Lawyers: Marissa Alexander's ex-husband texted 'if I can't have you, nobody can.'
theGRIO REPORT - The motion for bond filed by her attorneys includes new details about what Marissa Alexander says she endured at the hands of her husband, Rico Gray...
The motion for bond filed by her attorneys includes new details about what Marissa Alexander says she endured at the hands of her husband, Rico Gray.
Alexander, 32, will face a Jacksonville judge today at 4 p.m. to request bond. Her conviction on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon was thrown out by an appeals court in September, citing improper jury instructions.
In the filing, Alexander’s lawyers argue that she meets the test for release due to her strong ties to the community, via her children and formerly stable work life, and that she poses no danger to the community and more importantly, no danger to Gray. As evidence, the motion says Gray “pursued Alexander for months after the alleged August 2010 aggravated assault,” and that “when she resisted his advances,” he sent her a text message that ended: “If I can’t have you nobody can…”
The motion goes on to say that Alexander eventually agreed to go to counseling sessions with Gray, and that they interacted without incident throughout much of the rest of the year. Then, on December 30, Alexander went to Gray’s home to request that he sign a birth certificate for their infant daughter, in order for the child to remain on Alexander’s health insurance. Alexander asked a friend, Earriet Green, whose niece also has a child with Gray, to accompany her. Green filed a sworn statement about what he saw at the house, according to the motion:
I was in the garage and I heard a voice asking for help. I went outside and saw Marissa on her knees on the ground. She said that she ‘had the worst whopping [sic] [she] ever had.’ I helped Marissa into the house and she said her head was hurting. She had a ‘knot’ on her head, there was a mark on her neck, and her arm was swollen. She said ‘he was beating me like a man.'”
Green’s statement goes on to say that when police arrived, he and his girlfriend, who had accompanied him to the house, pleaded with the responding police officer to look at Alexander’s bruises, but he refused, saying “he would not look at her bruises, that he had already seen bruises on Rico Gray, and that they were going to arrest her.”
Green’s statement says the “knots on [Alexander’s] head were so big that when her hair was parted, we could see the lumps and could feel the dent of knuckles across her head. I could tell that she was hit hard,” adding: “I boxed for seven years, and I have never had any lumps that big on me.”
The motion included medical reports showing Alexander was treated for a thumb contusion, facial abrasion and head contusions. Photos of Gray’s battered face were provided to theGrio earlier this year, demonstrating the injuries he received in the incident.
Alexander was charged with misdemeanor battery after being arrested, and her bond in the gunshot incident was revoked. The motion states that she has completed a 365-day sentence related to that arrest — among the 1,007 days she has spent behind bars as of Wednesday.
According to the bond motion, after Alexander’s December 30 arrest, Gray sent her yet another text message, this time propositioning her: “You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to but it is a yes or no question can we just have sex til I find someone I truly love might take a while [sic].”
According to the motion, “Alexander did not accept Gray’s proposition, though his request ‘to just have sex’ demonstrates further that he did not consider Alexander a danger.”
Gray’s attorney previously told theGrio that Gray never intended for Alexander to spend 20 years behind bars, but that he wants her to take responsibility for the shooting incident. Gray denies having abused Alexander, and his attorney told theGrio previously that he embellished his admissions of abusing women in order to mitigate the case against his wife.
Gray and Alexander are currently finalizing a divorce.
