The Prosecution Rests In The Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Wow - the State of Arizona just rested it's case this morning in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial after calling the "Custodian of Records" from Sprint phone company, Detective Esteban Flores and Leslie Udy, a friend of Arias who saw her on June 5, 2008 in Utah.  

The Sprint representative explained phone records, but Leslie Udy provided a look into how Jodi Arias behaved when she saw her the day after Travis Alexander was killed.  Leslie Udy met Jodi Arias at a Pre Paid Legal conference in June of 2007, and they continued to keep in touch.  Udy stated that when she saw Jodi Arias on June 5, 2008 "she was Jodi", nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Arias told her that Travis Alexander had invited her to stop in Mesa on her way to Utah, but she declined in part to put some distance between them.  She further stated that although they were no longer together, they were "best friends".

I was fairly surprised when Prosecutor Juan Martinez rested his case this morning.  It seemed sudden.  They have put on a ton of evidence in the case already, still it seemed sudden.  The judge instructed the jury that they would not be required to come back to court for an extended period of time, I believe  she said January 29th?  The defense is arguing for the dismissal of some charges at the moment.  I believe they are arguing about the first degree murder charge specifically.

There are numerous problems with the self defense claim by Arias.  As we have seen by the layout of Travis Alexander's home, it was a fairly large master suite they were in during the June 4, 2008 visit.  They took nude photos of each other, Jodi Arias took photos of Travis Alexander while he was in the shower.  He appeared to be in a relaxed state.  What the recovered photos show me is that he was completely unaware of what was about to happen to him. He was posing for the camera.  There are no weapons showing in the shower or bathroom photos - Travis Alexander did not have ANY weapons with him.  This means that Jodi Arias HAD TO HAVE taken a knife into that master bathroom with her.

She had to have gone presumably into the other room, perhaps in her purse - and get that knife.  There is no evidence that the knife came from the crime scene, she brought it with her.  Had he "lunged" at her as she has alleged - that would put him OUT of the shower.  The State believes he was stabbed inside the shower, at least initially.  The attack appears to have moved into other areas of the bathroom, but it began while he was in the shower.  Defenseless.  I believe she caught him completely off guard and he probably was so shocked at what was happening that he had no time to react.  He had defensive wounds to his hands, he was stabbed in the back and head. All evidence points to Arias as being the absolute aggressor in this case.

Jodi Arias has lied from the very start.  She stuck to the "I wasn't there, I didn't do it" story right up until the time that Detective Flores put the recovered photos in front of her.  Even then, she says "that LOOKS like me".  She also asserts that photos can be "altered" and that she doesn't trust date and time stamps.  ONLY WHEN she couldn't deny that she wasn't there did she change her story.  And even then she didn't tell the truth.  She simply altered the story to fit the evidence she believed the police had against her.  Deny deny deny.  Detective Flores never believed the first or second stories she told him.  During the second police interview shown from July 16, 2008 (the day after her arrest), Arias is still lying and won't tell him the truth.

She tries to sell a story that two masked/armed intruders came into the home and killed Travis and threatened to do the same to her.  This was her opportunity to tell the police that she was abused and acted in self defense!  If it had truly been self defense, why would she make up these stories?  Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell the truth?  I believe if the police hadn't been able to recover those deleted photos, she may never have admitted to anything!

There are just too many things that point to premeditation and against self defense.  The 2,834 mile trip in a rental car, the .25 caliber gun that was "stolen" from Jodi Arias's grandparents home in Yreka, CA, the photos that appear to show a very consensual interlude between Arias and Alexander - Arias remaining at the crime scene and washing the sheets/camera and the victims body, Arias appears to have called Travis Alexander's voice mail and listened to his personal messages 6 hours after she killed him, Arias herself called Travis's cellphone several times and left messages for him - in an appearance to create an alibi - I could go on and on and on!

There hasn't been a single person the defense could call to the stand to verify Arias's claims of abuse at the hands of Travis Alexander.  The defense hasn't put on their case yet, but I expect the only witnesses they will call will be "expert witnesses" to testify about the way a "battered woman" would act.  It will be interesting to see what the defense tries to do when they put on their case in chief when the trial resumes.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez secured a first degree murder conviction with the death penalty attached just about 8 years ago when he prosecuted Wendi Andriano in 2004 for the murder of her terminally ill husband Joe.  Andriano also claimed she killed her in self defense.  Her husband was terminally ill, yet she tried to poison him with sodium azide, and when that didn't do the trick she struck him more than 20 times with a bar stool before stabbing him.  She is sitting on death row in Arizona, and Juan Martinez put her there.

Wow, what a day in that courtroom!