Prosecutor Juan Martinez wasted no time today in questioning defense expert Alyce LaViolette's methods of evaluating murder defendant Jodi Arias as a battered woman. LaViolette was frequently non-responsive to "yes" or "no" questions, and I'm not sure why the Judge hasn't reprimanded her to answer a question as asked but she quipped that Martinez was trying to trick or confuse her. Is she showing her bias in this case?
One of the best points Martinez made this morning was about her referring to Travis seeking out "vulnerable" women. He specifically brought up Chatanya Lei (spelling) and Regan Housley and either IM's or text messages between each woman and Travis Alexander. Martinez pointed out that LaViolette characterized both woman as "vulnerable" based only on written words and without speaking to either. He discussed how LaViolette testified that 90% of all communication is non-verbal, so how could she make such an assumption about these words?
In particular, Martinez talked in detail about an 18 page IM conversation between Housley and Alexander, in which Travis wrote that he was fearful of Jodi Arias's stalking behavior. Although we don't know exactly what he said, Martinez asked LaViolette why she chose to not believe what Travis Alexander told Regan Housely about Jodi Arias? "You chose to not believe him", Martinez said. LaViolette finally relented, but said her opinion was based on more than the 18 page communication. Juan Martinez did a good job of showing that LaViolette seems to have read a whole lot of texts, IM's and e-mails, and she then chose which parts of those she believed!
They broke for the noon recess, and given that they didn't start until 10:45AM or so another abbreviated court day! It's unclear what they were all doing in the Judge's chambers this morning, but Alyce LaViolette should behave more professionally while testifying on the stand. She is coming off as combative, non-responsive and biased.
MY CRIMETIME BY MY FORTE. A DISCUSSION OF MURDERS IN THE NEWS.
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Hi My Forte, I was away last weekend and have some catching up to do. Thanks so much for your blog. Sometimes I can barely stand to watch the trial and I trust and appreciate your recaps and views.
ReplyDeleteSue
Sue, (4/8/13 at 12:56PM)
DeleteThanks for your comments! I was away for 5 days last week and must admit I was anxious to get back because I really enjoy interacting and reading the comments people leave. The trial has been hard to watch at times, but never fear the rebuttal case is coming!
Amen! This is a much better way to keep up with the trial when one has had it with the HLN coverage as well as the truly endless sidebars that the defense keeps forcing upon everyone. We are all going to die of old age before the jury finally gets the case!
ReplyDeleteShowing the jury that she CHOSE NOT TO BELIEVE TRAVIS when he wrote that he was very afraid of Jodi due to her STALKING behavior is HUGE. HUUUUUUUUGE.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since he ended up DEAD only a couple of weeks later, at the hands of his STALKER.
HUGE.
Also– HUGE that she said Travis wasn’t in fear of Jodi, in her OPINION, BECAUSE HE CONTINUED TO BE INVOLVED WITH HER.
Ummmm, ALYCE. You spent DAYS telling this jury that women who are abused–BADLY–keep spending time with/living with/having sex with, etc their ABUSERS, didn’t you?????
This is too easy. She is WAY out of her league here and showing HUGE BIAS.
NancyB,
DeleteOh you hit the nail on the head with ALV's double standard. If nothing else, Juan Martinez demonstrated that yesterday. She simply chose not to believe Travis, but believed everything everybody else wrote and everything Arias said. How impartial is that?
7/2013 MOT – Motion – Party (001) 4/8/2013
ReplyDeleteNOTE: MOTION TO PRECLUDE; ANY AND ALL EVIDENCE RELATED ANY WEIGHT ASSESSMENTS OR TESTING ON SHELVING AT PLACE OF DEATH
4/7/2013 MOT – Motion 4/– Party (001) 4/8/2013
NOTE: MOTION FOR MISTRIAL ; INABILITY TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL DUE TO PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
NancyB,
DeleteThanks for the great info! Let me guess...the weight and testing of the closet shelves is too prejudicial? What a joke! Her story falls apart long before she heads for the closet. IF the jury sticks to what is absolute evidence in this case, Arias gets convicted. Evidence does not form opinions, evidence doesn't lie and evidence isn't paid $300 bucks an hour! Love your comments Nancy B & Sue!
For someone who is so big on “keeping things in context” she certainly violated that principle when testifying. Everything she testified to was taken out of context! How can she get away with that?
ReplyDeleteShe has completely obliterated any chance at presenting herself as an unbiased, objective, credible evaluator. She is simply bought and paid for. Her desperate looks toward the defense table are pathetic. Has she acknowledged the jury at all? She is behaving just like JA did on the stand — a smart ass juvenile, arguing over every word, evading the question. I hope that she will never work again.
Nurmi and JW aggravate me to no end.
ReplyDelete1.It's OK though for his expert to ignore orders not to read notes.
2.It's OK for his experts to break court time to victimize the family.
3.It's OK for his experts to refuse to answer questions.
4.It's OK for the murderer he is defending to sneak things into her folders and under her behind under his watch.
5.It's OK for his side of the Gallery to act like they are watching a circus and burst out laughing, talking, make faces and act like fools with out recourse but the family of the murder victim can not wear a ribbon.
6.It's OK for a convicted felon to attend these proceedings, taking up seats with her and her friends and bullying spectators by running to the bailiff and tattling/lying about them...coughDonovancough.
7.It's OK to take evidence completely out of context with every move they make but throw a fit if it's even perceived the other side is doing the same.
8.It's OK for his expert to blurt out personal information about friends of Travis' like being Anorexic, that has nothing to do with the case and everything to do with making Jodi happy. That carp is just to make Jodi happy.
9.It's OK to bash Travis left and right including playing a phone call which the murderer recorded for the purpose of black mail or court when the victim did not know he was being recorded.
Thanks for keeping up with the trial. One thing is for sure: this so called "domestic violence expert" is toast. She looks like a fool, frankly. One of the howlers of Juans cross yesterday was when he showed how she listed herself as a "Keynote Speaker" at a conference, when in fact, she wasn't - someone else was! She talked in a smaller group as part of the conference. She then tried to say she was among the "breakout Keynote speakers" as if that meant anything! HaHaHaHa. If you have to lie on a 20 page cv, what does that say about your evaluations? She is a real smartass on the stand, incapable of answering yes or no; every answer is defensive and qualified, so you wonder what is she hiding?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is that she's hiding that she has no real qualifications to judge other people yet she does so frequently. She's trying to hide that she was biased from the get go.For those interested: it is a lesson in what not to do as a witness.
Anonymous (4/9/13 at 2:33AM),
DeleteAlyce LaViolette seems to have had tunnel vision from day one on this case. Perhaps she chose a high profile case to further her own agenda and to bring attention to her own practice in Long Beach? I think she miscalculated the fallout of her own one-sided testimony by ignoring the stalking references made by Travis, ignoring the patterns of lying by Jodi Arias and Arias's own "family of origin" issues! Thanks for posting!
Laviolett has a very poor health provid record that can be found in public records. Long Beach community wants her empty head on a platter. She has destroyed her own career and since she works with Jean Fromme,,frommes career is also at risk. Laviolett is also giving every lesbian on earth a bad rap. She is a feminist man hater and a greed sow. Not all gay women are man haters or greedy bitches like she is. Look out Alyce, the world is watching and it takes a longtime for people to forget.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't LaViolette's testimony be thrown out since she violated witness rules by speaking directly to the victim's family? Isn't this witness misconduct?
ReplyDelete