ATTORNEY MICHAEL G. DOWD - PIONEER IN BATTERED WOMEN'S MOVEMENT LAUNCHES FIGHT FOR MARISSA ALEXANDER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michael G. Dowd, Esq.

Phone: (212) 751-1640

Contact: Lincoln Alexander

Phone:    641-715-3900 ext.: 115615

ATTORNEY MICHAEL G. DOWD - PIONEER IN BATTERED WOMEN'S MOVEMENT LAUNCHES FIGHT FOR MARISSA ALEXANDER

(New York, New York) – 5/29/2012 – Attorney Michael G. Dowd brings over 30 years to the table in defending battered women. Dowd is known to have an exceptional history in fighting for battered women and feels that Marissa Alexander's case is one of the worse examples of domestic and judicial abuse that he's encountered.

Marissa Alexander suffered extensive beatings by her husband and has most recently been beaten up by the Florida judicial system. Alexander was handed a 20 year sentence on May 11, 2012 as a result of firing a warning shot into the wall. Alexander feels that the shot saved her life - it scared off her obsessively abusive husband. The incident occurred just days after giving birth.

Attorney Michael Dowd's legal advocacy efforts have attracted support globally. His dedication to fighting for battered women brings years of expertise to the movement for Marissa Alexander's Freedom. 

FREE MARISSA (PSA). MAY 29TH 2012 @ HEMMING PLAZA

Justice For Marissa March & Rally May 29th Jacksonville Florida

Marissa Alexander, a mother of 3, MBA (Masters of Business Administration), had no prior criminal record; was attacked by her husband who has a known and documented history of domestic abuse on August 1, 2010.  Marissa was arrested after she fired a warning shot into the wall - after her husband threatened to kill her.

Join us on May 29th, 2012 at Hemming Plaza in Jacksonville, Florida at 8:00AM sharp as we march to the new courthouse. Speakers, Musical tributes & much more.

Marissa Alexander's Father Raoul Jenkins And First Husband Lincoln

Rally/March May 29, 2012 Jacksonville Florida

March and Rally

Date:   May 29, 2012
Time:   8:00AM
Place: Hemming Plaza - Jacksonville, Florida

•  Marissa Alexander is a victim of domestic violence who fired a warning shot into a wall because she was afraid of another attack by her abusive husband. NO ONE GOT HURT!
• A year earlier, an attack by her husband sent Marissa to emergency room and resulted in a restraining order against him. This was not his first domestic violence offense. 
•  Minutes before the incident, her husband told her “if I can’t have you, nobody is going to have you.” She shot at the wall as he approached her.
• Ms. Alexander was arrested for Aggravated Domestic Assault under Florida Statute 784.021(2), which is a third degree felony carrying a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison.
• Based on this charge, she probably would have received one year in the county jail because she had no prior criminal record.

State Attorney Angela Corey’s office had the sole discretion to add Florida’s 10-20-Life enhancement (F.S.775.087(2)(a)2.) to increase the minimum sentence to 20 years. FACT CHECK ON THE CHARGES AGAINST MARISSA ALEXANDER Ms. Alexander, a mother of 3, who currently holds a Master’s Degree and had no prior criminal record; was attacked by her husband who has a known and documented history of domestic abuse on August 1, 2010. Alexander was arrested after she fired a warning shot into the wall after her husband threatened to kill her.

Marissa desperately needs help paying legal expenses.

Donate

www.justice4marissa.com

Message of Thanks From Marissa Alexander

I would like to whole heartedly express my sincerest and immense gratitude for each and every person who has supported me in any form available to you.  I can tell you all that my conscience is clear and I can look in the mirror and love what I see and who I am because I have maintained my innocence and more importantly I am a daughter of the most high.  Moving forward, as facts come out and discussions happen and certain aspects spark dialogue, I ask that you try and place yourself in my situation, or perhaps, your daughter, sister, mother or friend.  This could have been anyone and it truly has been anyone and countless others that have been, can be or will be affected with issues similar to mine on one scale or another because my story is multi-dimensional.  So I leave you with this thought, please continue to do everything you are doing to support this and more.  Be cautious of the games of those that oppose, and that is to have everyone running around with fire extinguishers when there really is a flood.  Again, thank you for your support. 
                                                            -Marissa Alexander

Congressman Corrine Brown on Marissa Alexander (Jacksonville, FL) Ruling

Congresswoman Corrine Brown Deplores Marissa Alexander Ruling (Washington, DC) Congresswoman Brown made the following statement: Earlier today, I watched in horror and extreme sadness as a judge sentenced Marissa Alexander, a documented victim of domestic violence, to a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison for firing warning shot into the air after she was attacked by her husband. This African American woman didn’t hurt anyone and now she might not hug her children for twenty years.

 The imbalance in this case was abundantly clear in the courtroom. On the State’s Attorney side of the room, I saw nine prosecutors and twenty officers. On Marissa’s side, I saw a lone defense attorney doing his best in what clearly an unfair fight. My first step in this case will be to bring in the nation’s best experts in domestic violence law. The Florida criminal justice system has sent two clear messages today. One is that if women who are victims of domestic violence try to protect themselves, the “Stand Your Ground Law” will not apply to them. Just minutes before the incident, Marissa’s husband told her “if I can't have you, nobody going to have you.” Millions of abused women have heard those words. Abused women like Marissa, who has a master’s degree and no prior record, need support and counseling so they don’t find themselves in these situations to begin with.

 Arresting and prosecuting them when no one was hurt does not help anyone. Even worse, mandatory minimum sentences just make the system appear arbitrary and cruel. The second message is that if you are black, the system will treat you differently. A mere fifty miles away in Sanford Florida, a white man who shot a black teenager and claimed self-defense was not even arrest until community leaders and people around the world expressed their outrage. I have spoken to countless lawyers and they have yet to discover any cases in Florida where an African American was able to successfully use the “Stand Your Ground Law” defense in a hearing.” Another step I will take is to call for a study into racial disparities in the application of this law. What I didn’t see in the courtroom today is mercy or justice. The three year plea deal from Angela Corey is not mercy and a mandatory twenty year sentence is not justice. I hope that the people will come to Marissa’s defense as the system has so utterly failed her. This is just the beginning, not the end.

WIS TV.com Marissa Alexander's Father and Step Mother - Interview

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A mother of three is looking at spending at least the next 20 years in prison for what she describes as "standing her ground."

DOCUMENTS

Click here to read the deposition in the Marissa Alexander case.

It's a case that's just starting to make national news -- given the similarities to the Trayvon Martin case.

How are the two cases similar? Marissa Alexander's family claims that she was protecting and defending herself on her own property.

Alexander, 31, who is a licensed weapons holder, says she took a stand against her abusive husband at their home 2 years ago and now she's being punished.

Her father, Raoul Jenkins, who lives in Columbia, says he didn't know half of what was going on with his oldest daughter in Jacksonville, Florida until she went on trial for her life.

"She told me why she did not tell me or her brother, which is my oldest son here in Columbia, because we would have went down there," Jenkins said.

According to court documents, Alexander's husband, Rico Gray, had a history of domestic violence toward her and other women. They were married in mid-May. Jenkins says he went down in June to get her to move out.

"I told her at that time, 'Marissa, if I'm coming down there, this is it, you make sure you press charges because he has no business -- no man should hit a woman. Make sure you press charges because I'm not going to run back and forth to Jacksonville because you're going back to him. I don't want that to happen,'" Jenkins said.

Unbeknownst to him, Alexander says the abuse continued. In August 2010, another incident happened. This time, fearing for her life, she got her gun from her glove compartment and fired a warning shot in her ceiling. No one was hurt, but she was arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

"When you're the abuser and you turn around and make the victim the bad guy and when the system allows that to happen, that's a sad story," Jenkins said.

Alexander's stepmother, Karen Jenkins, says she doesn't know why stand your ground is not a valid defense.

"If [George] Zimmerman, who killed someone -– an unarmed innocent child -– and was given that right, why couldn't someone that had documented in the system, been abused, said she was fearful of her life, why was she denied that right?" Karen said.

A judge said Alexander had other options and could have escaped out of a window or front door and she did not have to fire that shot.

"The whole family was devastated," Karen said. 

Alexander had a protection order out against her husband that was active at the time of incident. She was supposed to be sentenced Monday for the aggravated assault charges, but the judge delayed it since her attorney has filed motions for a new trial.

The Case of Marissa Alexander on Our Common Ground