By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Angela Corey has become a minor legal celebrity for her tough-minded prosecution of the Trayvon Martin murder case. Her toughness has also drawn the ire of U.S. House member Corrine Brown in a racially charged case in Jacksonville. The case involves Marissa Alexander who was charged under Florida’s “10-20-life” law which mandates progressively tough penalties for violent felonies when firearms are involved.
Saying he had no choice, Judge James Daniel sentenced the mother of an 11-year-old to 20 years in prison after a jury convicted her of aggravated assault for firing a warning shot to discourage her estranged husband from choking her. In a cruel irony another judge had rejected Alexander’s invocation of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, ruling she wasn’t in fear for her safety when she returned to her house to get the car keys she had forgotten after she ran into her garage in an attempt to escape.
The prosecutor was singled out for failing to exercise discretion in the case. “There is no justification for 20 years,” Brown told Corey, “All the community was asking for was mercy and justice.”
Corey had offered Alexander a plea deal which carried a three year sentence. Alexander bet on the good sense of the jury, and crapped out. Judge Daniel seemed frustrated by the case:
“Under the state’s 10-20-life law, a conviction for aggravated assault where a firearm has been discharged carries a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years without regarding to any extenuating or mitigating circumstances that may be present, such as those in this case.”
Rep. Brown was not so diplomatic saying, “She was overcharged by the prosecutor. Period. She never should have been charged.” Brown, the Jacksonville congresswoman, told reporters that the case was a product of “institutional racism.” Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing.
Mandatory minimum sentences ignore mitigating factors and punish under a “bright-line” test. They are the darling of the “law and order” crowd who see the world in stark shades of black and white and who eschew any discretion for “lily-livered” judges who have the disturbing habit of mixing compassion and justice in sentencing decisions.
Proponents of the 1999 “10-20-life” law point to the fact that violent gun crime rates have dropped 30 percent statewide since the law was enacted. Is 20 years fair for a woman trying to defend herself? Should the prosecutor have heeded Rep. Brown’s suggestion and backed off the charges altogether? Can a law be just in the face of a result that flies in the face of “natural justice”?
Source: CNN
`Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Top shot, why should you wait for Al and Jesse to race into the Marissa Alexander case? You’re a stand-up guy: YOU DO IT. You organize a massive rally for this woman. You get the stories into the press about how you’re not going to stand still for this injustice. Don’t just stand there ranting at folks, DO something.
Don’t ask where Al and Jesse are, you don’t respect them anyway. Get involved yourself and solve the problem. You know how!
shano
wait till al and jesse see if they can tie race into it. and you can bet it will be the same thing. i just don;t think they can make much of this because there wasn’t a white involved. they can’t make money on this one like,along with martins mother, they did with that case. THIS WOMAN NEEDS THEM. WHERE ARE THEY? THIS IS REAL REASON FOR A MARCH.
where were jesse and all for this woman. there’s something wrong with this. corey wants her fame. she spouts on natl. tv that she will make sure everyone, including z. will be treated fairly and also civil rights for everyone. all the time she’s doing this she’s got her head up the matins ass. your damn right z. was discriminated against, right from the start. z. lawyer didn’t want evidence made public for the safety of witnesses. to be worried about peoples behavior is very embarassing to me. and i’m ashamed for other people from around the world watch the us citizens show how ignorant they really are. hope to GOD they know that not everyone is biased, racist and self righteous to the point of emberassing and degrading the decent GOD fearing citizens in this country.
sling t
yeah, i would walk the other way, and no. my family would not pull a gun.on other family, or whatever ridiculous statemnt u made. your arguments are ridiculous and don’t make any sense. OF COURSE, the issue to avoid any possible violent situation is first and foremost. People who carry guns are not all crazy or trigger happy. And for every video you can show me of a creep that did’t have a gun i can show you one that did have a gun. i dont know what the hell coreys deal is, but she overcharged in zimmerman case, and this is criminal of her not to step in and drop all charges. WHY DID SHE CHARGE HER IN THE FIRST PLACE? as far as the gov. stepping in and charging zim with a racial crime. that’s bull shit. it is clearly on the tape that when asked what color this person was zimm clearly states he doesn’;t know. how can you prosecute a race crime after hearing that statement. Martin should have kept on going instead of coming back. since when is getting out of your car, or walking behind someoen a crime. it’s not. martin is being portrayed in the media as a 12 yr old honor student. bull. he was violent, just ask the bus driver he jumped, and i would bet money there was pot sold out of that baggie. two sides to every story. and gray areas are there too.and wishing that someone be charged for hate crimes is hate itself. i’ve always found that if you wish/do bad things to other people you will get what’s coming to you sooner or later. narrow minded people make me sick. the truth will never be known about that night. and the girls phone call, now way she can recall everything, and what she does recall is probably sketchy.i think m. was trying to impress her, bad ass that he was in his town, didn;’t work for him this time. if z. gets a fair trial it will be a miracle, maybe the white, yellow, whatever color should have a march. no wait, we have to much pride in our race for that. we stand our own groiund. not hide behind something as stupid as racism. utterly disgusting. teach your kids to be proud of being black, teach them it’s a good thing. not to blame the ignorance of white people 200 ys ago. noone can forget. because we are reminded of it constantly, such as the martin case. i saw her mothers day ad, i muted it. she’ s not the only woman to loose a boy and she’s making money off of her kids death. that turns my stomach. she herself said it was a mistake.
sling t you are from a whole different place. you have your mind made up about guns and so do i. you are ignorant of the real relevance. you are what we call a desk man, you know that thing you sit behind most of the day.hell, your car is a deadly weapon. too. judge, judge judge. your all doing the same thing that your accusing zimm of. it’s time to stop. and it’s time to consider that martin wasn’t the innocent little boy everyone has been led to believe. he was caught with large amount of stolen jewelry, expensive stuff, he had a large flat head screwdriver on him also. now what the hell do you think he needed that for. maybe rob someone or use it on the bus driver he tried to attack. listen to the facts. and don’t make judgements that you can’t deliver facts on.
What would interest me about the Marissa Alexander case would be the police reports that they took when Rico Grey went into the police station. We read the police report filed by Officer Ayala in the Trayvon Martin case. Does anybody know how to find the one filed in the Alexander case? Or the several filed in the Alexander case?
And what does my justice essay above have to do with Trayvon Martin?
Well, in reality Trayvon can be classed as a black class action.
Some dealers in power work on the national level. And they may be dealing in things you can’t put in your pocket, but are worth a great deal on certain concealed markets.
Such things may be maintaining the Jim Crow system.
Well bless your innocent white trash soul, the Jim Crow is only an extension to that which you are exposed to. Did you never understand that before?
How do you like your associate job at Walmart, by the way. Have they broken you in yet. Oh, your back is broken! Sad.
So if some black 10 percent of the pop. gets better general conditions, then you get a free ride, to better times and worse profits for the corporations.
Why would you get it? Why you don’t think they get it for free either, do you? They will be doing a political service, one vote at a time.
So, it’ll be clothed in something politically broad and more likely to get liberal and independent votes too. So that’s how one hand washes the other and we all in Heaven will be squeaky clean. Even you WalMart fodder. They raised the minimum wage by 10 cents last week. but better times will come the closer we get to election day. Be so sure.
Hallelujah in the great bye n bye. Wonder why that’s not so popular these days. My depression friends liked it. FDR taught them that. Called it the New Deal. New Deal? That’s the one the Republicans are rescinding, law by law. Smart people, wish they were working for us. But the Kochs gave the highest bid.
Hope it was not too nebulous for y’all.
Malisha has expanded the justice for sale disease to not only infect Florida, but to other southern states.
Thus a disdainful question: Is that why they (used to) call it the “Solid South”.
Well, now it is the “Solid S#/%&t South”.
And I note with pride, that using Z. pere (father) and explainng how his model of justice gave him power even so far away as Florida, was explained previously by myself. That I did it is irrelevant (=easier to remember), but that it was said clearly and unequivocally is the important thing. And I claimed it infected the whole nation, where the territorial rights to corruption are well regulated behind the scenes. It is not for naught that the term “back room politics” was once a popular term in America.
Point to where the shit is and folks know why it stinks here.
Such seemingly odd remnants of justice as magistrates can corruptly serve those with primarily a need of “justice”, who will return favors which can be cashed in in local filthy lucre. (it ain’t obscure, it’s not even poetic justice).
And let us now realize that each and every state, each and every community has corrupt secret wielders of power. Whether it is the preacher, the priest better connected to the Vatican than to God, the Sheriff who runs an incarceration for profit company (and feeds it using his official power), the banks whose needs are always in line with what the politicians determine, and the list goes on and on.
If you think you are getting screwed, then may I remind you they are at best only the one percent.
However the peak has many willing hands which broaden the effect as you descend the pyramid.
Is this a perverted example of the “trickle down” effect.
The best thing about the system with individual states is that it gives such fantastic possibilities to develop new ways to profit, greeding, sorry feeding on the people below.
Obviously, this may be one of the reasons we once found it profitable to let the poor immigrants come to populate our sweat shops, and other enterprises with bodies willing to be broken.
But that leads into the question of false agencies and protections like workmen’s compensation. And the discussion gets too broad.
Summary: As the saying goes: Dig where you stand. The dirt is there. And even a kernel of truth.
And if your mayor sticks his head up out of the hole and asks what you are doing, you can say: “I’m working for the government, MY government.”
I guess this is as good a place as any to share this….
http://americanvisionnews.com/3343/federal-judge-upholds-jury-nullification-kills-fbi-sting-against-informing-jurors
OK, I know a guy who sued the prosecutor for not drawing a felony warrant for HIS ex-wife. Took it all the way to the US Supreme Court and still lost but he was so into it. I think it becomes a substitute for sex for some of these guys! (O BTW, that guy who failed to force the prosecutor to draw the warrant? He went one county over, lied to a MAGISTRATE JUDGE who did the same job that George Zimmerman’s father did before retirement, and got the warrant he wanted from that other county, although the prosecutor there was already aware that it was bogus. Not Florida, but yes, the South.)
Rico Grey RAN to the police station to get them to go arrest his wife.
What a bad ass.
Dredd1, May 12, 2012 at 8:15 am
Florida has an idiot magnet, located somewhere near Tallahassee, that draws weird officials.
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hahahahaha! that is so true!
oh, I live here……dammit……
This sucks, I’m dealing w/an old issue of Windows and my most recent install is broken, won’t even let me upgrade with the service packs. Every posting has to be done more than once. Only one place I visit and try to post that doesn’t keep asking me to sign in even after I checked the ‘remember me’ box and losing my postings. Half the time spellcheck throws me out to my homepage. I need another complete install. Anyway, that’s one of the reasons I lurk- can’t post for sh*t. Miss talking to you all. Sorry Shano, twice I answered but it just isn’t working- it’s Windows I’m sure. If this posts at least you know why I’m not answering you and every third word is mis-spelled. 🙂 Bah, humbug.
IT’S SO STUPID IT’S CONTAGIOUS!!
OMG OMG OMG!!
FLORIDA JUDGES NEED FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATIONS!!
“Evidently so, since the State of Florida cited this as part of their reason for denying her immunity from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground statute:
instead of shooting at [husband] (as one would do if they were truly in fear of their life) the Defendant chose to fire mere inches to the right of his face to scare him.”
In the league of absolutely broken thinking, that one would have to be to be way up on the leader board.
It would never allow anyone to take *just enough* action to prevent something.
It says, ‘if a gun comes into the picture, you *have* to shoot someone. Shoot to kill if you really want to show how scared you were. Shooting to disable displays a certain lack of panic.’
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/23/marissa-alexander-shoot-to-kill-or-you-must-not-be-scared-enough/
Unlike Mr. Zimmerman who stalked and confronted his attacker, Ms. Alexander was trying to get away from hers. In fact, the Stand Your Ground law specifically acknowledges domestic situations and orders of protection. Unlike Mr. Zimmerman, Ms. Alexander did not kill her husband or even wound him, she fired to scare him into leaving her alone.
Is that the problem? Unless you shoot to kill, are you really in reasonable fear of bodily injury or death? Or is the bias against battered women, specifically battered black women, still going strong in America’s court rooms?
Evidently so, since the State of Florida cited this as part of their reason for denying her immunity from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground statute:
instead of shooting at [husband] (as one would do if they were truly in fear of their life) the Defendant chose to fire mere inches to the right of his face to scare him.
Another interesting tidbit, is the court’s issue with Ms. Alexander heading for the garage where her vehicle was parked. According to the judge, she passed multiple exits on her way to the garage and surely a person in fear for their life would have run out the first available door. Hmm, I thought the Castle Doctrine specifically stated that a person was not required to flee their home but could defend themselves in it? But even so, if I was scared for my life, would I want to walk away or drive away?
Of course, the vehicle is where Ms. Alexander stored her handgun and the court’s implication is that’s what she specifically went to get. What if she did? She was being physically threatened in her home by someone who wasn’t legally allowed to be there. What a shame he wasn’t a stranger, that would have changed everything. And just to up the ante, the denial of her self-defense claim was handled by none other than Angela Corey, special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case.
Stigma Facing Battered Woman
An Order of Protection issued to Ms. Alexander in 9/30/09 ran until 10/8/10. The order was still in effect when she was arrested on August 1, 2010.
In the husband’s deposition, he acknowledges four episodes of domestic violence, prior to pushing his wife into the bathtub where she hit her head and needed to go to the hospital. Mr. Alexander ran that time too, but he was the one arrested. These are matters of judicial record.
Interestingly enough, in denying Ms. Alexander immunity under Stand Your Ground, the state cited the following:
There is no evidence before this court that the Defendant experienced great bodily harm during this incident or any previous incidents of alleged abuse.
Nice to know in Florida, you can get an order of protection for no reason at all. Why should she be afraid of man who made this statement under oath:
She’s a little person so it doesn’t take much for me to pick her up and tote her out my front door and lock my door.
And in response to the question if he’d been charged with domestic violence by women other than Ms. Alexander:
I want to say I think it was one, but it might have been two.
Nice, he’s not even sure how many times. No wonder the prosecutor was confused.
It seems like this law is so subjective that it is enforced depending on who is killed , who is shooting, etc. Look at this case, there was no physical contact, the shooter was inside a CAR!
Still no charges: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ZfjKNAm2U&feature=related
Shano, the duty to retreat is not included in the plain language of the law. In the application of the law such considerations are irrelevant. The lack of a stated criteria for application of the law within its four corners fosters different outcomes if other considerations are overlayed on the incident and given weight. I would argue for both that the only criterion is fear for ones life/serious bodily injuty and there should be no other consideration under the language of the law.
It’s a bad law.
lottakatz, The prosecutor and a judge did not think Marissa was covered by the SYG law- because she COULD have RETREATED. She went back to the house to get her keys.
So why would it cover Zimmerman when he COULD have RETREATED and not followed Trayvon Maritn? Especially after the dispatcher told him not to follow.
Malisha,
To answer your questions yes, this prosecutor did charge Zimmerman but after a public outcry, originally there was no charge based on the SYG law. Based on that law, no charge may well be appropriate for him. I’m not defending Zimmerman, just say’n that the law in all its over-broad majesty, may well get him off. Or not depending on how the juror’s feel. That’s the problem with the law, at every step in the justice process some functionary unit can apply it as they deem fit.
I recall reading an EEO decision that stated that not having any, or few and over-broad criteria (for promotion) could easily give rise to subconscious impulses of discrimination. That statement fits the SYG law perfectly.
I see racism in both cases with a dose of sexism thrown into the mix in the Alexander case. In the Alexander case, the prosecutor chose to ignore it as did the judges and jury yet it could easily be applied. I think prosecutors have way too much latitude in charging and piling on charges.
While I mostly lurk for a while now I’m glad to see you are posting regularly, your postings have been interesting and entertaining. Regarding your statement “I’m not challenging your opinion if that is your opinion, I just wonder if I have misunderstood you.” feel free. 🙂 But I must say your innate
courtesy to everyone on the blawg speaks well of you. I’m glad you post here.
Good point Shano! Should we send out one of those messages like the library sends you when your books are due? “Calling all Zimsters, Calling all Zimsters, come defend another shooter!”