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Jodi Arias' Fate Is Now In the Jury's Hands

Well folks, the decision over Jodi Arias' life is now in the hands of the jury.  After a 90 minute delay this morning, Jodi Arias stepped up to the podium and delivered what seemed to be more of a campaign speech than a plea for mercy.  Using a Powerpoint presentation, Arias flashed photos of herself as a baby, a small child - family photos taken during holidays through the years.  Sure doesn't look like a family that was abusive and not supportive.  This was one of the problems with the mitigating factors the defense presented to this jury.  While on one hand, they described Jodi's family as being neglectful and abusive to her while she was a child and as an adult, all the while these family photos are being shown.

There's a reason her family can't testify for her, and the fact that we know that makes this hard to listen to and even harder to swallow. Back to Arias' 19 minute speech. At times, she seemed to be on the right track while discussing a jail visit from her mother in which her mom was stopped at a signal and looked over and saw the Alexander siblings in a car next to her. She said she and her mother talked about how horrible this must be for his family and what they must be going through. "I caused that", Arias said. She seemed to be ready to own up to the pain she has caused everybody, but just when it seemed she may be ready to show some emotion, regret and remorse - it went back to Jodi. She ultimately came across flat, with a lack of affect and she never did what she needed to do most and that is to apologize.

Arias seemed to be campaigning for public office, talking about the things she has done while awaiting trial and the programs she would like to enact if she is given life in prison. She talked about setting up a recycling program at the prison, which would create jobs and keep materials out of the landfill. She talked about starting a book club! Teaching other inmates how to read, how to speak Spanish or teach them sign language.  Yes, those are all good and positive things she could do if given mercy and being allowed to live. But the way she presented this, and the things she didn't say and needed to may overshadow her visions to make prison a better place for the inmates she believes she can help. She told the jury that during her incarceration, she has been donating her hair to "Locks of Love", and vowed to continue to donate hair if allowed to live. I'm not saying that is not an admirable thing. But when I look at her behavior over the last 5 years and the self-serving endeavours she has taken on, it makes me wonder how much good will she has in her heart for causes that don't further her own agenda.

In the middle of her Powerpoint presentation, she actually pulled out one of her "Survivor" t-shirts and showed the jury!! She said "I know some people don't believe I was a victim of domestic violence, and you are entitled to your opinion". She told jurors that 100% of the proceeds from these t-shirts is going to domestic violence non-profit organizations! Hmmm...I just saw on her tweet and her website that a PORTION was going to domestic violence centers, and the portion she was donating is questionable!  Her speech on how much she could help other women from inside prison came across as crass - sort of like she was a better class of inmate than the women who are incarcerated.  She wants to teach illiterate women how to read? Too little, too late. 

She then talked about everything she will miss in life due to her bad decisions. "I won't be at my sister's wedding and I won't get to take her wedding photos", and "I missed my brother's wedding" and talked about getting to know her nieces through a glass partition. "Ill never get to be a mother", she said. No emotion, she was just speaking the words. I discussed her televised lies, her artwork and she said she loved Travis Alexander and put him on a pedestal. She talked about how Steven and Samantha's victim impact statements touched her and she acknowledged that she caused their pain. She claims she didn't know Travis' grandmother had died until she heard it in court last week. But ultimately, she lacked the emotion I think she needed to show. It was like a business proposal. She said that although she has talked about suicide and wanting to die, she has had a change of heart and now believes she can have contribute to the world if given the chance to live her life in prison. 

She talked about the pain she caused her family, and asked the jury to spare her life for their sake! There was a lot more than this, I'm paraphrasing. Those are just the highlights.  Before the lunch break, Judge Stephens read the jury instructions, very lengthy - after lunch, Jennifer Willmott spoke.  Her message was basically "people are better than their very worst deed". That was the argument, Jodi Arias did something horrendous and these mitigating circumstances are not excuses. Willmott argued that Jodi has much to contribute and her life is worth sparing. She showed more passion in her closing argument than Arias showed in her 19 minutes at the podium. Willmott described Arias as "an amazing poet (doesn't she just quote other poets?), an amazing writer (because she journals?) and mentioned her desire to help other victims of domestic violence. Again with the domestic violence. Didn't the jury reject that argument already?

Willmott's other theme was to argue the abuse and neglect Arias allegedly suffered from her parents, "they weren't there for her when she needed them". "They punished her for inexplainable reasons", Willmott said. Didn't the punishment/grounding start when they caught their 14 year old daughter growing pot on the roof? She left that factoid out. She seemingly is not embracing DeMarte's diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, referring to it as mitigating factor and a result of the abuse and neglect suffered at the hands of her parents! "People with BPD are prone to violent outbursts, is that what happened here?", Willmott asked. She argued there was so much mitigation in this case, and just one aggravating factor. I'd say that's a very big aggravating factor.  "Two wrongs don't make a right", Willmott said and asked the jury to show mercy on Jodi Arias and give her a sentence of life.

Juan Martinez told the jury that Travis Victor Alexander will always be 30 years old.  Referring to the photos Arias displayed, showing her as a small child and age-progressing over the years, yet Travis will never have the opportunity to age. "Travis' family tries to remember him the way he looks in this photo", Martinez displayed a photo of Travis smiling. "But they cannot forget the pain, the suffering and the agony", he said - and you shouldn't forget this either - he displayed one of the crime scene photos of Travis.  I noticed that the prosecutor allowed the defense to give their closing statement without much interruption, yet I counted 14 objections by the defense while Martinez was delivering his closing argument!

He went through each one of the mitigating factors cited by Jodi Arias, and carefully examined each one and explained why these were not mitigating factors at all. He told the jury Jodi's age at the time of the crime should not be a mitigating factor - she was over the age of 18 and had experienced life. She wasn't under the age of 18, she was an adult. Again, he reminded the jury Travis would always be 30 years old. He did this with each one of the mitigating factors one by one.  If I were delivering a closing argument, I would have talked about the fact that Travis Alexander was executed by Jodi Arias, he had no trial - no attorneys. Jodi Arias was the judge, jury and executioner.  I would have talked about the mitigating circumstances that were not considered before Travis was murdered. Travis Alexander had a truly hard upbringing complete with neglect and abuse! There is real evidence there  in the form of his 7 siblings and his grandparents.

Travis was a good friend, evidenced by the sheer number of people who have spoken out on his behalf about the inspirational and big-hearted person he was. He helped people, he had a ton of potential that will never be realized. Travis had no criminal history, he had a lot of talents. There are probably dozens of additional factors I am not aware of since I didn't know Travis.  My point is that Travis was shown no mercy. Yet Jodi Arias expects to be given mercy?  The death penalty really should be reserved for the worst of the worst. I'm neither pro or con the death penalty, but I do believe there are some cases where there seems to be no other appropriate penalty but death. What Jodi Arias did to Travis Alexander during the course of the murder, and what she did to him after killing him in that court room - she is the worst of the worst, in my opinion.  Mercy is given where mercy is shown.

Willmott had the final word, but I don't have time to elaborate on it now.  All in all, I think Jodi Arias' presentation was too business-like, lacked emotion and was completely self-serving. Bringing out that Survivor t-shirt was a huge mistake! Again, Arias has overestimated her "skillset" and underestimated the seriousness of her crime.  I don't think she came across as sorry.  The case is in the hands of the jury now. What do you think? Did she do enough today, or did she fall flat? Will she get death, or life?


43 comments:

  1. Heard on HLN that the Judge has lifted the ban on Jodi Arias giving interviews....
    Oh
    My
    God!
    Get out the Bullshit Baskets.


    ReplyDelete
  2. UNBELIEVABLE! She is doing MULTIPLE interviews!!!!!!

    I'm dumbfounded!

    Sonja

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so disgusted. I will not watch any of them. I also think that JA is playing to the public in hopes that this jury deadlocks and that she gets another jury. The media networks are all pigs that this is being allowed.

      Delete
    2. NancyB,

      Another commenter had written on another thread that she wants a new jury and it dawned on me that she probably does! That's what sociopaths do manipulate a group as long as they can and move on to the next group as soon as it stops working! Hopefully the jury has caught on!

      Sonja

      Sonja

      Delete
  3. Hmmm. I wonder what books would be on the Jodi Arias Bookclub list. Let's see....

    To Kill a Mocking Juan (I mean Bird)

    Gone with the Fog (I mean wind)

    I just hope that the jury is as repulsed by her and her DT as we all are!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hair and Makeup demands for Jodi!
    LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION:
    "Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcC8YJrevQ

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jodi donates her hair for Cancer patients.....
    And if not givin' the death penalty, she can donate her hair forever.....

    This Person is OUT OF HER MIND.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope she gets death and I believe she will.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks My Forte.....I just wrote a book here and lost it. I basically said that, as always, you have put my feelings into beautiful, eloquent words. I appreciate that.

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  8. Okay I have recovered from the shock of her multiple interview thing...

    I think she made a mistake in bringing up the "murky" sides of their relationship and in claiming that she's a victim of dom violence. IMO

    She touched on her regret but it was not enough to outweigh the Alexanders' statements, and notice how nobody said she killed Travis. Just something bad happened... blah, blah, blah...

    I don't know what they were thinking eluding to Travis' being the reason she went awry. UGH!

    She needed to say I'm sorry I killed Travis, I regret all of my bad decisions leading up to that day, I regret taking Travis from this earth, I am so sorry his family is suffering, and then after a full 15 minutes of that maybe 5 minutes of I've hurt my family and I will endeavor to help others.

    Oh well, it's her funeral.

    Sonja

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Sonja. She actually sounded OK for the first moment or two, but she was the same old self centered, narcissistic Jodi in no time.

      Sue

      Delete
    2. I thought so too Sue, for the first minute or two I thought "wow, she actually sounds sorry and remorseful".

      It quickly turned into sounding like she was applying for a job as the activities coordinator on The Love Boat. Pathetic.

      Delete
  9. I actually teared up when she spoke about her family and the pain she has caused them but then I hear she is giving interviews and I'm sorry I wasted my tears. And her bringing the T-Shirts to show and tell, we'll the only thing she left out was passing out T-Shirts to the jury.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I found myself tearing up too, but I think, in retrospect, I was crying for her lack of empathy, her inability to see just how out of line that entire statement was. She's a very frustrating person. Why is the media lining up to feed that incredibly engorged ego of hers? It just makes me sad!

      Delete
  10. As Sammy Davis would say:
    I dig My Forte.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I http://favsite.blogspot.com/
    hate to be off topic, but.....
    That site is cool.
    I did quit, but started again.
    ooops si doodle

    ReplyDelete
  12. I will try again
    This must be viewed by all people who want to stop smoking
    (I'm third person not to influence this site)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This must be viewed by all people who want to stop smoking

    http://favsite.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Charles Manson Sings:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xioCGmZVoqw

    ReplyDelete
  15. I care very much if she gets Life. I don’t believe she should
    have *any* opportunity to take college courses or have a job or more privileges. I want 23 hour per day solitary. I want no face to face visits or 6 times a year weekend picnics where family can bring her the foods that she misses and likes.

    I want visits only conducted through glass, food eaten in her
    solitary cell. If there were a penalty that allowed that without eventually *maybe* getting the needle then that would satisfy me BUT we
    DON’T currently have that option. I want all the fuckery with Twitter and T shirt selling and incorporated art selling scams to immediately stop. I want the death penalty because she truly is deserving of it.

    I can’t tell you how freaked out and really shocked I was to see her purposefully giving Samantha the throat slit gesture! I had to watch it several times because I just had such difficulty in believing what I was seeing. SOOOO manipulative and totally EVIL. There is not even a smidgen of contrition in her soulless shell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am with you 100%, Nancy B! She needs to stay in solitary for the rest of her life. Whether that is in 12-20 years by needle after all of her appeals are over or whether that is from old age in her 90's. She needs to be treated exactly as you have said here.

      Delete
    2. Great post, NancyB. It was appalling that she pulled out that t-shirt. And from what I have read lied. Only a fraction of the profits are going to DV victims.....not 100%. Her speech was emotionless, except when he got choked up about what she would miss in life. Or when she was acting. The longer I think about the whole thing the sicker I get. I hope the jury can watch the VISs again. Grrr.

      NancyB, do you have a link to the cut throat gesture to Samantha? I saw the one that looked like it was directed toward Juan. I completely agree with you. JA needs to go away forever with no comforts or luxuries.

      Sue

      Delete
    3. NancyB,
      Oh you are so spot on in your comments! As you can see by the many people who loved your post! Arias self-serving statements to the jury was disgusting. She was the judge , jury and executioner with Travis. No mercy was shown, and no mercy should be afforded to her. She gave a prison-campaign speech yesterday, how she could help all of the indigent and illiterate inmates! Didn't Arias get her GED in jail, having been a high school dropout herself? She feels like she is a better class of inmate than the other female prisoners? She wants to start a book club, are you kidding me? Outrageous, not mitigation!! The media interviews are really getting to me....

      Delete
  16. If she doesn't get DP she will continue to harass
    The Alexander family. She needs to be put away
    in solitary, I'm with NancyB on this one. We
    have seen the real psychopath that she is and
    will continue to be behind bars.

    ReplyDelete
  17. PLEASE READ - TIP FROM AA -----> ANYONE or any BUSINESS MUST have a 501(c)3 Non-Profit License in order to do business as a Non-Profit Organization. Any Non-Profit is supposed to have the license number posted or displayed. On website selling Jodi's survivor tee
    shirts. Info from Anonymous Angel posted at
    @josemcyntire

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous (5/22 @ 4:36AM),
      I have a feeling Arias is going to be busted for non-reported income, tax evasion and other financial crimes - but after this trial is on the books. I think people are keeping track of her art sales and she just made the t-shirt sales known in a very public way yesterday. Everyone knows her website clearly said A PORTION of the proceeds..NOT 100% of the proceeds like she said yesterday. Another lie told to the jur!

      Delete
  18. The jodiariasisinnocent.com server name is hosted by Zoh Zohaibji.com It appears to be run in Pakistan, but is not. It is run here in the U.S. by a Zohaib Bashir, a Pakistani student getting his grad degree in Boston @Zohaibji All these websites including caseyanthonyisinnocent.com are owned by Simon Johansson, who runs Tytanium mobile and ( Breakthrough Advertising HQ @gmail.com) Info from @josemcyntire

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous (5/22 @ 4:42AM),
      Thank you for that info! I have been wondering who this "SJ" is. He seems to be hiding behind his initials, I've heard that whole website is a farce and the people are paid to post positive things about Jodi Arias. They share in the proceeds they receive. Do you know if that's true? I knew it was the same person behind the Casey Anthony site, same exact design. Sounds like just another scam-artist!

      Delete
  19. Thanks always Forte, for your excellent synapses. It's me, the early morning, classic film fan & loving family member/friend of 3 murder victims. I've been truly disgusted by Arias' appalling behavior, but not at all surprised, as this is the true nature of the comorbitity of a Cluster B personality disorder (as aforementioned many times in my prior comments). I did want to debunk Arias' claim of "donating 3 times" to LOCKS OF LOVE. First off: LOCKS DOES NOT ACCEPT previously bleached (double processed hair) and we know Arias' hair had been bleached blonde, then re-tinted dark (right before she brutally murdered Travis). While they DO ACCEPT color treated hair, BLEACHED or PREVIOUSLY BLEACHED THEN RE-TINTED hair is UNACCEPTABLE & one must wait 'til it has grown out before donating. Second, LOCKS requires a minimum of 10 inches per donation. If she "donated 3 times" she'd have to have had 30 inches of re-growth in 4.5 years, excluding her bleached out-growth (remember her hair length at Det. Flores' first interview... that all was re-tint & wouldn't have been accepted). Since we've never seen her w/ a pixie cut & human hair grows at an average of 1/2 inch per month (6 in. per year); her hair must be "superior", as well! Outright lie. Her despicable allocution continued, as she tried to use the Victims' Impact Statements of Samantha & Steven for her own twisted purposes, by comparing her new-found purpose in prison of "save the whales; save the snails" to Travis' life of commitment to service/environment/work/self-improvement. I've commented before: she was so jealous of Travis & all the things he was that she could never be. That was her motive & what she wanted to take from him. Remember psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter's "rules of simplicity" regarding serial killer Buffalo Bill in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS? "We don't seek out things to covet; we covet what we see every day." She's living a sick, pseudo-reality where she's now eclipsed the person she coveted. She is so grandiose: teaching sign-language? I wouldn't describe her court-room gestures as anything anyone in prison isn't already fluent. A writer? Poison penmanship & twitter feeds don't count. An artist? Van Gohg, perhaps? No, he took a knife & cut off his own ear. She can't even kill spiders? Hitler was a vegetarian & banned women from wearing make-up because WWII era make-up was not cruelty-free! If this all wasn't so horrific & such a tragedy for the Alexanders', I'd laugh at her hubris. She literally took each & every one of the wonderful qualities/character attributed to Travis in Steven's & Samantha's statements, & tried to applied them to herself. She will only continue to torment the Alexander family & friends from jail. This type of compulsion to inflict maximum amount of damage, pain & suffering w/ no remorse or accountability will continue from behind bars- all at tax-payers' expense. The financial toll doesn't take into account the emotional toll on the victim's family/friends. The severity of Arias' pathology, like any other serial killer, rapist or child molester cannot be rehabilitated. That's a fact. She's had almost 5 years in jail already... what great & noble things has she accomplished besides getting her GED & sharing her ill-gotten commissary swag for inmate favors/preferential treatment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the fantastic post, Anon. You are so right on. She truly is despicable. About her art....if I may. ; ) I am an artist. Graduated with a BFA at an art school in NYC. Her art work is sophomoric and pedestrian. She only copies from photos and colors them in. Her faces are out of proportion. It is early high school art, at best. She has no vision and there is nothing unique about it. I just needed to get that out there. I do not believe than any gallery owner would have likened her to the brilliant Van Gogh or Monet. That is just more BS. Just needed to get that off my chest.

      Sue

      Delete
    2. Sue,
      So nice to hear from you! I didn't know you had an art background - loved your description of her art as sophmoric and early high school! Got a little chuckle out of me...

      Delete
    3. Happy you thought it was funny. You have me laughing a lot and I appreciate it! I have been sick the last couple of weeks, but glad to be back!

      Sue

      Delete
    4. Anonymous (5/22 @ 5:40AM),
      Hello there! Of course I remember you, the early morning classic film buff! Thank you for your insightful and hilarious post about Locks of Love! Do you think Arias knew that her comment could not be refuted or rebutted by JM and that's why she made it? If they have those length and chemical requirements, there's no way she could have donated three times. Another campaign promise, that she will continue to donate hair if allowed to live! I'm sorry, your post made me LOL. Thank you so much for the comments!

      Delete
    5. I thought about the 3 times donating if it was possible as well but I didn't know about the retint exclusion, thanks for the clarification Anon!

      Also, when JA spoke about her red-hair phase did anyone think as I did that was an effort to say her hair color change was NOT part of the premeditation?

      Sonja

      Delete
  20. Jodi messed it up for Daryl Brewer to testify as well. She said she had to return to Daryl's home to give him the remote control. What remote control? Presumably the one that belonged to the DVD player that was "stolen" from her grandmother's house at the same time as the gun robbery. It seems Jodi bartered with Daryl to trade the gas cans for the DVD player. Under oath, Daryl has already proven to be honest when he admitted that she told him she was going to Mesa. The defense knows the Daryl would have to admit she gave him a DVD player. We know JUAN the MAN would ask!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa,
      Wow, I didn't know anything about the DVD player - good thinking! She really muddy's up the people around her doesn't she? She contaminates everything she comes into contact with...like a bacteria or fungus!

      Delete
  21. Love these posts! To see Nancy B swear really hit home - if she can hit her breaking point, then we are all in trouble! (Said tongue in cheek - Nancy B I love you and always look forward to your opinions, this just goes to show how we are all reaching our limit). I was wondering if it's possible that the judge lifted the gag order as a last ditch effort to let Jodi hang herself. Judge Stephens was so angry on Monday, it's the only explanation that I can come up with. I know the jury isnt SUPPOSED to be looking at the media, but suppose they did, or even heard that she was giving interviews. I just wonder if she wasn't letting that out in actual hope that it would work against her, either here with this jury, or another if one has to be called. Just a thought. Hang in there - it has to be almost over. (It just has to be, right???)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous (5/22 @ 8:56AM),
      I haven't seen NancyB's comment yet but now I'll have to find it! Isn't it amazing how crazy this trial can drive a person? And we don't even know these people, yet it feels like we are so completely invested. I heard something about the Judge's request to stop the media interviews being "unenforceable", and that the Sheriff's office agreed to cooperate with the court but it was never an order just a request. They are the ones complaining about the excessive media coverage as grounds for a mistrial! I agree, let her hang herself....

      Delete
  22. Another thing just struck me. It seems simple, but so true. Someone with awful, low self esteem is not going to do multi-media interviews! WTF? She is so full of it. So are her lawyers.

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue,
      I know! As soon as that ban was lifted, she had a LIST of potential interviews she wanted to do! I think it was Jean Casarez/HLN or Beth Karas who reported that she actually had a list and was insisting they provide her with makeup! Yeah, she has no ego or self esteem...it's almost like she thinks she has her own reality show, or this is her show-biz career that she's handling! Unfriggin-believable!!

      Delete
    2. Apparently she had other demands as well. She didn't want her handcuffs or prison/striped pants to be televised. And she didn't want to be filmed brushing her hair or putting on makeup. She's a convict!

      Delete
    3. That's true Melissa. The female interviewer was just on HLN saying Jodi had full command of everyone. She insisted on the make up, no cuffs and no camera shots of her striped jail pants.

      Delete
  23. Check this out. Looks like ABC got her in her striped pants. This is a good interview. ; )

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/t/video/jodi-arias-interview-2013-arias-calls-reporter-hater-19231549?tab=9482931&section=1206833&ref=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FJKwCCmmO4o

    Sue

    ReplyDelete

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