Marrisa Alexander Case Essay

A crime that recently happened was the Marrisa Alexander case. A mother of 3 sentence to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband. Can we use rational choice theory to state that Marrisa Alexander, was a delinquent who committed this crime with all understanding of the law and knowledge of penalty? Physical and verbal abuse can blur the line for a victim that rational thinking may sometimes become and irrational. We will review if Ms. Alexander case, to better understand was this crime committed by a criminal or someone under duress, was rationality used during this incident, and was all preventive measures taken to prevent this crime or was this a case where the law provided no justice for the victim.

Marrisa

This law state that a person may use deadly force in self-defense without a duty to retreat when faced with a reasonable perceived threat. Ms. Alexander was living with her mother at the time of incident. She had just given birth to her 3rd child 9 days ago. Ms. Alexander recently acquired a restraining order against her husband which he violated by showing up at her mother’s house and attempted to corner her in the bathroom. Ms. Alexander pushed passed him and went to her car and got her gun which she was license to carry. She came back into the house and ask her husband to leave several time and he would not. She shot her gun one time as a warning shot. When Gray (her estranged husband) called 911, Ms. Alexander was arrested. Her motion for “stand your ground” was rejected by a judge. In August 2011, a judge rejected a motion by Alexander's attorney to grant her immunity under the "Stand your Ground" law. According to the judge's order, "there is insufficient evidence that the Defendant reasonably believed deadly force was needed to prevent death or great bodily harm to herself," and that the fact that she came back into the home, instead of leaving out the front or back door "is

She was educated having earned a bachelor’s degree, further working and taking care of her children. Yet behind this happy person was a victim of abuse both physically and emotionally by her husband. She took all necessary steps to protect herself by using the law to her advantage, this is why she filed a restraining order. Yet research shows these orders do not stop a criminal from attacking the victim again. Ms. Alexander decided to get a gun which was registered to her in order to protect herself from her abuser which was her lawful right. After further review of this case we see that Mr. Rico Gray (the estranged husband) was the criminal and not Ms. Alexander. In the moment of the incident, I do not believe that Ms. Alexander acted rational or was logic but acted out of fear and weariness. Her actions where the result of wanting to survive and she this is a classic case of someone who has been abused fighting back. People who are exposed to domestic violence often experience physical, mental or spiritual shifts that can endure and worsen if they are not