a view from the inside: observations from our own court observers #5

[CarolinaMoon]

Just a quick note: On the stand, Jodi admitted it was her foot in the picture and that she was wearing sox.

 

[vallie]

I was really sold on both of Jodi's feet showing in that photo. However I just read Det Flores report and he specifically refers to JA's right foot. I wonder if they have a clearer version of the pic which has made it easier to see that.

the reason it's the right foot is because the stripes on pants run on the outside of the leg, not the inside

 

[gauntlet]

the reason it's the right foot is because the stripes on pants run on the outside of the leg, not the inside

A few people have wondered if it was Jodi's left foot, hence my comment

 

[scubagrannie]

Can anyone find me a time stamped photo of Travis' ceiling that Jodi claims was accidentally taken when she dropped the camera?

That pic is shown during the evidence on Day 6 of the trial when Michael Melendez (Mesa PD computer forensics dude) is testifying. Tawni Dilly's youtube vids. It was recivered from the camera's memory stick and is listed in evidence as Exhibit #161 taken 6/4/2008 at 5:31:14

Edit: spelling

 

[LambChop]

I truly don't think JA had TA in any kind of stranglehold or anything fancy like that. She didn't need to as she had a gun and a knife. The crime happened fast: 62 seconds. No time for ninja poses or anything else. She went after him quickly and viciously, using 2 weapons. I think that's the long and short of it. Regardless of whether the knife came first or the gunshot came first, it was a brutal, painful crime. And frankly, she'll never disclose exactly how this all went down and we'll never know for sure. Further, neither the gun or knife has been found and it's coming up on 5 yrs since the murder. I don't think those items will ever be found or if they are, I don't think they'll get turned in. She'll be convicted and sentenced long before such a thing ever happens.

And since Jodi has admitted to shooting Travis wouldn't she have revealed to her DT exactly or within the general area of where she disposed of the gun so they could try and find it to prove it was Travis' gun. She had to have known where she stopped and if she buried it or threw it in a river. Jodi offers nothing to explain what she did with it, just somewhere along the way to SLC but before the Hoover Dam.

 

[Steely Dan]

That pic is shown during the evidence on Day 6 of the trial when Michael Melendez (Mesa PD computer forensics dude) is testifying. Tawni Dilly's youtube vids. It was recivered from the camera's memory stick and is listed in evidence as Exhibit #161 taken 6/4/2008 at 5:31:14

Edit: spelling

Thanks, I found it. The stamp is very difficult to see because it's so dark.

 

[Liebchenmutti]

I'm hoping the court observers will pay very close attention to the jurors on Tuesday, as ALV's testimony may bring some very disturbing information to light.

Important for people to be aware that JA tried to plead for lesser charges and if the charges were not reduced, she made it known that her defense strategy would include collateral damage to both TA's image and others close to him. TA's family is aware of the evidence and knows what the defense plans to present.

http://grahamwinch.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/jodiariasngfile.pdf

The emails between TA and the Hughes is something that the defense finds compelling and may show TA to be less than a gentleman when it comes to his relationships with women in general and specifically JA. Whether or not it is compelling enough to sway the jury remains to be seen. The DT is now heading into what it considers to be the meat and the potatoes of its strategy; trial watchers need to be open minded here and understand that while TA's image will not come out of this squeaky clean, this in no way gives any justification for a gunshot wound to the head, 27 stab wounds and the slashing of his throat.

The family will need support as they go through this difficult week of testimony. They do know the intentions of the DT and I have no doubt they are as prepared as they can possibly be for this emotional part of the trial. I have confidence in them and JM in making the decision to reject 2cnd degree murder charges with a maximum sentence of 25 years and pursue the death penalty.

This week will not be one for the faint of heart.

If you want to discuss this, please do so on the main thread here so we can keep this thread clear for the court observations.

ITA. And I don't have any worries.

Dear Jodi, Nurmi & Jenny Willmott:

I don't care if Travis slept with more women than Hugh Hefner.
I don't care if Travis had anal and oral sex on a daily basis with prostitutes.
I don't care if Travis treated Jodi Arias like a street-walking prostitute.
I don't care if Travis told Jodi Arias she was worth nothing more than her genitals.
I don't care if Travis promised Jodi Arias he would marry her and then told her she was too much a piece of garbage for him to even be seen out in public with.

HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE SLAUGHTERED AND LEFT TO ROT.

Dear ALV:

You are 20-30 years late with your "Patriarchal Terrorism" and your folksy tales of mean men and angelic women.

You are an embarrassment to ALL women and men survivors of violence (Including me).

Listening to a pathological liar and regurgitating her lies on the stand does not make it THE TRUTH. I makes you a MOUTHPIECE who is JUSTIFYING TRAVIS' MURDER at the hands of an ABUSER.

No reasonable person will ever listen to you again since you're telling us that VIOLENCE AGAINST MEN BY WOMEN PERPS IS OK. It's not.

I've been caring for my 3 young children and a husband with an intestinal virus all weekend & we were all too sick to even do Easter! I'm sick to death of the BS coming out of this trial--this "expert" and her absurd view of the world just makes me sick.

Rant over!

 

[scubagrannie]

... The crime happened fast: 62 seconds. No time for ninja poses or anything else. She went after him quickly and viciously, using 2 weapons.

There has been alot of discussion on the "62 second" elapsed time for committing the crime theory. Where this began was in JM's cross examination of JA as the theory of how long it took her to run through the closet, grab the gun, return to shoot TA. We know that JA is a liar, has lied and will lie. Therefore I have decided to impeach her testimony and will consider NONE of what she has said in my decision and simply rely on the evidence.

Now, if we "forget" what she said in response to the 62 seconds and simply look at the evidence we can see that the portion crime that was inadvertently recorded and subsequently deleted from the camera took at least 3 minutes and 2 seconds.

If you'd like to review my analysis, I used the testimony of Det. Michael Melendez, Mesa PD given on Day 6 of the trial. You can find it in Tawni Dilly's youtube video stream as "Day 6 Part 2" and the detective begins to present his testimony on the deleted images at approx. 10:53 into the recording.

For the timeline of the murder I used exhibits #141-163 and their respective times as noted on the date/time stamp from the camera.

Exhibits #141-160 were on the memory stick of the camera and had not been deleted.

Exhibit #141 timestamp 5:22:24
Exhibit #160 timestamp 5:30:30
- elapsed time 8 minutes 6 seconds (these are photos in the bedroom of JA, TA, and shower)

Exhibits #161, 162, and 163 were deleted from the camera's memory stick but recovered from the unallocated portion of the memory stick by Det. Melendez)

Exhibit 161: "the bathroom ceiling picture showing light and upper wall" timestamp 5:31:14 - This image was recorded 44 seconds after the last "normal" image of TA's face as he is seated in the shower looking to his right directly into the camera lens. There is no testimony of what happened in the 44 seconds between #160 and #161. Det. Melendez testified that there was no way to tell if photos were taken during a time period and deleted if they had been overwritten by another image. That said, something was happening in the 44 seconds between Exhibit #160 and #161 but we cannot speculate as to what was happening. What we do know is that the camera was right-side up and held at approx. 2-3' above the floor when this image was taken.

Exhibit #162: this is the picture of TA's body, JA's foot, some blood and is taken on a tile floor. Melendez testified the camera was upside down and on the floor when this image was taken. Image is timestamped 5:32:16. This image is 62 seconds later than Exhibit #161 and is the focus of JM's cross examination of JA where the "62 seconds to run to the closet to get the gun etc" began. However, we know that is NOT when JA went to get the gun, not only because she lies but because the evidence shows in this photo that TA is already bleeding from at least ONE wound on the front of his body. We can see blood trails from his chest area traveling over his right shoulder and toward the floor. IF TA had been shot at this time we would see blood from the right-side head wound in this pic. Also TA sustained a stab wound to the right-side of the back of his neck. Blood trails in this picture do not indicate this non-fatal neck wound has yet been inflicted. IMO TA is still very much alive in this picture, having not yet sustained the fatal wound to his vena cava nor the throat slashing wound. Also IMO this picture was taken during the struggle where TA is fighting for his life - will explore the "whys" of this later.

Exhibit # 163 timestamp 5:33:32 (baseboard closeup) Camera on the floor and upside down. This image is taken 1 minute 16 seconds after #162. Something was happening and the shutter on the camera opened and recorded this image. We can speculate that the camera was bumped or touched and the image recorded.

My temporary conclusion on timestamped evidence photos:
- If you believe the attack began at 5:31:14 (when Ex. 161 was taken) then there is at least a 2 minute 18 second interval (Ex 163) that documents a portion of the attack on TA.

- If you believe "something" happened while TA is in the shower and you use the timestamp from Ex 160 (5:30:30) then there is a 3 minute 2 second period of time where the attack on TA is documented.

With at least 3 minutes documented we have still not covered the massive blood stain in the hall nor the time is would have taken TA to travel from the bathroom where the attack began toward the bedroom (and possibly out of the house to safety) where I believe the final mortal stab wounds were inflicted. (Will give my reasoning for that in another post)

So, did TA fight for his life for a "mere" 62 seconds or did he fight for his life for at least 3 minutes 2 seconds as documented by the photos recovered from the camera or did the attack continue from the bathroom to the hallway and take longer than 3 minutes 2 seconds? How long does a man need to fight for his life to convince the jury of Murder 1?

~More later on this folks.

 

[Madeleine74]

There's only one question that the jury needs to consider to determine self-defense for the afternoon of 06/04/08: Was Jodi's life in danger or did she have a reason (and it has to be reasonable and proven) to believe it was?

She did not prove her life was in danger or she had a reasonable fear of this happening, nor did she attempt to flee (and she could have). That's it. The burden of proof was legally on her.

Has nothing to do with TA's emails, TA's prior treatment of her or other women. Jodi failed to prove Travis was ever violent with her, she failed to prove her life was in danger, and she had at least a couple opportunities to 'escape' even if she did think her life might be in danger. Instead of leaving she was the aggressor and attacked and slaughtered TA.

< / game over >

The jury is ready to convict.

 

[Madeleine74]

The 'foot' picture shows Travis bleeding profusely with the blood coming from his neck area and streaming back over his shoulder. There's only one wound that would cause that amount of bleeding in that area, and that's the huge neck wound. The M.E. on the stand indicated the same thing (neck wound is the wound that stream of blood would correspond to).

At the point of that picture it was over for TA. His life, if not already gone, was within seconds of being gone. The next picture taken shows an even larger amount of blood streaming down his back, over his shoulder.

62 seconds is the timeframe from a last-alive Travis to a most certainly dead or near-dead Travis. Whatever happened to take his life happened in that span, documented by pictures.

 

[scubagrannie]

The 'foot' picture shows Travis bleeding profusely with the blood coming from his neck area and streaming back over his shoulder. There's only one wound that would cause that amount of bleeding in that area, and that's the huge neck wound. The M.E. on the stand indicated the same thing (neck wound is the wound that stream of blood would correspond to).

At the point of that picture it was over for TA. His life, if not already gone, was within seconds of being gone. The next picture taken shows an even larger amount of blood streaming down his back, over his shoulder.

I must disagree with you on this. The blood that is seen in this picture is not from the neck slashing wound. The blood volume is a trickle as seen in the photo. The gaping neck wound that severed both carotid arteries and both juglular veins would have sent blood shooting/spurting into the air in massive volumes. If you need to visualize the type of arterial bleeding that happens when a major artery is severed I will locate a surgical website for you. Otherwise, I'm going to rely on MHO that most individuals who are not in the medical profession will see a minor wound that is bleeding and think :OMG MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS: That is simply because most people have never seen/experienced a person with an arterial bleed. Arterial wounds can shoot blood several feet into the air if inflicted while a person is still alive (heart beating) and has sufficient blood volume left in the body (has not exsanguinated).

I'm not trying to belittle you or say anything negative about you, Madeline74. It's just your information on the blood loss from the neck wound does not coincide with the medical known facts for an arterial bleed.

 

[SkiptomyLu]

I figured that was why JM brought up the fact that JA had made 2 CASH deposits at Chase (he showed the receipts) while she was on her "road trip". I think that's also why he kept asking her how much cash she took with her (no more than $200), because I believe that close to $1,000 was deposited in cash to her 2 bank accounts.

So where else did the cash come from on the road except from Travis?

The only deposits I know of are the those made to WaMu in Salinas. I didn't know she'd also made deposits into an account at Chase Bank.

Several of us have been wondering where she got the extra $$. There was a guy on Dr. Drew who lives in Big Sur and said he had loaned ja $$ for her trip. We think that is where she got the $$ to deposit in Salinas.
I can't remember the amount, but 300.00 comes to mind.

MOO MOO :moo: speculation: I think JA could have potentially had several sources of income. The fact that she keeps on hammering in the point of how poooooor she was makes me think she has a reason to cover up quite the opposite. One thing we do know about JA is that we cannot put ANYTHING past her as far as what she would do. She may have been one of those girls who did *advertiser censored* webcam sex.

Maybe this (or something like this) is what TA found out and claims he was going to expose her for?? He did make a very bold statement on his MySpace page (In one of the sections like 'who I want to be friends with', or 'about me'??) that he had zero tolerance for those types of people. IDK - unfortunately it seems all to common for men to be solicited for this kind of thing in general, BUT thought it could run a little deeper since sex solicitors do not read your account statements.

:moo: :moo: :moo:

ETA - Whoops! Realized I am off topic here in this thread! Sorry!

 

[neenee15]

Jodi's full of it.... If the gun was really Travis's she would have taken defense team on a road trip to show him where she tossed the gun, shown him actual knife at the house and rope if there even was a rope....especially her claiming self defense two years later...

Surprised this was not a jury question, after claiming self defense why not show someone where you stopped and got rid of gun and other items that could potentially help you out?? If its self defense??

Also Katiecoolady agree with you always thought she did change into a ninja costume to surprise travis at first in the shower. I am one to believe some of those pics in shower he was unaware of her presence but after attack she wanted him to see her during that time at some point! Cleans up in shower and leaves... Premeditated from start to finish. The phsyo in her got her caught.....

 

[LambChop]

I must disagree with you on this. The blood that is seen in this picture is not from the neck slashing wound. The blood volume is a trickle as seen in the photo. The gaping neck wound that severed both carotid arteries and both juglular veins would have sent blood shooting/spurting into the air in massive volumes. If you need to visualize the type of arterial bleeding that happens when a major artery is severed I will locate a surgical website for you. Otherwise, I'm going to rely on MHO that most individuals who are not in the medical profession will see a minor wound that is bleeding and think :OMG MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS: That is simply because most people have never seen/experienced a person with an arterial bleed. Arterial wounds can shoot blood several feet into the air if inflicted while a person is still alive (heart beating) and has sufficient blood volume left in the body (has not exsanguinated).

I'm not trying to belittle you or say anything negative about you, Madeline74. It's just your information on the blood loss from the neck wound does not coincide with the medical known facts for an arterial bleed.

The ME already identified the blood on his shoulder as coming from the neck wound. It was also established that his neck was cut while he was in the area of the bedroom carpet where there was massive blood loss from the throat injury. The picture that was taken in the hallway that shows the blood on his shoulder is believed to have happened when she tried to get him back down the hallway because it was taken while he was on the tile floor and she had turned him. The last picture shows she did turn him and was dragging him back to the bathroom because you can see the corner of the closet door that leads into the bathroom along with his shoulder. Have you watched the ME's testimony from court?

 

[Liebchenmutti]

I must disagree with you on this. The blood that is seen in this picture is not from the neck slashing wound. The blood volume is a trickle as seen in the photo. The gaping neck wound that severed both carotid arteries and both juglular veins would have sent blood shooting/spurting into the air in massive volumes. If you need to visualize the type of arterial bleeding that happens when a major artery is severed I will locate a surgical website for you. Otherwise, I'm going to rely on MHO that most individuals who are not in the medical profession will see a minor wound that is bleeding and think :OMG MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS: That is simply because most people have never seen/experienced a person with an arterial bleed. Arterial wounds can shoot blood several feet into the air if inflicted while a person is still alive (heart beating) and has sufficient blood volume left in the body (has not exsanguinated).

I'm not trying to belittle you or say anything negative about you, Madeline74. It's just your information on the blood loss from the neck wound does not coincide with the medical known facts for an arterial bleed.

You're not taking blood loss into account: The heart wound would make his blood pressure drop immediately--he was stabbed going down the hallway after that stab wound. The blood loss from the slicing of the throat was the next to last wound, according to the ME. He didn't have enough blood or blood pressure to bleed like you're describing. Check the ME's testimony.

 

[Madeleine74]

I must disagree with you on this. The blood that is seen in this picture is not from the neck slashing wound. The blood volume is a trickle as seen in the photo. The gaping neck wound that severed both carotid arteries and both juglular veins would have sent blood shooting/spurting into the air in massive volumes. If you need to visualize the type of arterial bleeding that happens when a major artery is severed I will locate a surgical website for you. Otherwise, I'm going to rely on MHO that most individuals who are not in the medical profession will see a minor wound that is bleeding and think :OMG MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS: That is simply because most people have never seen/experienced a person with an arterial bleed. Arterial wounds can shoot blood several feet into the air if inflicted while a person is still alive (heart beating) and has sufficient blood volume left in the body (has not exsanguinated).

I'm not trying to belittle you or say anything negative about you, Madeline74. It's just your information on the blood loss from the neck wound does not coincide with the medical known facts for an arterial bleed.

That's okay grannie,

The M.E. (Kevin Horn MD) already opined on the stand about the blood coming down over TA's right shoulder in that picture and it is his opinion that it's coming from the neck wound. Since he is in the medical profession, a doctor, and happens to be the ME who examined TA's body, I'll take his word for it over Interweb posters. :seeya:

 

[LambChop]

That's okay grannie,

The M.E. (Kevin Horn MD) already opined on the stand about the blood coming down over TA's right shoulder in that picture and it is his opinion that it's coming from the neck wound. Since he is in the medical profession, a doctor, and happens to be the ME who examined TA's body, I'll take his word for it over Interweb posters. :seeya:

Plus if anyone were going to challenge the ME it would have been defense and it would have been right out of the gate. So I think the only point defense is arguing with the ME is that the shot was first.

 

[tater4332]

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/03/29/travis-secret-engagement-ring

 

[scubagrannie]

Hmm, looks like I need to go and watch the ME's testimony again before I continue with my current line of thinking. I will do that and see where my thoughts and theory change.

 

[indycornstalk]

I don't think she would have stopped at a campground to get rid of evidence. Even if they were deserted during June, it's too risky for her to be seen in that type of location, also too risky for her to dispose of the gun/knife in a park garbage can which is more easily searchable. I think she chose a remote location along the stretch of highway to Hoover Dam where she could tell if there was no traffic, then pulled off and buried the items or threw them into a river. The other would be she disposed of them just before the Hoover Dam checkpoint.

Arias kept the receipts from this trip IMO as trophies or she was in her twisted mind going to use them as her alibi's or something, so if she kept the receipts is it possible she has kept the knife and gun somewhere where she knows they can be recovered as well? Just a thought.