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Who is Marissa Alexander and why does she face 60 years in prison?
  • About Marissa Alexander: Marissa Alexander is a proud African American mother of three, a loving daughter and sister, she has earned an MBA, she’s a woman of faith, and she’s a survivor of domestic violence.  In 2012, Ms. Alexander was sentenced to twenty years in the Florida criminal correctional system for defending herself from her abusive estranged husband.  Nine days after giving birth to a premature child, she fired a single warning shot upwards into a wall to halt her abusive partner during a life-threatening beating.  
  • About Rico Gray: Ms. Alexander’s estranged husband, Rico Gray, has been arrested for domestic violence twice and previously landed Ms. Alexander in the hospital after beating her.  Gray admitted in a sworn statement that he was the aggressor, threatened her life and was so enraged that he did not know what he would do.  Gray also described his beatings of other women with whom he was involved.
  • Marissa Alexander’s incarceration: Despite the fact that Marissa Alexander caused no injuries and has no previous criminal record, and despite the fact that Florida’s self-defense law includes the right to “Stand Your Ground,” she was arrested by Jacksonville police and charged with aggravated assault. She rejected a 3 year plea bargain because maintained her innocence and right to defend her life. After 12 minutes of deliberation, a jury of 6 people convicted Ms. Alexander of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm. Her sentence was set at 20 years in part due to the state’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Marissa Alexander successfully appealed the trial, overturning the guilty verdict on 9/26/13.  She was released on bond on 11/27/13 and is now under home detention. While under home detention, she must pay $105 every week for the use of an ankle monitor, and $500 every other week for the bond cost.  If she had been found guilty in a new trial, she faced a tripled mandatory sentence of 60 years for self-defense.
  • Latest status of Marissa's case, as of November 24, 2014: Marissa Alexander accepted a plea deal with the State of Florida.  The plea deal includes time served (1,030 days), an additional 65 days in Duval County Jail which will begin today, and two years of probation while serving house detention and wearing a surveillance monitor.  Read Free Marissa Now's official statement.
OTHER RESOURCES
  • Timeline of Marissa's case
  • Marissa's description of her experience of domestic violence and her choice to defend her life
  • Fact sheet on Marissa Alexander’s case, from the Pacific Northwest Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander (pdf)
  • Free Marissa Now Talking Points (pdf) (especially useful for op/eds, media, and addresses various questions that have come up about Marissa’s case)

MEDIA RESOURCES
(These are helpful articles and interviews that investigate the facts about Marissa's case, and challenge misinformation about the details of her experience of domestic violence and self defense.)