Woman convicted in 'stand your ground' case released from jail to await new trial

A Florida woman awaiting a new trial in a “stand your ground” shooting case has been released from jail.

Marissa Alexander was released Wednesday night on more than $200,000 bond while she waits to be retried on three charges starting March 31.

She must remain under house arrest and electronic monitoring until then.

The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered the retrial in September after ruling a judge had not properly instructed the jury that convicted Alexander.

But the appeals court decided the judge properly blocked Alexander from using the state’s “stand your ground” law in her defense, noting that she could have run out of the house to escape but instead got a gun and went back inside.

The 33-year-old Jacksonville woman said she fired the bullet into a wall in 2010 to scare off her husband because he was threatening her.

A jury rejected her self-defense claim and convicted Alexander of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm, triggering the 20-year term under the state’s mandatory minimum guidelines for gun crimes.

She has served about 18 months of the original term.

Alexander’s supporters have contrasted her case with the trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in July in the fatal 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The neighborhood watch volunteer said he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense during a confrontation that started after Zimmerman followed Martin because he believed he might have been engaged in criminal activity.

No one was injured when Alexander fired the warning shot during a confrontation with her husband.

Alexander had rejected a plea deal that could have resulted in a three-year term and instead chose to go to trial, and she was convicted after 12 minutes of deliberation by jurors.

She was also charged with domestic battery four months after the shooting after another incident involving her husband.

Alexander pleaded no contest and was sentenced to time served.

State Attorney Angela Corey, who oversaw the Zimmerman prosecution, has defended her handling of Alexander’s case, saying she believed the woman had aimed a gun toward her husband and his two sons, and that the bullet could have ricocheted and hit any of them.

Watch this video report posted online by ABC News:

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.