Mom Given 20-Year Prison Sentence for Firing a Warning Shot Set Free...for Now

The Florida woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot during an altercation with her husband has been freed in time for Thanksgiving as she awaits a new trial.

Marissa Alexander posted a total bond of $200,009 for three separate charges late Wednesday night.

Marissa Alexander, the Florida woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot, will get a new trial. (AP)

Alexander was given the sentence in 2012 after she fired the shot during a 2010 argument with an estranged husband she says was abusive. The 33-year-old mother was charged with three counts of aggravated assault involving a firearm, and when found guilty Florida law requiring mandatory minimum sentencing kicked in. That sentence was 20 years.

Alexander was offered a plea day of three years if she pleaded guilty, an offer she rejected in lieu of trying to invoke self-defense and "stand your ground" law. An appeals court eventually held up her sentence.

But in September Alexander go her first dose of good news. She was granted a new trial after a judge ruled that while it was right for her "stand your ground" defense to be rejected, the court failed to properly instruct the jury on what is required to prove self-defense.

Court documents describing the bond say that Alexander committed the assault while she was on bail for another crime and therefore letting her post bond in this case is  is not "customary practice." However, it goes on to say that "the Defendant has completed her sentence on the separate misdemeanor charge and that case is now resolved."

Marissa Alexander release

"Words cannot express the relief and joy of everyone in the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign that Marissa Alexander is home with her family this Thanksgiving Day," the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign said in a statement.

"We are thrilled that Ms. Alexander will be able to prepare for her new trial amid the support and love of her children and family from whom she has been separated far too long."

The state attorney who oversaw the case, Angela Corey, was the some one that oversaw the George Zimmerman prosecution.

The statement says her new trial will begin March 31, 2014.

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