A hearing was held in the new year for the former Florida ballerina sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of her estranged husband.
Ashley Benefield is being held in the Manatee County Jail until a hearing in January before Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Matt Whyte. Her defense has filed a motion requesting that she be released on bail pending her appeal.
The 33-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter with a firearm, a lesser offense, by a six-member jury in July. She was initially charged with second-degree murder for shooting her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, in her Lakewood Ranch home in 2020.
In early December, Whyte sentenced Ashley Benefield to 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation.
Ashley Benefield has claimed from the start that she shot Doug Benefield in self-defense because she feared for her life after a tumultuous and violent four-year marriage.
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Prosecutors alleged that the former ballerina shot and killed her husband in an attempt to gain sole custody of the couple’s young daughter, taking matters into her own hands after the courts and law enforcement failed to help her. Ashley Benefield had previously filed orders against Doug Benefield, including a South Carolina order issued by a judge.
Court records show that a neighbor called police on September 27, 2020, after a distraught Ashley banged on his door while still holding the gun shortly after the shooting.
The defense alleged that while the two were packing, Doug Benefield became aggressive toward Ashley Benefield, checked her body with boxes, prevented her from leaving a room and then the house, and after she told him to leave, turned her to the left side of her body. her head.
Fearing for her life based on previous domestic violence incidents the couple had had, the defense previously said Ashley Benefield entered her bedroom, retrieved her firearm and pointed the weapon at Doug Benefield, who followed her into the room and allegedly came towards her. That prompted her to shoot.
In the bail application, William Ponall, attorney for Ashley Benefield, said the law allows a person to be released while their conviction is reviewed, at the discretion of the trial court or appeals court.
Ponall argues that his client’s appeal was “accepted in good faith on grounds that are not frivolous but reasonably debatable,” as set out in her request for a new trial. The defense argued that a new motion should have been granted based on multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments and juror misconduct by one of the jurors.
Whyte previously denied the motion for a new trial days before Ashley Benefield’s sentencing.
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The motion states that the Florida Supreme Court has identified factors that qualify for post-trial bail, including the defendant’s habits of respect for the law, the defendant’s local ties to the community, the severity of the sentence imposed and all other circumstances relevant to the trial. whether the suspect would be tempted to leave the area if bail were granted.
Ponall states that his client has shown respect for the law, has no prior felony convictions and was previously released on $100,000 bond and pretrial supervision from November 20, 2020, until sentencing. As part of the pretrial release, Ashley Benefield was placed on electronic monitoring, a curfew, surrendered her passport, had a child safety plan in place and was prohibited from possessing firearms or contacting state witnesses.
“Ms. Benefield is committed to proving her innocence and that she acted in justifiable self-defense at a second trial,” the motion said.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the justice system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or at X: @GabrielaSzyman3.
This article originally appeared on the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former Florida ballerina wants to be released pending appeal
