Marissa Alexander’s Sentence Could Triple In Second Trial

Marissa Alexander, 33, the Jacksonville mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband, now faces up to 60 years in prison for the same crime, reports Jacksonville.com.

Florida state prosecutor Angela Corey, the same prosecutor who has been unable to get convictions for child killers George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn, is retrying Alexander after a judge decided that the first trial put the burden of proof on Alexander to prove that she was abused.Alexander’s estranged husband, Rico Gray, Sr., admitted that he had threatened to kill her and would have hurt her if his children had not have been present during their altercation.

“If my kids weren’t there, I knew I probably would have tried to take the gun from her,” Gray said. “If my kids wouldn’t have been there, I probably would have put my hand on her.” When Alexander’s defense attorney asked him what he meant by “put my hand on her,” Gray replied, “probably hit her. I got five baby mammas and I put my hands on every last one of them except for one.”

Alexander, 33, was previously convicted in 2012 of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Circuit Judge James Daniel under the state’s 10-20-life law. Daniel actually imposed three separate 20-year sentences on Alexander but ordered that they be served concurrently, which meant Alexander would get out in 20 years.

The conviction was thrown out after the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee ruled that Daniel made a mistake in shifting the burden to Alexander to prove she was acting in self-defense. During jury instructions, Daniel said she must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was battered by her husband.