Marissa Alexander, a Florida woman awaiting a new trial in a “stand your ground” case, was released from jail Wednesday night on a bond totaling $200,009 for three separate charges.
In a statement Thursday morning, the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign said:
“We are thrilled that Ms. Alexander will be able to prepare for her new trial amid the support and love of her children and family from whom she has been separated far too long.”
Supporters of Free Marissa Now gathered Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville for a welcome home celebration.
Alexander faces a new trial March 31, 2014. She will remain under house arrest and electronic monitoring until then, according to the Duval County Clerk of Court, the Associated Press reported.
In 2012, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing what she says was a warning shot to scare off her allegedly abusive husband during a dispute. No one was hurt.
Alexander tried to use Florida’s “stand your ground” law, but the judge threw out her self-defense claim.
A Florida appeals court ruled in September that the judge did not properly instruct the jury handling Alexander’s case.
The appeals court stated that the judge was right to block Alexander from using the state’s “stand your ground” law as a way to defend her actions, WTLV/WJXX reported.
Alexander supporters, including the NAACP, have contrasted Alexander’s case with the trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman argued that he feared for his life and shot Martin in self defense. Both cases drew attention to Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which allows individuals to use deadly force when they feel they are in danger.
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