Marissa Alexander wants new Stand Your Ground hearing
Attorneys for Marissa Alexander will argue Friday morning that their client deserves another Stand Your Ground hearing to prove that she fired a shot at her estranged husband in self defense.
Alexander, 33, is out on bond while awaiting a new trial on charges of firing a gun at her estranged husband and his two children. She was previously convicted of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but that conviction was thrown out on appeal.
Follow: Real-time updates from the hearing (8 a.m. Friday)
It will be the second time Alexander seeks immunity from prosecution under the states Stand Your Ground law, which allows the use of deadly force instead of retreating if the person is afraid for his or her life. A previous claim in July, 2011 was rejected.
There will not be an actual Stand Your Ground hearing on Friday. Circuit Judge James Daniel will simply decide whether another hearing can occur at a later date.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that there is no point to a second Stand your Ground hearing since her claims of self defense were already rejected. But defense attorneys say they intend to introduce evidence that was never presented during the first hearing.
Attorney Bruce Zimet has said the new evidence undermines the testimony of Alexanders estranged husband, Rico Gray, and his two children. All three testified in the original Stand Your Ground hearing.
Alexander has claimed she wasnt trying to hit Gray or his two children from a previous relationship. She has said Gray had just beaten her, and was about to beat her again.
But Alexander has acknowledged that after Gray hit her she fled into the garage where she got a gun out of her car and then came back into the house. Prosecutors have previously argued that makes Alexander ineligible for Stand Your Ground because she chose to advance back into the house and confront Gray with the gun.
Stand Your Ground doesnt allow a person in fear for their life to advance on someone before firing.
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Marissa Alexander wants new Stand Your Ground hearing