtain my
cell phone.
He and my two stepsons were supposed to be exiting the house thru the front door, but he didn’t leave. Instead he came into thekitchen that leads to the
garage and realized I was unable to leave.
Instead of leaving thru the front door where his vehicle was parked outside of the garage, he came into the kitchen by himself. I was terrified from the first encounter and feared he came to do as he had threatened. The weapon was in my right hand down by my side and he yelled, “Bitch I will kill you!”, and charged toward me. In fear and desperate attempt, I lifted my weapon up, turned away and discharged a single shot in the wall up in the ceiling. As I stood my ground it prevented him from doing what he threatened and he ran out of the home. Outside of the home, he contacted the police and falsely reported that I shot at him and his sons. The police arrived and I was taken into custody.
Source http://blacklikemoi.com/2012/04/black-news-2/woman-stands-her-ground-faces-20-years-in-prison-no-one-was-hurt/
He and my two stepsons were supposed to be exiting the house thru the front door, but he didn’t leave. Instead he came into the
Instead of leaving thru the front door where his vehicle was parked outside of the garage, he came into the kitchen by himself. I was terrified from the first encounter and feared he came to do as he had threatened. The weapon was in my right hand down by my side and he yelled, “Bitch I will kill you!”, and charged toward me. In fear and desperate attempt, I lifted my weapon up, turned away and discharged a single shot in the wall up in the ceiling. As I stood my ground it prevented him from doing what he threatened and he ran out of the home. Outside of the home, he contacted the police and falsely reported that I shot at him and his sons. The police arrived and I was taken into custody.
Source http://blacklikemoi.com/2012/04/black-news-2/woman-stands-her-ground-faces-20-years-in-prison-no-one-was-hurt/
