Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 3 20 year sentences served concurrently after firing a warning shot into the air while being attacked by her estranged husband, Rico Gray.
She didn’t qualify for the Stand Your Ground law in Florida according to persecutors. Stand Your Ground laws were famously brought into the media attention during the George Zimmerman trial when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin after claiming Martin had attacked him.
There are a few differences in these cases, Alexander didn’t shoot and kill her husband, she had left and gone to her car to retrieve her weapon and only shot into the air to try and stop the alleged attack. Zimmerman had gone to get his gun and shot Martin to stop the also alleged attack. Race is also being looked at by outside groups who say that Stand Your Ground doesn’t apply to African Americans like Alexander.
Alexander has applied for a retrial to use the Stand Your Ground laws, but the state attorney for the case has said if she fails to win her retrial, she plans on pushing to have the 60 year sentence served consecutively, instead of concurrently as it was originally set. If she loses, it could wind up being a life sentence, as Alexander is 33 years old.