Marissa Alexander’s Free? Not So Fast, Says Judge.

Despite having been granted a new trial in September, Marissa Alexander will have to wait until the New Year  to find out if she will be freed on bail.

Alexander had been sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot into a wall during a fight with her husband, whom she alleged had abused her.

During a hearing yesterday, the judge declined to rule. Her lawyers had argued that she should go free because  her ex-husband Rico Gray has demonstrated that he isn’t in fear of her, and was even texting her, asking for sex, after the incident when she fired the warning shot.

Reports NBC News:

Marissa Alexander’s attorneys argued in a Jacksonville, Fla., court Wednesday that she should be granted bond pending trial because there is no longer animosity between her and her ex-husband.

The state, however, said she should remain incarcerated.

Judge James Daniel said he will likely not rule until another pretrial hearing scheduled for Jan. 15 because of a backlog of cases, WJXT TV in Jacksonville reported.

And according to the Florida Times-Union:

During a hearing Wednesday to determine whether Alexander should get bail while awaiting a new trial, her attorneys said she received texts from Gray asking if he could keep having sex with her. This happened after Alexander’s second arrest involving domestic violence against Gray and after a judge ordered her to stay away from him.

The text is important because it demonstrates that Gray is not afraid of his estranged wife, and if he isn’t in fear of her, there’s no reason for Alexander to remain in jail, said attorney Bruce Zimet.

As previously reported, an appellate court ruled that during Alexander’s trial, the judge had made a mistake when shifting the burden to Alexander to prove she was acting in self-defense. He told the jury that she had to prove she was being battered by Gray, but the appellate court ruled that the prosecution had to prove Alexander was not acting in self-defense.

Alexander’s Stand Your Ground defense, the same defense that figured strongly in George Zimmerman’s trial for slaying Trayvon Martin, was rejected during a hearing.