Jodi Arias In The News Again - Appellate Problems, Suing Former Attorney Over "Tell All" Book

Here we go again people.  We couldn't have possibly thought we'd heard the last of convicted murderer Jodi Arias.  I don't think there has ever been a murder defendant...I mean convicted murderer who garners more attention than she does.  She basks in the limelight of finally being someone people see.  Does she realize there's a difference between famous and infamy?  Probably, she's not an unintelligent woman - I've written to her and have received responses.  She's very well spoken and surprisingly pleasant for a woman who stabbed her ex boyfriend 31 times, slashed his throat and shot him in the face.  It's sometimes hard to imagine the soft spoken Arias actually had that rage inside of her, but CLEARLY she did.

She loved the attention she got from this crime from the day of her first mug shot.  Remember, she asked to put on makeup prior to the photo being taken? Her escapades during her interrogations were epic, who stands on their head in an interrogation room where you have to know you are being filmed?  Who sings a song to pass the time and goes through the trash while the detectives are out of the room?  Jodi did.

Now that her case is up for appeal a whole litany of issues have come up.  The sheer volume of the case file for this trial makes it a real headache for the appellate attorney.  Naturally Arias' attorney will allege as many trial errors as they can - as well as prosecutorial misconduct, an overzealous media who "tainted" the public against her and caused her character witnesses to back out and naturally she is suing her attorney Kirk Nurmi for his tell all book "Trapped With Ms. Arias". What a telling title. It's no secret he tried and tried and tried again to be removed as her attorney.  He even quit the public defender's office and went into private practice but was forced by the court to continue on as her attorney.  I really got the sense he didn't care much for her.  But that doesn't mean he didn't do his best to defend her.  He and Jennifer Willmott had the impossible task of explaining why Jodi butchered Travis and then tried to cover the whole thing up with a bogus trip to Utah to see Ryan Burns.

Arias may have been an epic liar, but she was definitely a rookie murderer who left behind a virtual road map pointing right to the killer - her.  Leaving that camera behind was the biggest blunder.  It proved she WAS in Mesa when she said she hadn't been there.  it proved she had been intimate with Travis just hours before his death.  It proved a lot of things that she otherwise may have been able to explain away (i.e. her hair being there, fingerprints etc.).

There was never any doubt in my mind this was premeditated.  I don't know what she gains if she were to win an appeal - another trial would be another complete circus - more than likely more than the first one was if that's even possible.  Arias still is out there asking people to fund her appeal and her appellate fund allegedly has approximately $115,000 of her ultimate goal of $250,000.  

Arias continues to go after Kirk Nurmi and his book, claiming he disclosed information that was privileged and she also alleges he was "obsessed" with the sexual aspects of the case. Jodi is the one who centered her defense around sex.  Nurmi on the other hand has claimed Arias was completely inappropriate with him, telling him how she shaves certain areas and other things he didn't want or need to know.  She was unable to wrap Nurmi around her finger as she did with Dr. Samuel's and Alyce La Violette.

Nurmi ultimately surrendered his law license - I think being forced to defend someone like Jodi Arias made him wonder if he was in the right profession.  I hope his book does well.  I didn't like the guy during the trial, but he was just doing his job.  I wonder what Jennifer Willmott is up to these days?  And what ever happened to Maria De La Rosa?

Jodi Arias and Maria De la Rosa in court

She was the death penalty "mitigation specialist" who didn't seem to do a lot and was caught smuggling Arias' artwork out of the Estrella jail after a visit with Arias.  She was banned from the jail for some period of time for that escapade.  People also believe she was in cahoots with Arias and her "followers" to hide the money Arias was collecting from sales of "artwork" and other Arias artifacts - she needed to hide the money from Travis Alexander's family.  She shouldn't have been allowed to sell anything from jail especially after being convicted.  I'd still love to see the IRS and Arizona tax authority audit her as I'm 110% sure it's all unreported income.  And all the while the citizens of AZ are paying for her multi million dollar defense.

It's unclear if Arias' lawsuit versus Nurmi will go anywhere. This already came up and Nurmi surrendered his law license and I'm not sure what stipulations that came with or if that absolved him of any financial liability.  Everybody has written a book about the Jodi Arias trial - freedom of speech.  I'm sure it's different with attorneys however, and Arias does still have appeals.  We will have to see how this pans out.

The difference in appearance in Kirk Nurmi from the beginning of the trial to the end is unreal.  I found a few pics I just had to post - here's a comparison.  The "before" pic may be a little childish but I couldn't help myself - until next time!

Kirk Nurmi before

Kirk Nurmi after

Jodi Arias Files Lawsuit Against Attorney Kirk Nirmi

Radar Online is reporting that boyfriend annihilator Jodi Arias is filing a lawsuit against the attorney who represented her in the murder trial that made her a household name.  Nurmi tried numerous times to withdraw as her attorney, however Judge Stephens would not allow him to as the time and money it would have taken to get another attorney up to speed was astronomical.  In addition, Arias petitioned the court to have Nurmi remain on her team as she believed he knew her case better than anybody.  She is now suing him claiming he had "utter hatred for her".

Jennifer Willmott and Kirk Nurmi had the impossible task of trying to defend Jodi Arias against a prosecutor who had an enormous mountain of direct and circumstantial evidence against her.  They had to get creative on their defense, so why not call Jodi a battered woman?  That's a popular defense when there are no witnesses to the physical abuse and no police reports.  Why?  Because there are countless law enforcement officials and shrinks who will tell a jury that most victims never report their abuse because they fear the abuse will get worse.

This trial was the reason I started writing this blog. The case fascinated me.  It was fairly obvious that Mr. Nurmi didn't care for his client and Willmott had a better rapport with Jodi Arias.  But Nurmi did the best he could, consider he was being forced to represent someone he didn't particularly want to be in the same room with.  There have been rumors (via Kirk Nurmi himself) that Arias acted "inappropriately" with him and flirted with him.  Jodi however claims in her suit that Nurmi "had an unprofessional and prurient preoccupation with the sexual nature of the case, as well as the Plaintiff herself".  Oh yes, everyone WANTS you Jodi ("no jury will convict me - mark my words....." Jodi Arias)

Kirk Nurmi denies all of Arias' claims and looks forward to defending each and every allegation in a court of law.  Arias is probably also peeved at the title of Kirk Nurmi's book about the trial - "Trapped with Ms. Arias" doesn't make her sound like a plaintiff he was enamoured with!!  

Arias' defense team may have made a fortune defending her, but it clearly took a toll on Kirk Nurmi.  He was disbarred after releasing his book - he never fought it.  He reportedly wanted to be disconnected from Jodi Arias, and knew he never would be as long as he practiced law.  He was diagnosed with cancer after the trial - something he believes is connected to the experience he had defending someone like Jodi Arias.  This explains why he lost so much weight.

Arias' suit claims that Nurmi exposed confidential and privileged information for the express purpose of financial gain.  She may have some valid points - we all knew we hadn't heard the last of Jodi Arias!