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
Lottakatz, upthread I saw that you sent me a very nice message and I guess I missed it up until now. I really thank you. I hope you get your computer gremlins out of there so I can hear more from you on this and other threads! (I still don’t know how to do smiley faces; Gene H has tried to teach me but I lost that website he sent me a while back…)
Southernbelle, yes, thank you for mentioning the West Memphis Three. I am on some list-serves that bring me info. on these cases. I first got involved in these cases because of the corruption, ignorance, and downright atrocity that I saw in the child abuse and violence against women arenas. I personally worked on 257 cases and we only succeeded in 6 of those. I just heard Friday of another one that went totally down the tubes in spite of three and a half years of hard work and an absolutely firm set of provable facts.
When you get a local fix in, no matter how you do that or why you do that, there is almost NEVER a way past that. In years and years as a presenter for the Public Health Service I have heard from doctors, police, nurses, social workers and other providers from all over the country, including your part of the country, and it really doesn’t change much from place to place. Only really the local accent is different.
Recently I saw an off-Broadway play called “Hurt Village” from your part of the country. The playwrite, Katori Hall, was from there. It was a hard play to watch but it was a magnificent piece of work. Set in the 80s.
Top Shot, I don’t have to defend Shano because (a) nobody has effectively attacked him and (b) he’s fine on his own, but it intrigues me that you call me out on his account. I was actually wondering a lot about him because he has the kind of sense that usually comes from a wide experience of various challenging environments. But since you mention it, of course this (and every other virtual place that people meet to discuss things, whether they like agreement or disagreement) is a game of wit. That is why I enjoy it at times; other times I enjoy it because I learn and don’t have to go far for my research; a third reason I like it is that I sharpen my fangs.
Tell George “hey” for me.
shano
Your earlier post George, is that you? blah, blah, blah. Is this a game of wit?
Top Shot, it’s another one of the most frightening things that anyone has to endure to be out all alone in an unfamiliar place with a guy following you, approaching you and confronting you, and you’re not armed, and you don’t know why he is angry.
top shot: George? Is that YOU? Did your lawyer give you permission to post on line?
malisha
Thank God shano had the good sense to run. It undoubtedly saved his life.
i was reading a blog the other night with matt and some other guy whose name escapse me. boss or something similar. any idea under which topic they were commenting on
Top S, no chance of me “getting off” Zimmerman. Forget about that one.
My own history of violent struggles and those of any of the men on this thread are all irrelevant. MARTIN had never been in a violent struggle for HIS life before either. If you think I have whipped Z’s ass, as you put it, then his ass is easily whipped. All I have done is comment on something HE DID, that went public. I think what Z did was not done out of blind fear, but out of anger. Either way, it doesn’t really matter now, because to plead self-defense that man is going to have to get on the stand and testify, and if he does, any beating or ass-kicking I have ever given him is going to look like a picnic in the park compared to what the prosecutor is going to do. See, for the police, all he had to say was “he started it.” Once he’s under oath in court, it won’t be that easy. He better toughen up.
some witness stat. contradict each other. the only one that i would consider is the witness that z. was screaming at to get help. guess you guys think that was a conspiracy too. i’m outa here. hashing out any reason on this site is fruitless.
malish
about my being worked up. it takes a lot more then someone writing what they believe to be true, to get me riled up. i would bet none of you have been in a violent struggle for your life. well, i have. it’s somethin g you wimpy men couldn’t handle. cowardly people, especially men, are easily spotted. like i said, get off the man, you’ve alerady whipped his ass, but that wasn’t good enough. he had to just keep beating. shooting m. in the heart hade no signifigant self defense training behind it. it was done out of blind fear. pure and simple. say what you ‘think’ of me. cause that’s all you can do is guess. just like z.
why don’t we just profile both there backgrounds and see what we come up with. especially the tweets, they came right out of m. mouth.and OOHHH what a mouth that so called child had. his mother had lost control over him, so she sent him to his dads. the things he was doing in his hometown could or maybe would have made this happen there, at least something would have eventually happened, . it was just a matter of time. we have kids his age serving our country. 17 yrs. six months is the age requirement. he was no kid… getting off of z instead of straddling him, trying to beat him to death, that would have been the right thing to do. anything that happened before the fight started actually, by law, had nothing to do with SYG. if z. background i s being scrutinized then so should, as he calls hisself, “{nigga’} background.and nigga is martins words not mine.
Top Shot, you’re worked up, because you really believe Zimmerman was defending himself against a drugged-up thug who should have been taken care of by the police so Zimmerman wouldn’t have had to shoot him.
See, there’s one little thing missing in this scenario: facts. You, who carry on about us not having “proof” that Zimmerman followed Martin, have never even read a written police report of any bad behavior attributed to Trayvon Martin in the press. You’re willing to call him a thug and a criminal, how-ever. It’s built on your perceptions, your prejudices and your presumptions; and that is what the events of that night were built on, Zimmerman’s per-ceptions, Zimmerman’s prejudices and Zimmerman’s presumptions. This thread is not tragic. You huff and puff and call me biased and all kinds of this and that and I don’t care because I don’t know you and people whom I respect actually increase their respect for ME when I thrust and parry with your comments. But when someone like Zimmerman does real-world things out there with a real gun with real bullets, the same kind of approach can lead to the death of an innocent kid, which is what happened.
Zimmerman did this to Martin and couldn’t save himself from the conse-quences — yet. He profiled Martin because, yes, he really believed some-thing was wrong with Martin — although none of the negative comments you now bandy about regarding the boy were known to him when he got out of his car to chase the kid down. He chased Martin for a very obvious reason — HE gave the reason — “These assholes always get away.” That’s much more obvious and clear than “F*****g punks” or “coons” or “goons” or “cones” — “These assholes always get away” coupled with “Shit, he ran.” Zimmerman did this to Martin, and couldn’t save himself from the consequences — yet.
The “facts” you raise in Zimmerman’s defense are perhaps comforting to people who are aware that they would have acted like Zimmerman in like circumstances. You claim that Martin’s father did not recognize his son’s voice as the person on the tape screaming for help. I would suggest that if Tracy Martin is not an abuser (which he seems not to be, at all) then his son never had reason to scream out in such a voice when he was in earshot of his father. Nobody would have dared to hurt that kid while his father was standing by — so he never heard those blood-curdling screams that made the schoolteacher weep as she called 911. You want Zimmerman to wear his scrapes and boo boos like a badge of honor, like he was defending himself against a criminal thug — how foolish and cowardly. If you think you’re man enough to substitute yourself for the police and go running after a criminal alone without back-up on a dark night, mustn’t you also be the Bruce Willis of the Western World and mustn’t you get your knocks and bumps to prove it? Why carry on and weep and wail if you get a thumping, big guy? Can’t you take it?
Nah, the Zimmerman apologists are just that: Zimmerman apologists. And for killing an innocent unarmed child on a night in February in Florida because you have dreams of being Superman and Green Hornet and Batman and Spiderman all wrapped into one red wind-breaker (screaming “help help help”) you now will have to either stand trial or plead out.
And I can’t spare any sympathy for you. And those who have sympathy for you, that’s their perfect right. Can they ever convince me to change my view of it? I really doubt it and don’t feel the slightest bit ashamed to say so.
blind justice or black justice. get off of z.. let the police take the thug to jail, agter they search him and find something other then skittles. charge him with assult. the perfect, rightful ending.” topshot
This is the most racist thing I have read on this case. Trayvon Martin was searched and they found NO contraband whatsoever on his person. NONE.
The fantasy that he is a thug who would be carrying a gun and drugs is just that, a total fabrication, slander and racist. Incredible stereotyping profiling. Disgusting.
Just like the thoughts Zimmerman had about him that night.
“never trust a narrow minded person.”
No problem Top Shot, I’ll never trust you.
Your language is filled with bias and loaded phrases that show you are anything but a narrow minded person. “thug” “pot head”, your rants about Jackson and Sharpton etc, show you are part of the ideology that typically rants with these terms. You are a parrot of the right wing talking points. With predictability like yours, I’d be able to start taking bets without feeling like I’m gambling on predicting your sociopathic rants.
Your knowledge of self-defense is pathetic.
Your sense of responsibility is stunted.
And your blatant racism is not at all unlike your other gun promoting ilk. Utterly ignorant and insecure.
You want to convince people that getting out of your car with your gun is safer….clearly you have no idea what you’re talking about and are a sociopath with a weapon. You are paranoid towards a part of the community that you don’t know and are part of the problem when armed while so paranoid and bigoted.
If you want to rant on with your “thug” terms, you’ve got no ground to stand on. “thug” isn’t in policy. It is a racist term that many don’t understand. Take a nice read on British/Indian history to learn where “thug” came from and why its continued use is as racist now as it was then.
“It’s impossible to attack someone that you can no longer see. don’t turn your back on a suspicious pot head stranger in your own back yaard.”
WHAT?
suspicious pot head stranger…are you living in the 50s? are jumping out of a poor ad for the drug war? pot heads are not violent people automatically. Perhaps you should reflect upon the violence of the ‘suspicious alcoholics’ first because they are clearly more violent. That didn’t occur to your programmed bigotry.
But what is really jacked up about your narrative…everything in your white aryan privileged view starts by validating Zimmerman’s account as the sole proprietor of the right to be in this space. “your own back yaard” you wrote….actually, it was Zimmerman who was in Martin’s “own back yaard”…it was Zimmerman who got out of his car, a person unknown to Trayvon Martin, and pursued him. He was armed and had a chip on his shoulder “assholes always get away”. Trayvon Martin had no demonstrated motive to take anything out on Zimmerman unlike we have from Zimmerman’s “these assholes always get away” and clearly pursuing him.
Then you engage in character assassination as a way to get me to convict Trayvon Martin, ala jewelry, pot residue…eh…sorry, doesn’t work and most of that is inadmissible in court anyway for a reason. You haven’t demonstrated all the corn in Zimmerman’s sphincter so don’t do it to the dead boy.
But your take on self-defense is pathetic and unexamined macho nonsense. Just as I told one of the other folks around here before, you’re creating the problem when you enter the space with this shit between your ears. Your words show no caution. They are the equivalent of killing everything to feel safe instead of saying, “is it necessary”.
Your little parables of danger are bullshit, frankly. You describe threats in absolutes. The day you can learn how to use being corned to your advantage, then you’ll be able to lecture someone on self-defense. So long as you think you should never do that…you have nothing to offer but regurgitated gunfreak paranoid nonsense. It is rhetoric designed to get you to buy more bullets, more guns and more of their bullshit.
Your stereotyping should prevent you from ever serving on a jury.
Shano, and others, I’m used to a rather highbrow conversation on Jonathan Turley’s blog. Thanks for doing your part to do the best you can with this person.
OK topshot: your advice is just dumb. A person is much safer in their car under some street lights that they are on a dark path. You can get away much faster, you have a layer of protection with locking doors, a powerful engine, steel cladding. Now you go too far.
I was saved from attack by fleeing my house and locking myself in my car. Even though I didn’t have the keys, the criminal fled on foot to his car and I saw the interior light go on down the road so I knew I was safe. This also happened in the dark, exactly like the early evening when Zimmerman stalked Trayvon down that dark path.
George wants people to think Trayvon followed him back to his vehicle because that would be the REASONBLE thing to do.
shano.
i’m thankful that you got to what you consider a safe place. and wasn;t harmed. i can’;t think of much of anything that would be more frightening then a home invasion. and i seriously mean that. i might have just stood there and froze out of pure fright. no matter our differences, it took a brave person, not to mention a smart one, to make the move you did. i only mean that i would be afraid to stay in the car and not be able to run if someone i didn’t know and was leary of, came up to the car., that’s what i meant, by being stuck, no where to run. i’m glad the guy didn’t follow you out to the car. now do you understand better what i mean about getting out of the car? hell, i would have probably still been running. did you or any of your family get hurt? and did the poloice catch anyone.? just curious. i’ll say it again, that has to be one of the most frightening things that any one has to endure.
Never get cornered when you think u might be in a confrontation. Don’t sit in your car and be an easy target, a sitting duck. they can see you but you can’t see them.. It’s impossible to attack someone that you can no longer see. don’t turn your back on a suspicious pot head stranger in your own back yaard. you will get gashes on your head, from behind. don’t holler for help at an eye witness that comes up on you, he has to run and call 911. don’t let anyone keep beating you until you die. the confrontation started with why are you following me,.the tome of voice that came out of the first person that spoke started things with those aggressive words. look up all the tweets that someone had the foresite to save before the account was closed.you will see the real person, after all they don’t know ppl are going to read them later, never mess with someone that has attacked a bus driver, caught with stolen jewelry, caught with pot residue AND a pipe to smoke it. never trust a narrow minded person. they see only what they can imagine. nothing else. and they are more destructive then the media. never let the writings of someone fool you. .
i was wrong, i though tyou were rational, fair minded person. i never make the same mistake twice.you can’t attack someone if you don’t know where the hell they are.. not if you can’t see them. that’s not so hard for even a dumb ass to figure out. coon my ass.now you are smarter then the fbi. his own father admitted that it wasn;t his voice. get ur head out of your ass and look at some facts that you choose to deny. rarely do i misjudge people. but i’ve got to hand it to you. you really fooled this ole boy.no more wasting my time reading someone that can’t grasp any common sense. good night malisha. i’ve got better things and people to attend to.
blind justice or black justice. get off of z.. let the police take the thug to jail, agter they search him and find something other then skittles. charge him with assult. the perfect, rightful ending.
Top Shot, I agree with you on that one. Not only can an innocent person get targeted in the justice system, but once targeted, it’s not like on TV where some journalist or some crusader cop or some Senator or someone else goes in, interrupts the rotten process, and sets things right. There is NO ONE to set anything right. And it is not unusual. The reason you heard about the Marissa Alexander case is that the Trayvon Martin case brought Corey into the public eye and the “SYG” law was scrutinized (although it really is not the issue at all). But I have been working “without portfolio” in the Violence Against Women field for decades and what I have seen is that it is common for the victim to get picked up by the police, charged with a crime, and neutralized, so that the allegations made against the abuser are considered “non-credible.” It’s SOP in the VAWA world. It’s attributed to “backlash” but I don’t really think that’s the issue. I think the issue is simply that whoever has more power will get the justice system to do whatever he or she wants it to do — it is a corrupt system already, and very easy to manipulate if you are skilled at lying and at making yourself the “big victim.”
And who is the most adroit at making themselves the “big victims”? Why psychopaths, sociopaths, and people with antisocial personality disorder, that’s who. And a substantial number of those people are abusive to whoever in their environment is weaker than they are, or whomever they have targeted to be the objects of their infantile rage.
To say, yes, I agree with you, I do.
Top Shot, here’s a piece of comfort if it is: If you, or Manny, or Anon, or SouthernBelle, or [oh I can’t remember the other names] were to get targeted by the justice system, convicted of a crime you had not committed, and sentenced to death, I would be signing petitions for you as soon as they came around. AND THEY WOULD COME AROUND. I would be finding things wrong with the way you were convicted, and I would be finding problems that your defense counsel had not discovered, and I would be on the phone with the anti-death-sentence folks trying to help out, and when I got a spare $5 I’d send it in to save your life.
Now that’s not very much comfort if you happen to get killed because our justice system is an “injustice system,” but I’ll pledge it to you right now.
‘ your predijuiced, your perceptions, presumptions.’ i believe your words are exactly what you are doing with z. how did you get to know this guy so well? you have made him the villian since day one. and all this is based primarily on media reports.
Mccollum. actually my self defense is not a problem for me. i’m quite good at it. you call me a racist, psychopath, don’t you think that is a bit much. it’s obvious you canl’t take criticism, nor will you listen to ANY opinions unless they agree with yours. i would bet yoiu are one of these people that are afraid of a little ole gun. just like you accusede me of being afraid of what i don’/t know. stalker,raciwst killer, cop abuser. chip on his shoulder. etc…. when did you get to know z? i think its a little biased, racist to assume anything like some have done since this took place. you quote from the most unreliable source knon to man. the media. where is your proof that z. stalked, hunted down, and killed that poor little innocent teenager.? i’ll be glad to read anything you can provide about m. al the way from him attacking plain clothes cops, which you choose to leave out of your statement, and also domestic violence when he was 20. an he was the one with the injuries. your refusal to even listen to someone/anyone that has a differnt opinion then yours tells me a lot. what is the difference in profiling z without facts and profiling m. without facts. and you’re wrong, there is evidence of m. being aggressive, ask the bus driver. lots of stolen jewelry. maybe he was jus tshopping that day, with a bag of residue and a pipe. oh no, m. was a perfect honor student, a perfect little angel that wouldn’t confront anyone. and everything in your black priveledged aryon view validates m. and convicts z. you don’t know anything about g.z. yet your bigoted mind will have him being a rcist killer, stalker, or whatever come so your one sided mind. you, malisha, shano, mean noathing to me. you are in a class of your own. my wife does her own thing and i do mine on the internet, she read the post from you guys not knwing any of the details. said quote ,” those people aren’t very smart are they?”
mikeparamedic
You are totally accurate, there are many people that have no business carrying a gun, even with a lawful permit. I dont have any expectation of using my gun when i walk out the door. And I think a good ole fashioned ass kickin’ should be the only violence used in a confrontation that you can’t avoid. I’m really surprised at the perception people have on here about gun owners. You must be talking about another culture. You make us sound like gun totin’ gunslingin;’ trigger happy people. that is a totally wrong perception. we don’t feel that way, in my case anyway. i don’t have to worry about gettin my ass kicked. and it’s not why i carry a gun. i’ve had my share of black eyes and knots on my head, bar fights actually, and at no point did i pull my gun on anyone. i took my whippin’ like a man. he had no idea i was even armed. there was no reason for him to know. he whipped me fair and square. but if i should come across a jackass lookin to shoot my ass, and refuses to listen to reason, you bet i’ll use a weapon, be it gun, knife, black jack whatever. your perception of all gun owners/carriers isn’t quite accurate. but it might be profiling. i’m not a racist sociopath either. you people just can’t take criticism. you are right and noone else is. paranoid no, coward no. i would have gotten out of that car gun or not. all your perceptions are based on what? i want know, really. why are you so predjuiced against some one carrying a gun. have you been around many people that are gun advocates? you get way to upset to carry a weapon. of any kind. if these words on herer upset you that much perhaps you should not even carry a water gun. i also carry a knife, i guess that will really freak you out. i use it to cu t peoples throats when they approach me. and i you can’t see the sense of getting our of such a cospicious place, like the car, and not knowing who your dealing with, your the one that doesn’t know shit. and excuse me. i thought z. lived there and m. was sent there by his mother . after third suspension. my bad. please, rant all you want, espec. shano and malisha, i’m having dinner party tonight and putting this on the big screen will offer endless entertainment.
Malisha
What you’ve done all those years must have been gut wrenching, maddening, etc.. That was my job too actually, but I was responsible for protecting the elderly. I’ve seen these little elderly people be left to there own devices by there own families. Getting charges filed is practically impossible, the family was always going to ‘take care of that’. Abuse is rampant and hardly ever is it acknowledged. Most women don’t speak out of fear, but others say ‘she could have left’ it’s not that simple. It took me four yrs. three hospital stays, to get the courage to get out.
Wrongful conviction: are you familiar with the infamous West Memphis Three? That happened not far from here. Those teenagers spent 20 yrs. on death row for a crime they didn’t commit. The Innocence Project has freed 280 people, but the number of request they get are staggering. I realize some requests for services are guilty. but to date 280 freed, some on death row. I see no end in site either.
just one more thing. this case really bothers me on many levels. it’s something that i can;t keep out of my thoughts as much as i would like. .we are at the mercy of our justice system. i find that a little worrisome. and tha’s just plain our wrong.
malisha
i don’t understand your comment. is it wrong of me to think that jesse and al should use therr influence to draw national attention to this woman and help her ? i’m surprised at your comment, because i think you’re a stand up woman. and i’m not being a smart ass. i’ve went back and read most of your posts. tha’ts how i came to the conclusion that you’re a stand up woman and you don’t like to see people treated unjustly. i respect you and your opinions but you’re right, i don’t have a lot of respect for al and jesse. they have much more power with the media and lawmakers then i do. a real advocate shouldn’t pick and choose who they do or do not help.. they should be an advocate for all. i can;t keep from thinking that thry could use there influence and help this woman. whether i respect then or not makes absolutely no difference, i’m just a little blimp on the radar. they could get a news conference just by standing on the courthouse steps. . she has been unjustly accused and sentenced.and people listen to sharpton and jesse. and this woman really needs that kind of power to get her sentence overturned. i don’t even see how she could be charged in the first place. and i can’t believe the jury found her guilty.
you’re the one with the know how and brains. i wouldn’;t know how to start what you recommended. but i would bet anything that you have the know how, not to mention the integrity to do what’s right. . hell,i’m a rather educated man who can;t even type, or put my thoughts and opinions in writing. it doesn’;t always come across as i’ve intended. . no disrespect malisha, but your comment did disappoint me, you’re a better individual then that.
Top Shot,
Don’t imagine that I am only considering “what I wish things to be” from the night of 2/26/2012. Here is what I really WISH things to be from that night, Top Shot:
1. Zimmerman left his house either to go to the grocery or to go out “watching” his neighborhood, whatever.
2. Zimmerman saw Martin.
3. Zimmerman called the cops and said what he said on the call that we have all heard, the “these assholes always get away” call.
4. The Police then say to him, “Man, you need to calm down, we are on the way and we are in charge. AND if you keep following this guy we are gonna arrest you.”
5. Zimmerman listens and gets back in his car.
6. The police arrive and ask trayvon Martin where he’s going.
7. He tells them and they tell George Zimmerman, “Listen, buddy, you need to stop being such an alarmist; it’s not good for your health.”
8. Zimmerman gets help.
THE END
top shot
what amazes me is noone will consider anything other then what they wish things to be. too many things hapened that night for some one to call the shots already. disgusting