Interim discussion regarding questions from the jury and Arias on the stand #81

[moonbird]

if i were a juror i would be trying to figure out j.a's trip to southern CA, and how she could justify going down to Pasadena without concrete, for-sure, SOLID plans to meet up with Laura (DBs sister) and/or meet with John Dixon (San Diego?) AND ALSO claim to be trying to save money...

how much money was spent to get to DBs house just to borrow gas cans*? would that amount have been equal or close to the amount she would have spent simply buying gas cans in Yreka/Redding? how much money was spent on going from the Monterey/Salinas area to drive, on a whim essentially, down to Pasadena?

*also, did no one in her family have gas cans? her sister or her sisters boyfriend/husband(?), her dad, her grandfather, the car rental service? (oh that's right, she told Mr. Colombo she'd be driving "locally"... eyeroll.)

obviously, she needed an excuse to be in So. California to put her closer to Travis/Mesa. she came up with (up to) 2 flimsy potential reasons that were not confirmed plans. Laura and John were/are the illusion of an alibi. in my mind/opinion, there was NO real, logical reason to go to Pasadena other than to get to Mesa.

j.a. lies, her words have zero credibility, but her actions are very telling.

... ahhh i am glad i got that out of my head. thanks for reading...

 

[rose222]

Either Jodi had a GPS (borrowed or on her cell phone) or there was one in the rental car. (maybe the internal kind) Just the way Juan asked that question, made me sit up and take notice. He wasn't drilling her like he has in other instances. Makes me wonder if he didn't really want her to think too much about that question. I think it will be addressed again. Same with the knives and the gun. Why buy one if you are just going to use it on a camping trip. Her grandpa had plenty, and he would probably have loaned her one, or she could have taken it without permission and he wouldn't have missed if for a short time. I don't think the knives have been mentioned. It's just creepy, she has another rental car and carries these weapons. Somebody was going to die if she hadn't been arrested.

I hope that is true! lease:

 

[Allyne Smithe]

[respectfully snipped]
The problem for Jodi (as has been the case throughout) she left damning evidence that messed up her original cover story. For some inexplicable reason she held on to the Pasadena gas receipts, showing her cash transactions filling up what appears to be three gas cans. (Or at least 12 extra gallons). This showed she bought gas in a very expensive place.

And she saved the cash receipt for that 3rd gas can. Eek!

You're so right, she has provided the prosecution with all the most compelling evidence against her. I didn't know where the cuts in her left hand were until she showed them to Det. Flores. He explained right to her face that happened when the bloody knife slipped and cut the inside of her fingers, that he'd seen it many times. Busted!

She can't shut up; she has even slipped on the stand, saying "I felt no fear" when asked if she was afraid while she was killing Travis.

Most people are focusing on the trip to Cancun as the trigger for setting JA off. I believe it was the messages from TA on 5/26 stating that she was evil and the worst thing that ever happened to him that doomed him. Whatever she did to provoke these 5/26 messages is the key to the reason behind this murder. JA was in fear of being exposed for whatever she had done.

While I agree the messages of 5/26 were the immediate trigger, I find myself agreeing with the person who believed she had this planned for a while, and her moving back to Yreka was part of that plan. Travis' last blog, dated May 18, made it clear he'd reevaluated his life on turning 30--which would have been the previous July--2007--not coincidentally the same time she claims she broke up with him (June 29, 2007)--when he resolved to date, from then on, those he considered potential marriage material. With marriage in mind.

That's what makes it even more diabolical, imo. Her plan was a long time in the works. She didn't just decide on 5/26 to sneak into Arizona undetected and murder him. She set her plan in motion the first week of April, 2008, when she moved back to Yreka. IMHO.

seems to me this jury could make short work of their verdict if they first decide whether they believe the defendant.

1. do we believe TA encouraged her to come to AZ?
2. do we believe her allegations of sexual and physical abuse?
3. do we believe she didn't try to conceal her trip to AZ?
4. do we buy the 'fog?'
5. do we believe this was a case of self defense?
6. do we believe she used a gun owned by TA that nobody else knew he had?

there are other questions, of course, but i think the answer to those should be a resounding NO because all of those things aren't corroborated by ANY evidence other than what she says.
they can easily throw out every word she said on the stand and just move to the evidence. then it wouldn't take long at all.

I can see how, after being forced to remain silent for weeks, jurors might have some things to say in deliberations, and maybe the foreman would want to go through a checklist just to be thorough. So imo the verdict may not come in as quickly as we'd like. OTOH JM's closing statement might provide the only checklist they need.

I'll be surprised if we don't see a verdict by the second day of jury deliberations.

 

[kaRN]

Hi all! Sure wish there was trial today!
I showed my hubby the shower pics. He said he thought Travis had to know she was there because with a glass door, how could someone go for over 5 minutes without knowing someone else was there. He said, "there's no way you wouldn't know I was right there for that long". He said it looked like she said something to him that made him turn around in surprise at 5:27:18. Not sure I agree with him, but thought I'd pass it on.

Now I have a question. Can you tell what is in the pic at 5:28:54????

I know we aren't allowed to post the pics here, but hopefully this link of them is ok.
http://thepotpapers.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/collage_zps00e64932.jpg

I think it's a close up of his right arm going across his chest. She zoomed out a little for the next shot at 5:29:12. The dark area at the top is his neck IMO. It's the same shape in both photos.

 

[JayB12]

Some have speculated that TA was stabbed while shaving.

Unless the sequence of photos and timeline would debunk that theory, I could see that being a logical thing. TA shaving with back to JA. JA starts stabbing TA in the back, he turns and is shocked/surprised about what he is feeling (I mean, most people have never experienced that feeling before). As he turns, the psycho stabs him in the chest. His flight reaction kicks in and heads down the hallway, probably screaming. Gets weak as he nears end of hallway, falls down and she slits his throat (I picture her picking his head up and slicing from right to left - gruesome thought). That explains blood at the sink and pooling at end of hallway. Psycho drags him back to the bathroom...body convulses or sounds from airway make her think he's still alive. Shoots him in the head to finish him off. Places him in shower, frantically cleans up and leaves after locking door to bedroom.

 

[popsicle]

Not to be gross, but have you ever seen the infamous R. Budd Dwyer suicide footage? Dwyer was treasurer of the State of Pennsylvania in the late 80s caught up in a corruption scandal over procurement contracts. He held a press conference, rambled on a bit, then reached into a manila envelope, pulled out a .357 magnum revolver and, before anyone could stop him, put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

The effect was instantaneous. He dropped like someone kicked out his knees. The bullet went through the roof of his mouth, through his sinuses and exited out the top of his head just behind his frontal lobes.

Not only did he drop immediately, but the amount of blood that came from not his mouth, or the top of his head, but out his nose was so copious that, quite frankly, it looked fake.

Although he used a larger, more powerful bullet, the track of the bullet is very similar to that of Travis Alexander, just with entrance and exit reversed, both transversed the brain and sinuses.

Even with a smaller round the cavitation through the entire brain would have been like being hit with a baseball bat. The amount of hemorrhaging through the nose and mouth would be massive and not the "coughed up blood" seen in the sink, which seems to be a result of the knife strike to the inferior vena cava that probably nicked lung structure, the esophagus, or both.

I just can't see anyone being shot in the head, get up from a squatting position in a shower stall, fight their way out of the stall and pause at the mirror for a look.

Since the "shot first" argument doesn't agree with the Medical Examiner's findings, precedents in gunshot wounds, the timeline of the murder and a whole bunch of stuff, can someone explain to me the significance (or agenda) of insisting the head shot came first?

Sorry this is O/T but a huge WOW in this case... they did a documentary on this case in 2010 and William Smith (the witness whose testimony was critical to Dwyer's conviction) said he lied under oath to get a lighter sentence. WOW

 

[borndem]

Anything that comes out of JA's mouth is a lie! She would argue that the sky is green and the grass is blue and she would have the last word too!

Absolutely, Isabelle! Every time she must put her "ending" on whatever she is asked.... Even on a simple question JM fires at her, something like, "Did you have breakfast this morning, Ms. Arias?" And she will answer, but only in her own way: "Ummmmm, I only had a ..." JM: "Yes or no, Ms. Arias." JA: "Yes, somewhat."

She can't just simply answer the question. I think part of it is that she is trying to pizz him off, and she is also showing that she "won" that parlay as well. Just her little imprint of her disrespect for him in front of the whole courtroom and TV-land. She can't just not do it. Ever.

What is it in her that makes her do this??

 

[Colt46]

I think if DB had left her like Travis did, then we would be talking about that murder trial and not this one.

That, and the fact that DB had no money. She never loved DB....he was her security blanket until he ran out of money and the house went into foreclosure.

When she met Travis, it was like winning the mega-bucks lottery! She had never known anyone of substance before Travis - she had dollar signs in her eyes. The house, the BMW, the super-salesman at PPL, the social life, friends, family....everything Jodi had never seen before. She was only used to dating her peers at the diners where she worked.

Travis died because Jodi couldn't have him and his lifestyle. His only 'crime' was being successful. He paid for it with his life, ironically.

 

[SusieD]

i just want to say that not every teenager that stole five bucks off the dresser occiasionally, or borrowed stuff without asking , is a sociopath, even if they didn't feel super horrible about it...isn't some of that just being bad??? petty theft and stuff like that...I always thought some teens and young adults go thru their troubled phases...

Agree, but 99% of those phases end without a murder. I guess that's the difference between a regular defiant teen and a soicopath

 

[RadarLuv]

Did I miss it or did the jurors drop the ball on the magazine testimony?

 

[Schuby]

Absolutely, Isabelle! Every time she must put her "ending" on whatever she is asked.... Even on a simple question JM fires at her, something like, "Did you have breakfast this morning, Ms. Arias?" And she will answer, but only in her own way: "Ummmmm, I only had a ..." JM: "Yes or no, Ms. Arias." JA: "Yes, somewhat."

She can't just simply answer the question. I think part of it is that she is trying to pizz him off, and she is also showing that she "won" that parlay as well. Just her little imprint of her disrespect for him in front of the whole courtroom and TV-land. She can't just not do it. Ever.

What is it in her that makes her do this??

She's afraid to commit to an answer that could be proven false or limit her to a set version of events later.

 

[mobius99]

Most people are focusing on the trip to Cancun as the trigger for setting JA off. I believe it was the messages from TA on 5/26 stating that she was evil and the worst thing that ever happened to him that doomed him. Whatever she did to provoke these 5/26 messages is the key to the reason behind this murder. JA was in fear of being exposed for whatever she had done.

Also, I have to say something about all these "cheating on me" statements. The only way someone can cheat on you is if you are engaged to be married or are married to the person cheating. Single people who date (and I mean date and not sleeping together) are usually looking for a long term marriage partner. They are free to date as many people as they seem fit and are not "cheating" on each other. There is no committment unless you are engaged or married.

I believe that to be true as well. TA uncovered or became aware of something JA did/or hid. It had to be really bad; much worse than slitting his tires or hacking into his email or Facebook account. Whatever it was, she was in total fear of being exposed by him. He had something on her and her carefully crafted facade was getting ready to crater. For an extreme narcissist with mental problems there is NOthing worse than being exposed as a total fraud. What was it? IMO, it was something to kill for.

Something from her secretive past? Didn't TA's friends say she never shared anything about her family and past, had no friends. And I don't believe for a moment that she ever invited him to visit her in Yreka. That's another one of her lies. She was never going to let him see that she lived in a hovel like a sloth.

 

[ExigentPlan]

I have asked several times, but can't get a response that makes sense...why would Jodi take pictures of Travis in the shower without his knowledge? Nothing about this hypothesis makes sense to me. I can't understand why people think Jodi would have done this especially since neither side has suggested It. And no, I don't accept "that's just crazy Jodi" as a good answer!

Why it doesn't make sense:
1. Use of flash
2. He's looking right in the camera at the end
3. He's clearly posing in the pics of his back
4. She deleted the pictures (not blackmail)
5. She planned to kill him....in the shower and this was a way to get him in there and not have him be suspicious about why she's in the bathroom with him

Please, someone enlighten me.

I couldn't agree more. Whether it took convincing or not, he was a willing participant in the posing in the shower. How could he not notice the shower door open, JA standing there, and a flash going off in some of the photos? And I don't get the theory that he was wounded and fell into the seated position "because nobody sits in a shower" either. How would he fall into such a tight crossed leg position? It was just another pose directed by JA. JA just used this as a method to get him into a vulnerable position before she attacked.

 

[katiedid2]

I wished a juror would ask her! Why she refers to his murder as passing away
Ask her what her interpretation of passing away is.
Jury please ask her the difference between murder and passing away

 

[RadarLuv]

This is my thinking, too!!! I know the evidence is against it, but I still think this. I just can't see how Travis would be threatened into sitting and obeying with only a knife. I think he could wrestle it away if he was not impaired first.

I honestly can't imagine how the order of the slaughter matters in this case. It was proven he suffered whichever way you slice it.

 

[lilyet]

Did I miss it or did the jurors drop the ball on the magazine testimony?

No questions were read regarding magazine issue, could be that Judge chose not to read these ones. Then again, could be that the magazine, messaging out testimony was so clear or evident they did not have to. I would have asked her what she was doing with regard to that. Perhaps this is the question the judge did not allow to atty. / client privelege.

 

[kaRN]

Did I miss it or did the jurors drop the ball on the magazine testimony?

So far but it may have been one of the questions that JM objected to and of course Nurmi would have agreed. I think JM has lots of surprises up his sleeve!!

 

[ElleElle]

What did she stab him with is burning a hole inside my head! :banghead:

Some have speculated that TA was stabbed while shaving.

Unless the sequence of photos and timeline would debunk that theory, I could see that being a logical thing. TA shaving with back to JA. JA starts stabbing TA in the back, he turns and is shocked/surprised about what he is feeling (I mean, most people have never experienced that feeling before). As he turns, the psycho stabs him in the chest. His flight reaction kicks in and heads down the hallway, probably screaming. Gets weak as he nears end of hallway, falls down and she slits his throat (I picture her picking his head up and slicing from right to left - gruesome thought). That explains blood at the sink and pooling at end of hallway. Psycho drags him back to the bathroom...body convulses or sounds from airway make her think he's still alive. Shoots him in the head to finish him off. Places him in shower, frantically cleans up and leaves after locking door to bedroom.

 

[LinasK]

I couldn't agree more. Whether it took convincing or not, he was a willing participant in the posing in the shower. How could he not notice the shower door open, JA standing there, and a flash going off in some of the photos? And I don't get the theory that he was wounded and fell into the seated position "because nobody sits in a shower" either. How would he fall into such a tight crossed leg position? It was just another pose directed by JA. JA just used this as a method to get him into a vulnerable position before she attacked.

I disagree because the first shots were taken without a flash and they are much darker. There is a shot before the full-on face shot where he looks surprised. She is a stalker and wanted souvenirs of her victim. I don't think he was posing and initially aware she was there. She even said he wouldn't have consented to shower pics being taken. I think he was relaxing thinking she had left. The crossed leg position was taken after she killed him and stuffed him back into the shower.

 

[Linda From New York]

I have to say I am glad to not be hearing the voice of Arias for this long stretch of time.

This trial is so drawn out. If the court worked the "normal" 9-5 this may have been over already with the verdict in.

The family has waited 5 long years. I want it to be over for them already.