A Florida woman who claimed self-defense after prosecutors say she fired a gun at her estranged husband and his two sons says she's relieved to be out of prison, but she's not ready to be a public figure.
Marissa Alexander, 34, was released from prison Jan. 27 after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the 2010 shooting.
She was sentenced to the 1,095 days she already had spent in jail, and she also received two years of house arrest.
``It's a relief,'' Alexander told The Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/1Aa2lMf). ``I can start making plans for the future.''
Alexander had faced 60 years if convicted at trial because of Florida's minimum-mandatory-sentencing law pertaining to firearm use.
The jury at her first trial in 2012 found her guilty after deliberating for 12 minutes. That verdict was thrown out after a judge ruled the trial court incorrectly required Alexander to prove she was abused by her husband.
Alexander hopes now to return to school and get a job as a paralegal to support her 14-year-old twins and a 4-year-old daughter. She is now living with her first husband, and her house arrest will allow her to leave home to attend work, school, church and doctor's appointments.
Local
``It was incredibly difficult to take that plea,'' Alexander said. ``But I thought about my kids. It was mainly the children that made me decide to do it.''
She is the process of divorcing her estranged husband, the father of her 4-year-old daughter. Alexander said she fired a warning shot during an argument after he charged and threatened her.
She was denied immunity under Florida's self-defense law. No one was injured in the shooting.
Critics argued that the long prison term sought under the state's minimum-mandatory sentencing laws was unfair, but Alexander said prosecutors were just doing their jobs.
``I try not to make it personal,'' she said.
Alexander said she plans to remain out of the public eye for now as she rebuilds her life.
``Everything has a time and a season,'' she said. ``It's not the time for me now to become a public figure.''
