Marissa Alexander case - stand your ground, warning shots, and always carry

[jack76590]

Mas,

The Marissa Alexander case is interesting. She tried stand your ground defense and lost.

Not only did she fire a warning shot, but it appears she did not regularly carry her handgun on her person. I wonder how these two factors affected the verdict.

I can envision the case being made she was looking for trouble, that she could have avoided, when she picked up her gun. If she had been wearing the gun on regular basis this case would be more difficult to make.

Also if she fired warning shot she may not really have been in fear for her life.

So I wonder if she had carried her gun on routine basis and shot the guy, if she would not be better off. Any thoughts?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/justice/florida-stand-ground-sentencing/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[Mas Ayoob]

Can't answer the question without being deeper into the case, and not having been involved with it, all I know is that 20 years for THAT seems awfully Draconian.

The curse of mandatory sentencing is that it doesn't allow judges to, in their own words, craft appropriate sentences for the verdicts that land on their benches.

best,
Mas