Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

An appellate court on Thursday ordered a new trial for a Florida woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a gun to scare off her allegedly abusive husband. The Appellate court ruled that the jury was improperly instructed on self-defense.

A jury convicted 31-year-old Marissa Alexander of aggravated assault in March 2012 after just 12 minutes of deliberation. Now, the Florida woman will now have a new trial because of those improper jury instruction. The jury was wrongly told that, for her to claim self-defense, she needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her husband was about to seriously harm her. However, the appellate court pointed out that the prosecution had the burden to prove that Alexander herself was guilty of aggravated assault. “Because the jury instructions on self-defense were fundamental error, we reverse” the conviction, a three-judge appellate panel said.

During her first trial, Alexander claimed self-defense, saying she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall. She said her husband was angry and tried to strangle her because he had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband.

Geoffrey Portway, a man residing in Boston, was planning to kidnap children, lock them in a basement, rape and eat them Authorities say this week in court documents that he should be imprisoned for at least 27 years.

Portway pleaded guilty in May to distribution and possession of child pornography and solicitation to commit a violent crime.

When his home in Worcester was searched last year, authorities found tens of thousands of computer images and videos of child pornography and 4,500 exchanges of child pornography between Portway and online chatters. The images included children being cooked and prepared to be eaten, court documents said.

Abraham Pearson, a detroit inmate, stabbed an officer and escaped from jail wearing the officer’s uniform. Pearson, was seen walking in a Detroit neighborhood Monday night and he was eventually captured. Authorities say Pearson attacked a deputy with a sharpened comb in the presence of two other inmates inside of a holding cell. He then handcuffed a Deputy, and fled, also taking the officer’s cell phone and radio, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said.

Pearson escaped from the back of the building, carjacked a citizen and drove away in the person’s Dodge minivan. The minivan was eventually recovered and the officer’s uniform was found under a vehicle.

Two inmates, who watched the altercation between Pearson and the Deputy take place, did not leave or intervene.

17 year-old Galileo Mondol pleaded not guilty Tuesday, to allegedly raping a fellow student at a summer sports camp in Massechusetts. Mondol, is one of three junior varsity soccer players who authorities allege assaulted three victims in a cabin at the summer camp.

At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors allege the three went into the cabin searching for victims, assaulting them with a broomstick. It has been alleged that Mondol was an innocent bystander and tried to stop the other students from getting involved.

Mondol is being tried as an adult and faces charges including aggravated rape of a child under 16, indecent assault and battery on a person who has turned 14, and assault and battery and intimidation of a witness.

A Florida judge told Kaitlyn Hunt, 19, after hearing testimony about thousands of text messages, that she had heard enough regarding the text messages. Hunt, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of having sex with her underage girlfriend, allegedly sent text messages to her underage girlfriend [via iPod] after being ordered not to.

Hunt was 18 when she was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery after allegedly having sexual relations with her 14 year-old girlfriend.

In addition to the extensive exchange of messages since just days after the no-contact order was issued, Detective Jeremy Shepherd further testified that he’d learned the two had secretively met.

Ex-New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, currently incarcerated for an alleged murder, declared his innocence as he responded to a fan letter, saying that “all the people who turned on me will feel like crap.” TMZ, which on Thursday published the letter online, claimed to have independently verified its authenticity with authorities.

Massachusetts law enforcement have accused Hernandez of orchestrating the shooting death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd on June 17th. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder and is being held without bail.

In the letter, Hernandez responded to the fan, “The world just makes things out of false accusations and it will all die down especially when they say NOT GUILTY……”

O.J. Simpson, 66, has resided in a Nevada prison for about 5 years since his conviction on kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges for unlawfully entering into a Las Vegas casino to try to reclaim items he felt were rightfully his. Simpson has recently asked the parole board for early release.

The parole board will have a respond to his request for early release in two weeks. If a majority of the seven on the parole board vote in his favor, he’ll have some hope but won’t be free completely; he’d still have to serve at least four more years of his term.

Simpson describes his custody to “have been somewhat illuminating at times and painful a lot of times.” He regrets missing his two children’s high school graduation, birthdays, and his sister’s funeral.