Local

WOKV legal analyst: Alexander plea deal is a 'win-win'

Jacksonville mother Marissa Alexander accepted a plea deal which effectively ends her court system battles dating back to August 2010 when she was first charged with three counts of domestic aggravated assault.

More than four years later, Alexander is pleading guilty to all three felony charges.  Similar to the plea deal offered to her before her first trial, the state is agreeing to waive the 20-year minimum mandatory sentence for each charge.  Instead of facing 60 years in prison, Alexander is sentenced to three years in jail.

The state also agrees to give her credit for time already served, so Alexander only has 65 more days to serve in jail.  She is set to be released from the Duval County Jail in late January.  After that she will serve two years house arrest.

“So it’s a win for everybody,” says WOKV legal analyst Mark Rubin.  “The prosecution gets a conviction in a highly publicized case, and Marissa Alexander gets to go home and be free in a couple months.”

Rubin says plea deals often happen in criminal cases like this, which he calls a “he-said she-said” case.

“It could go either way,” he says.  “So if you can get a settlement, it’s always a good result, particularly in a case like this.”

Rubin says Jacksonville will also be spared extra media attention that would have come from her retrial, which was scheduled to start in December before the plea deal was reached.

“This case will quietly recede into the back pages,” he says.

Marissa Alexander was sentenced to serve a 20-year mandatory sentence on each of the three charges after her first trial.  She was allowed to serve them concurrently.  That trial was thrown out after Alexander’s team appealed.

Alexander, now 34 years-old, agreed to wear a GPS monitoring device when she is out of jail in January.  She will only be allowed to leave home for work, church and the doctor.

mobile apps

Everything you love about wokv.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!