Our Search For Patches

http://www.gofundme.com/plxf38

This is a subject near and dear to my heart, pets. I've always had them, and they bring so much happiness and joy into our lives that I can't imagine not having one.  Since we love our pets like family, it hurts when they pass away, get sick or disappear.  I can accept the circle and cycle of life, but when things happen to our pets because of the deliberate actions of another - a heartless neighbor for example, I have discovered that the laws around the subject of pets is grossly inadequate.

My mom's cat "Patches" disappeared last November.  He has been her loyal and loving companion for 9 years, and a constant comfort to her through some pretty difficult times.  She LOVES this cat and so do I.  So when he went missing last year I searched high and low for him.  I passed out color flyers, went to animal shelters and walked the neighborhood countless times in search of Patches.  I am desperate to find him!  

A few weeks ago, we found out that a neighbor of hers had a hand in Patches disappearance, as wll as several other cats in the neighborhood. His wife finally felt guilty enough about what he had done that she spoke up and told one of the effected households that her husband trapped our cats in his backyard and drove them to remote areas of Modesto and left them to fend for themselves. When the neighbor found out what he had done to their cat, she police were called and this man admitted to trapping and dumping our cats. I don't know what he did with Patches or where he drove him but there are 2 sites he mentioned, one being an area by the Amtrak station in Modesto.  I have since been to that station in the early morning hours but after 5 months, what re the chances of me finding him now?  I continue to go to the animal shelters nd look online for any cat that fits his description.

I'm afraid at this point our only hope of finding him is to offer a large enough cash reward that people will actually take notice and call if they see him.  I also thought about taking out a large color ad in the Modesto Bee with his photo nd backstory. Patches has always worn a collar with ID, although the neighbor may have taken it off of him before he dumped him so he wouldn't be returned if found.  I can't say how upsetting this has been because this man had NO right to trap these cats and leave them out to fend for themselves when they have loving homes and people who truly value and cherish them.

This neighbor must not like cats.  He has to appear in court on the trapping issue and we will be there to hear what he has to say for himself.  He got fined a mere $200 for the violation! I have a sick feeling the laws around what I consider to be animal cruelty are not nearly strong enough and he will never be punished for his cowardly and selfish acts. Since our family lacks the financial resources to offer a decent cash reward or take out a large photo ad in the local paper, I set up a donation page for my mom in the effort to find Patches.  I'm hoping to raise a $500 cash reward and buy ad space if I'm able to pull this off. My mom is disabled and lives on a fixed income, and unfortunately I'm not in a position to help enough to get this done.

My mom's hot water heater and washing machine both just went out at the exact same time so her resources are tapped.  Although I'm at a loss for how or why people do these kind of heartless things, I still believe in the kindness of strangers and I know there are some awesome and selfless people out there who do care about others.  Im posting this link if anyone is interested in donating www.gofundme.com/plxf38

Thank you for reading this post and I will let you know how the court day goes and if we are ever able to find our Patches - it would be a miracle,

Arias Support Website Publishes Jurors Names - Thanks Holdout

In my last posting, I incorrectly identified the holdout juror in the Jodi Arias sentencing phase retrial as juror #12, while sources say it was juror #17 who spared Arias from a death sentence.  It is now being reported that Maricopa County is providing security for juror #17, after her name was "leaked" vis social media. No doubt Arias supporters will have a field day with this development and if you listen closely you can almost hear them drumming up more conspiracy and/or misconduct theories.

There are so many things that were wrong with this trial, much of which was advantageous to the defense. Only AFTER the fact are we hearing about the possibility that the holdout juror's husband was previously prosecuted by the same DA or DA's office? Between that connection and the disclosure that she has been a victim of domestic abuse, how in the world did she end up on this jury panel?  All of the time and resources that were thrown at prosecuting this case and I'm wondering how this came to be.  Juan Martinez is a meticulous prosecutor and very detail oriented so how could the wife of a man his office prosecuted end up serving on this very high profile trial? 

As for the name of the holdout juror, I'm not disclosing it here but someone on Twitter apparently did, which allegedly led to death threats against her. I will publicly state here that the Jodiariasisinnocent website did name each and every juror who voted for the death penalty on their site. Above the list of their names, it says something like "these are the jurors who tried (unsuccessfully) to have Jodi killed"....to which I'd like to respond by stating "here is the name of the woman who successfully murdered Travis, and her name is Jodi Ann Arias". Arias succeeded in delaying, postponing and finally wiggled her way out of what should have been a trip to death row.  This murder was so savage, so cruel, completely unnecessary and there was so much rage and outright overkill involved, if these actions don't warrant the ultimate punishment then I'm not sure why the option of death is still available in the state of Arizona.  Arias' mitigating circumstances presented in court were so generic and unconvincing that I'm having great difficulty understanding why or how they were weighed against the unspeakable cruelty, physical and mental anguish Travis Alexander must have experienced as his life was ending at the hands of a woman he let into his home. The horror of looking in the mirror at a knife yielding woman and the pain inflicted with each and every blow.  I cannot even imagine how scared he must have been as he saw the blood draining from his body.

The Arias defense team managed to reach that one juror and it saved her life. They alway say that you only need to connect with one, convince one person their client was damaged in some way and therefore they are somehow less responsible, but you really don't fully understand the enormity of reaching one juror until you have a 11-1 mistrial such as this. It's devastating to hear how absolutely convinced the 11 jurors were in their sentencing decision and how unwilling the holdout was to deliberate with them. Immediately following the mistrial announcement there were allegations that the holdout had a hidden agenda, a stealth juror who flew under the radar? Or is she simply convinced Jodi's psychological deficits were so great that murder was a reasonable outcome? Even if you believe Jodi is damaged goods, her deficits didn't prevent her from planning and executing her plan which included a cover story, an elaborate alibi and coverup as well as a getaway and disposal of key pieces of evidence that could have tied her to the Mesa crime scene.  Those are the actions of a woman who thought things through enough to remember to buy gas cans so she wouldn't be captured on video getting gas in Arizona!

My point is that this was clearly premeditated murder, committed in an especially cruel and heinous manner.  The punishment here should have been the death penalty. Jodi's actions since the murder is nearly as disturbing, as she embraces the media attention and has sought to capitalize on her notoriety since the first interview after her arrest. I hope the Alexander family goes after her in a wrongful death suit now that the criminal trial is all but over. She should not be raking in tax free cash and hiding it among family, friends and "Appellate Trust" accounts. It's time to shut down "Arias Inc" now!

Holdout Juror Saves Arias From Death Row

First off, my apologies in advance as I'm having to post this using an iPad due to computer problems so I'm not able to type as fast and furiously as My mind would like to after the second disappointing NON VERDICT in the Jodi Arias penalty retrial.

Where do we even begin? This trial, in my opinion was one of the most poorly handled high profile murder cases I've ever seen or read of. Judge Sherry Stephens allowed this trial to be delayed longer than it should have, she allowed concessions to the defense at almost every turn - perhaps out of a misguided fear of having something overturned on appeal. The trial dragged on and the retrial dragged on nearly as long, did the time lapse between the vicious cold blooded and calculating murder and the actual criminal trial desensitize the perception of what she did to Travis?  How can such a savage and brutal murder NOT warrant capital punishment? This case should have been a prime example of why we have the death penalty as an option in Arizona!

I can't help but feeling that had Travis killed Jodi in the same manner under the same set of circumstances he would have been sentenced to death by the first jury. That's right...gender bias exists in death penalty cases, statistics don't lie but murder defendants do. The viewing public of concerned citizens should be outraged at all of the rights the convicted murderer has when compared to the ctual murder victim and the devastated families left behind to cope with their loss and the lack of justice and closure.

The Alexander family appeared completely shattered by the mistrial, knowing that after nearly 7 years of waiting for their day in court, Arias will be sentenced by a Judge...the same Judge who allowed their brother's name and reputation to be slaughtered much in the manner she used that knife and gun, only this time she used words and lies. The defense attorneys relied on stall tactics, sleazy and  highly questionable tales by a master manipulator who has managed to build her own empire while behind bars..is she remorseful?  I think she's only sorry she got caught. 

The one thing that has been openly communicated by many of Travis' family and friends is that they still take solace in believing Jodi Arias WILL someday answer to a much higher power. A power that can see through the lies and who knows exactly what took place in the early morning hours of June 4, 2008. She will be judged. Another thing to take solace in is that 11 of those jurors voted for death, only Juror #12 saw some redeeming quality or found that Jodi's mental issues made it impossible for her to cope with the unraveling relationship. The infuriating thing is the other jurors stated in their interviews with the media that this juror was dug in from day 1 of the deliberations and was really unwilling to debate or deliberate any of the issues with the rest of them. That is NOT the way juries deliberate. They voted on day 1 to get a sense of where they stood and Juror#12 was for life and never seriously considered changing her mind.

I believe a juror has the absolute right to stick with their convictions and should not allow themselves to be bullied into changing their vote just to get to a verdict. But when you have somebody on a jury who refuses to engage in deliberations and seems to have her mind absolutely made up and is so dug in from the start, you have a problem.  It has also been reported that this juror disclosed she had been a victim of emotional abuse with a husband oe ex husband during jury selection! How in the world did she even make the final cut in that pool of jurors nd alternates?

Another sad note is that one of the female jurors who was excused was not kicked off the jury, rather she was excused because her mother passed away, and she had to make funeral arrangements. Who knows what the outcome would have been had the alternate jurors been called in for deliberations? The overwhelming feelings from the jurors who woke to the media after the ministerial was declared expressed their sorrow and anguish that they were unable to secure the death penalty the other 11 jurors felt strongly that Arias deserved. Some of them wept and they were genuinely distraught and so apologetic to Travis' family..this affected them deeply and they fought for justice for Travis Alexander.  Twitter was abuzz with comments bout the mistrial, mostly outrage that there was a second hung jury. It's hard to comprehend that this case turned out the way it did, but it's a small victory for "Team Sleeze"...the defense attorneys in this case did everything they could to put Travis on trial and I hate that their lower than low tactics were successful.

So now we wait another month for Judge Stevens decision..life with the possibility of RELEASE after 25 years served or the more appropriate Natural life, which should ensure Arias will never have the opportunity to walk among us again.  But Jodivwill still have. Life to live, while Travis has been gone for years now. She will eventually be able to use good behavior to work her way into having more privileges in prison, she could get a job, get education and eventually she can work her way into the general population some day...gwith good behavior she will have access to activities she enjoys including craft rooms and I believe the prison even allows inmates to sell their wares at a store! I researched ll of this years ago and prison life is discussed in detail in an old post.

What more can I say? There's a lot more I want to say but will have to wait as this iPad isn't ideal for writing this way! Disappointment and disbelief is what we are left with. An empty feeling that justice is just out of reach..11-1 is hard to swallow. So close but yet so far. I'm so sorry for the family of friends of Travis. Please know that people did not believe the things Jodi said about your brother. He seems to have had countless friends an.d people he inspired and I think Travis will be remembered for his good heart and the people he helped and NOT for the man Team Sleeze tried to paint.

May God bless you and give you the strength and conviction to carry on - I hope you get to Arias in a wrongful death suit because I cannot stand to see how much money this woman is collecting from the blood of another..

My apologies for typos, no time to spellcheck!