State Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, is hoping the Florida Cabinet will help secure a pardon for Marissa Alexander.
Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison after firing what she described as a warning shot at her husband. She tried to claim immunity under the state's controversial Stand Your Ground law, but was found guilty.
Bullard penned letters about the case to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater last week.
"Considering these unique circumstances, I would like to formally request that you support the recommendation to pardon Marissa Alexander," Bullard wrote in the letter to Bondi. "Ms. Alexander took precautionary steps to protect herself from unwanted danger. The Stand You Ground defense and exoneration should have applied to Ms. Alexander’s case."
Gov. Rick Scott would need at least two members of the Cabinet to start the pardon process.
At a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Putnam said he had not yet received Bullard's letter.
"I take our clemency responsibility very seriously," he said. "I look forward to receiving Sen. Bullard's letter and looking into that case to the extent that that case is ripe for clemency action."
Scott said he had referred Bullard to General Counsel Pete Antonacci.
-- Herald/Times staff writer Tia Mitchell contributed reporting.
Download Letter to Attorney General Bondi for Marissa Alexander (1)
Download Letter to Chief Financial Officer Atwater for Marissa Alexander
Download Letter to Commissioner Putnam for Marissa Alexander
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