Jodi Arias Seeking Donations - JAA Appellate Fund

Jodi Arias' website, where she is hawking Limited-Edition copies of her artwork for $39.00 a pop now has a link to a site seeking donations for her appeal.  The "JAA Appellate Fund, An Irrevocable Trust"  is the registration on the account set up to take your money to help offset her legal fees!  Hey, wait just a minute....aren't the Arizona taxpayers still paying for her current legal fees?  She wants more of your money.  I won't reference her website here because it seems that every time we turn around Jodi Arias is trying to pick the public's pocket - whether it be via Survivor t-shirts, original artwork, limited edition artwork, and let's not forget the commissary fund - a must for all wrongfully convicted inmates.

Let's talk about this JAA Appellate Fund.  It says the following about the fund and what it was created for:  This is the official donation website for assisting with the legal fees associated with appealing Jodi Arias's wrongful conviction (yes, it says wrongful conviction) Previous trial and pre trial costs amounted to millions of dollars (not YOUR dollars, Jodi). Therefore, appeals are expected to be costly.  Donations are not tax deductible.

Appeals Process:  Direct (Automatic) Appeal - The Arizona Supreme Court independently reviews the case.  Most convictions are upheld at this stage.

Post Conviction Relief:  If a mandate is issued upholding the conviction, the Arizona Supreme Court automatically initiates post conviction relief (PCR) proceedings. PCR proceedings allow the defendant to raise claims of ineffective assistance of counsel (uuhmm...YOU MUST KEEP KIRK NURMI AS MY LEAD ATTORNEY, IT'S VITAL TO MY CASE.....YOU MUST LET ME FIRE KIRK NURMI, HE HASN'T COME TO SEE ME SINCE I WAS CONVICTED) or other factors the probably would have led to a different outcome at trial. 

Irrevocable Gift Trust:  Donations are non-refundable and are made to the JAA Appellate Fund. This money will not go to or through Jodi Arias or her family, but will be used strictly for the limited purpose of paying for the legal costs associated with Jodi Arias's appeals. If for any reason whatsoever appeals are not pursued or if after appeals are completed there are funds remaining, the entire balance will be equally distributed between two nonprofit organizations. One assists disabled children and the other is a no-kill animal sanctuary. (What happened to the domestic violence/battered women's shelter support? Is Ms. Arias trying to broaden her humanitarian horizons in order to reach a broader audience?)

OK, this is the United States of America and everybody is entitled to a fair trial and competent representation.  Jodi Arias had both.  She was convicted, not because of Kirk Nurmi's "utter poverty of people skills" but because a jury of her peers decided she committed murder in the first degree.  Prior to her conviction and her rapid-fire attempts to fire lead attorney Kirk Nurmi, she was making pleas to the court on the absolute merits of retaining Nurmi as her attorney after he left the office of public defender. Remember this, I believe she wrote to the judge how detrimental it would be if she had to get a new attorney up to speed, citing that nobody knew her case as Nurmi did? The court eventually agreed to pay Kirk Nurmi an additional $100.00 per hour and ordered him to stay on the case?  The taxpayers paid at least an additional $200,000.00 to Kirk Nurmi alone, and much of that was because the defendant wanted to retain him and not have another attorney start from scratch.  So now, when she will undoubtedly argue ineffective counsel I just have laugh at the way this woman wants it all her way.

I realize Jodi Arias has supporters out there in the world. Despite what I think of her monstrous acts of June 4, 2008 - she is a human being, with a family and friends. But aside from the murder and perjury, Jodi Arias is an opportunist. I see her as a self absorbed woman who truly believes she is some kind of celebrity, someone who has an adoring public - ever since the spotlight was shined on her she refuses to step out of it. She got a taste of recognition, and even if it was for a hideous act she seems to relish it. How else can you explain why she feels the need to tweet or have numerous websites with her name all over them?  She's peddled sketches, original artwork and limited edition artwork, "Survivor" t-shirts, given her opinions on books via her online book club and all the while she has been asking for your money.  Money for her family's travel expenses to and from her trial.  Only at her sentencing trial did she state that 100% of the Survivor proceeds were going to a battered woman's shelter.  Before, the website said "a portion". 

Nobody knows for sure how much of the public's money she has collected in the 5 1/2 years she's been behind bars, but I'd venture to say it's a fair amount of money.  Not including the $1,700,000 defense, and the cost to feed and house her at the Estrella jail complex - and yet she is running what could almost be described as an enterprise from behind bars.  The only thing missing are more than likely her tax returns on said businesses. Just where are the proceeds of the artwork and limited edition prints going?  Is Jodi Arias filing tax returns on the money she's made from selling her artwork? She is required to, by law. Yet she doesn't seem to want to use any of THOSE proceeds for her appeals, she wants the public to foot the bill...again! It would just be in another form, via the old "irrevocable trust".  That means you can't take the money back, by the way. 

Irritated enough? I am!  By the way, it appears on Ms. Arias' site that she has 66 Limited-Edition prints of "Sailing at Sunset" left for sale at $39.00 a pop.  And she now has 100 Limited-Edition prints of "Picasso Calla Lilies" available at $39.00 a pop.  I think that means Jodi Arias has already sold 34 of the "Sailing at Sunset" prints, at $39.00 each.  What is that $1,326.00 being used for? Will that be turned over to Kirk Nurmi or Jennifer Willmott or the taxpayers of Arizona?  I seriously doubt it. She wants to pocket this cash, and have the public pay for her appeals.  Any IRS agents out there looking for an audit?  Have I got a lead for you.