Jury Questions Alyce LaViolette - They Seem Skeptical

Alyce LaViolette is facing some tough jury questions this afternoon. So far, the tone seems a bit skeptical, yet LaViolette continues to speak poorly about Travis Alexander and glowingly about Arias. The jury tone seems to be similar to what we have discussed in this forum. They want to know if LaViolette reviewed any of Arias's journals from earlier in her life. She disclosed that she only reviewed from 2006-2008 in making her assessment. The jury asked if LaViolette would have been able to get a better overall feel for who Jodi Arias is if she had gone farther back in her life.

The jury asked if she had spoken to any of Travis's family or friends or reviewed any materials to or from them. LaViolette read ONE email either to or from one of his sisters! That's it? The jury asked what she was able to learn about Travis Alexander during her review of the case. LaViolette managed to say some nice things about him at first, saying that he was known to be a very good motivational speaker, he knew his scriptures, he came from an abusive background and childhood. She said she believed women found Travis attractive, but she didn't know much about his friendships other than with Chris and Skye Hughes. 

LaViolette testified that she didn't feel it was unusual that Jodi Arias lied to her parents and about the crime, stating "people lie when they are afraid of the repercussions of things they've done, if anything Jodi downplayed things". The jury asked if it was possible that Jodi's family and friends embellished things they said in order to help her case. LaViolette didn't believe they did. She then continued to trash Travis Alexander, saying he was disrespectful to Jodi Arias and other women.

The jury then asked if Jodi kicking, slapping and treating her mother poorly would make her an abuser, they also asked about Arias calling her sister Angela "stupid". LaViolette discounted both events, because Jodi was a teenager at the time. Couldn't a violent teenager grow up to be a violent adult? Alyce, you are incorrect. She called her sister stupid during her relationship with Travis. Get your facts right if you are going to testify as an expert. The jury wanted to know if a person could be abusive in one relationship but not another? They also asked if she has ever been involved in a case where somebody killed a partner because "there was no way out"? LaViolette said it was "rare" for a person to kill a partner to get away from abuse.

She insists that nothing she saw or read showed Jodi escalating in anger, rather she was trying to calm situations while Travis got very angry and again - she used the word "tirade" to describe Travis's text or e-mail to Jodi.  The jury asked if Jodi could be exaggerating these abusive events in light of the possible consequences of her crime. LaViolette said "anything is possible", but she added that she finds it difficult to believe in light of what she heard from the Hughes description on how he treated women. Boy, LaViolette seems to be giving that e-mail from the Hughes a whole lot of weight. That seems to be the only "friend" communication she considered in making her assessment of Travis.

Very telling that the jury asked "how does not having both sides of the story effect your assessment in this case?" LaViolette said that she would have liked to have been able to talk to Travis, but since she couldn't she said she did her best with the information she had. OK, who did she talk to? Really? The jury said in light of all the lies Jodi Arias has told, how were you able to know everything she is saying is truthful? She said there was no way she could know that everything was truthful, but again - she restated that she believes her.

The jury asked if she saw any PROOF that Arias was physically abused. LaViolette cited Jodi's broken finger as the only thing she saw. Given that most people believe Arias injured that finger during her assault on Travis, that's a non-issue isn't it? She has given too many different stories about what happened to that hand/finger. The jury asked if the reason Jodi never wrote about abuse in the journals could be because the events never happened. They asked if it was possible Jodi abused Travis, LaViolette stated she saw no evidence that she did, and given her information about Arias's other relationships with men as evidence she has no history of abuse.

The jury said that Jodi's response to her perceived danger on 6/4/08 went way beyond "neutralizing" the threat to her. They wanted to know if it was a common reaction. LaViolette said that abused women often times don't know when to stop. The jury asked about the Spiderman underwear and tshirt, there seems to be some doubt that Travis in fact gave those items to her. LaViolette said she read a IM discussion between the two, and the was her corroboration. The jury asked "just because somebody appears to be controlling, does that automatically mean they are abusive"? They asked if any of Travis's ex-girlfriends described him as abusive, she said she wasn't aware of any previous abuse.

The jury asked if Alyce interviewed anybody other than Jodi Arias face to face. Alyce said she did not. They asked again if any of Travis's previous girlfriends found him verbally abusive. LaViolette quoted some things that Lisa Andrews said about Travis. They asked if anybody she talked to suspected abuse for either Jodi or Travis? She said that Matt McCartney suspected abuse and Arias reportedly told him of either emotional or physical abuse. Isn't Matt McCartney the one Arias says "would never betray me"? Isn't McCartney the one Arias attempted to get him to change his testimony to match her own via the secretly coded magazines? How is this not manipulative, how is this honest? How could LaViolette call Arias truthful, given everything we know - forget about what we all suspect, these things are ON THE RECORD. Yet Alyce LaViolette discounts it all?

The jury asked about Jodi not seeking medical treatment for her finger, asking "what would stop her from seeking medical treatment and lying about the cause of the injury"? GREAT QUESTION JURORS! Such a simple question, but it's such a good one. Remember, this wasn't a black eye or a broken nose. It was a finger - I doubt this would raise suspicions of domestic abuse from any ER doctor in this country. The jurors also wanted to know WHY LaViolette concurred many things actually happened, such as with 1/21/08 alleged incident of Travis caught with a photo of a young boy. They wanted to know why she believed that, when it was only Jodi Arias's words.  

They asked why LaViolette didn't look further into Travis Alexander's text message about being fearful of Arias's stalking behavior, since she was hired to look into potential domestic abuse. She didn't have a great answer, she simply does not believe Arias was a stalker or that Travis was in fear. I'm sooo happy the jury is asking some of these questions, they seem to be highly skeptical of the lack of work on Alyce's part to try to get to know who Travis Alexander was before making the assumptions she has made, assuming the worst about him and portraying him in such a negative manner. The overall theme seems to be that the jury doesn't believe she made enough of an effort in getting information from people other than Jodi Arias. They know she has lied, and I suspect that they are skeptical that LaViolette is taking everything Arias has said as the gospel.

They are taking a 10 minute break now. I have to admit to feeling a great deal of relief when I heard some of these jury questions. Is it possible Willmott & Co. have crossed the line with their absolute trashing of a man who was savagely and brutally killed? Was it necessary to drag him through the mud in this manner while trying to make Arias look like a helpless victim? There's a lot the jury doesn't know, but thankfully there is a lot they DO know. They've seen Arias's dirty text messages to Travis, where she compliments his anatomy, and makes highly suggestive and outright nasty comments to him. These messages were not ordered by Travis Alexander. Arias seemed to enjoy it as much as he did, so the defense is not doing Arias any favors by trying to paint this woman as some coy and shy woman who was pressured into deviant sexual acts that she never would have participated in if not for Travis Alexander.

Jodi Arias was the forbidden fruit for Travis Alexander. The defense is making Travis sound like a fraud, just because he didn't tell members of his Mormon community that he was no longer a virgin. I don't believe that is all that uncommon, to lie about one's virginity. That certainly doesn't make him a bad guy, nor does it constitute a pattern of lying. This was something he apparently struggled with and wasn't proud of. It seems to me that after he met Jodi Arias, she may have actually been the one with the power, the forbidden fruit that Travis wanted, but knew he shouldn't have. She had the sexual power, and that can be much more powerful than any other type of power in a highly charged relationship such as theirs. What do you think?

I don't know how many more jury questions there are, or how much longer we will have to listen to LaViolette say the same things over and over. Please, get this woman on the next plane back to Long Beach!