I'm going to jump in here because you're catching a lot of flack and I do agree with some of what you're saying.
I believe many who are so interested in this case are so outraged at the brutality of the crime and have such a passionate desire to see justice done, that it has become nearly impossible for them to see anything redeeming or sympathetic about Jodi. If she testifies about anything potentially negative about Travis, many assume she's lying. If she testifies about anything that humanizes her or benefits her case at all, there's an assumption she's lying. IMO this kind of mindset has been carried to the point of absurdity at times - to the point of hostility towards other posters who have a legitimately different point of view, and that IMO causes the discussion to be artificially limited at times.
I am firmly and absolutely convinced that Jodi committed this murder with premeditation. I can only guess at her motives, same as anyone. I think Jodi has lied to benefit herself, and I believe there's good reason to have suspicions about all of the negative things she has said about Travis -- she has shown that she will say whatever she thinks will help her at the moment.
However, I think it's also short sighted to believe that everything she says is a lie if it paints Travis in a poor light or paints her as sympathetic. Many here didn't believe Travis engaged in all these sexual activities with her -- but now we've heard him talking about the things he has done with Jodi and what appeared to be an ongoing sexual relationship with her at least until a couple weeks before she killed him. Those things did happen even though no one wanted to believe it of Travis.
I think it's wise to have suspicion about the things she says unless there's corroborating evidence, but until we've heard all the evidence there is - there's nothing wrong with keeping an open mind. Some things we have believed were lies from Jodi have turned out to be true. I think the journal entries today showed a side of Jodi that I never considered -- I think she tortured herself over Travis. She might have actually "felt" abused even if it was a totally distorted perception. But if Jodi has some amount of humanity to her, or if it's possible to see her as something other than an evil monster throughout every moment of her life, does it matter to the outcome of this case? I think not.
I like to think of it in terms of a worst case scenario rather than assuming she must be lying about the negative things she says about Travis. Of the things that have not been completely disproven from her testimony --what remains and would it even matter if all of those things are actually true? Right now, that's the worst case scenario.
From her testImony, here are the things that have not been conclusively disproven IMO:
Her testimony about Travis choking her on one occasion. I don't remember when this was supposed to be, but I don't recall any journal entries or other evidence directly refuting this episode. I believe the other alleged incidents of abuse have been disproven.
I think it's been established that Travis had a sexual fantasy involving tying her to a tree.
I think it has so far been established that Travis engaged in a push-pull dynamic with her. I would even concede that Jodi felt intense emotional turmoil over it. I do not believe it has been established that Travis' motive in the push-pul was anything malignant or cruel or anything other than his own ambivalence and fuzzy boundaries.
I do not think its been proven one way or the other whether or not Travis had sexual experience aside from Jodi.
It has not been established in my mind that Travis ever cheated on Jodi or that he cheated on Lisa.
It has been proven to my satisfaction that the pedophile incident never happened. To me this was proven through her absence of any mention of it, even in couched terms, in any of her 8,000 messages with Travis and in her journals. I suspect that Jodi distorted something and interpreted it to mean that Travis had some deviant sexual predilection -- but I do not think she really believed it, she just used it to hold over his head as a means of elevating herself and controlling him.
It has been established to my satisfaction that she stole the gun and took measures in advance to make it appear she was not in Mesa.
It has been established to my satisfaction that Jodi's finger injury happened on June 4, even if she cut her other finger on May 31.
That's about it, as far as I'm concerned.
So even if we assume the truth of the remaining incidents that have not been directly disproven - does this help her avoid conviction or the death penalty? Worst case scenario. IMO even if those things are true, it does not help her avoid conviction and does not help her avoid the death penalty. Heck, even if the pedophile incident were true it doesn't help her because premeditation has been proven, and none of her testimony established anything that would lead a reasonable person to fear for their life in the circumstances Jodi has described on June 4. The death penalty is appropriate because of the immense brutality of the crime, and nothing. negative about Travis is mitigation for Jodi.
