On Aug. 1, 2010, Marissa Alexander, a 31y.o. mother of three, with a master’s degree and no criminal record, was working for a payroll software company in FL. She was estranged from her abusive husband, Rico Gray, and had a restraining order against him. Thinking he was not at home, she went to their former house to get some belongings. The two got into an argument. Alexander says that Gray threatened her and she feared for her life. Gray admits Alexander was acting in self-defense, intending to scare and stop but not harm him: “The gun was never actually pointed at me … The fact is, you know … she never been violent toward me. I was always the one starting it.” Ultimately nobody was hurt. On May 12, 2012, it took a jury 12 minutes to find Alexander guilty & sentence her to 20 years.
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