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Garland writes: "Nowadays the words 'Stand Your Ground' have almost become synonymous with 'no fair' and 'unjust,' due mostly to the non-arrest of George Zimmerman..."

Marissa Alexander has been trying to use Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' laws to defend her actions against her abusive husband. (photo: First Coast News)
Marissa Alexander has been trying to use Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' laws to defend her actions against her abusive husband. (photo: First Coast News)



'Stand Your Ground' Doesn't Apply to Woman Who Shot Abusive Husband

By Maurice Garland, The Loop 21

27 April 12

 

owadays the words "Stand Your Ground" have almost become synonymous with "no fair" and "unjust," due mostly to the non-arrest of George Zimmerman the night he shot Trayvon Martin and that law that protected him up until just last week.

But the cases of John McNeil and now Marissa Alexander have highlighted the inconsistencies in the law's application.

According to a blogsite pleading her case, in 2010, Alexander found herself in a violent confrontation with her husband. Her husband already had a history of abuse towards her and other women in the past, causing Alexander to place an injunction for protection against violence on him.

On this day in particular Alexander says that her husband, unprovoked, assaulted her in the bathroom of her home. She managed to get out of his grasp and ran to her car in the garage to leave, but realized that she didn't have her keys. She was also unable to open the garage door to get out because of a mechanical malfunction.

At this point, she was very fearful for her life, but knew that she had to at least get her cell phone to call for help. That's when she grabbed a gun, for which she had a concealed weapon permit. When she walked back into the kitchen area, she saw her husband again, who was supposed to be leaving through another door with his two sons (her stepsons). When he saw her, she says he screamed "bitch, I'll kill you" and charged at her. She then pointed her weapon at the ceiling, turned her head and shot in the air. That scared her husband off.

But, he promptly called the police and told them that she shot the gun at him and his sons. She was taken to jail where she has been sitting ever since.

Alexander has been trying to use Florida's Stand Your Ground laws to defend her actions, but to no avail. A judge ruled that Alexander was actually in the wrong, saying that she could have exited to safety through one of the other doors or windows in the house instead of crossing paths with her husband in the kitchen.

"I am a law abiding citizen and I take great pride in my liberty, rights, and privileges as one," pleads Alexander on the blogsite telling her story. " I have vehemently proclaimed my innocence and my actions that day. The enigma I face since that fateful day I was charged through trial, does the law cover and apply to me too?"

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