A Florida woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a gun in her home during a domestic dispute was granted a retrial, WSVN TV reported.
Marissa Alexander, 32, of Jacksonville, Florida, has been used as a primary example against Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, which was the center of the Trayvon Martin trial earlier this year.
The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that Alexander deserves another trial citing a misinformed jury as the reason, claiming the judge did not efficiently explain to jurors what is needed to prove self-defense.
Judge Robert Benton wrote that the instructions constituted a "fundamental error" and required Alexander to prove self-defense "beyond a reasonable doubt" in his ruling.
However, Benton said the court was right in prohibiting Alexander from using the state's "stand your ground" law to defend her action.
According to Alexander, she fired the bullet into the wall after she felt threatened by her husband, Rico Gray. No one was injured during the incident.
Gray has a history of violence against women and had a restraining order against him at the time of the incident. However, he claimed in court that Alexander was the aggressor in the situation and begged her to put the gun down.
A jur deliberated for 12 minutes before finding her guilty.
The jury convicted her under the "10-20-Life" law, which carries mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes. The prosecutor in Alexander's case, Angela Corey, was the same attorney who prosecuted George Zimmeran. When asked about double standards in the application of the controversial Florida law, Corey responded "I think social media is going to be the destruction of this country."
Supporters of Alexander protested to Gov. Rick Scott for her release, but her case has not been taken to the state's clemency board yet.
