Jodi Arias Trial Watchers Thread #1

[Madeleine74]

The religious stuff is really totally besides the point to me and a waste of time. It is a sin in every religion to commit murder. Travis being mormon but not following the rules is neither here nor there. Ditto Jodi. It is illegal to kill a person except in self defense. So the bottom line: is this a self-defense killing?

No it isn't.

It doesn't take a GSW to the face, slitting someone's neck ear to ear, and stabbing them 27 times to defend your life. That shows rage.

More importantly, someone defending their life would contact LE immediately after being involved in such a situation. They wouldn't try and hide evidence, destroy evidence, clean a crime scene, lie and lie and lie and then lie again.

I can't believe a roommate could live in that house while Travis' body was rotting for days in the bathroom. OMG I can't imagine the smell. Meanwhile the dog is going crazy (did the roommate feed the poor pooch?). Within 48 hours that body is going to be somewhat ripe. By 72 hours the smell would be bad. And after that, the stench would have to be permeating the house.

 

[SmoothOperator]

IMO this case does not rise to the level where it should be a DP case. First degree murder LWOP, yes of course. DP, no. I consider a DP case to be reserved for the "worst of the worst" type crimes. This one is horrific, but no more so than any other spurned lover gone evil.

I predict Arias will be convicted but not be sentenced to death.

jmo but the descriptors of a horrific AND evil murder are exactly what IMO makes it death penalty worthy...

not to mention cold blooded, calculating, methodically planning even to the extent of having staged a robbery of her home A WEEK PRIOR TO THE MURDER to claim one of the murder weapons(.25 caliber handgun) was "stolen from her home"..moo clearly indicating a great deal of prior thought and premeditation..

quite obvious Travis Alexander's family disagrees wholeheartedly that this cold blooded slaughtering of their family member IS NOT death penalty worthy..

 

[manzana]

Let's not forget Eddie Snell, Travis's alter ego. He had fun with his lectures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36hTqMtzLQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw6F8YMoCNY


Travis had a few more videos on Youtube, I see Jodi actually submitted one of the two above.

 

[Leilei]

To my knowledge that isn't entirely accurate. Read "Under the Banner of Heaven" to truly understand the history of the Mormon Chuch. BTW, I live about 30 miles from their holiest of holy ground. The area Joseph Smith supposedly found the golden tablets he was told about by the angel Maroney(sp?)



My mom actually sent me that book, but I haven't read it yet. I may have to go ahead and read it now to understand some of the things in this trial.

 

[Slmineburg]

Has anyone heard if the defense has any other ladies that Travis treated the way he allegedly treated Jodi? Looking at the brutality of the attack on Travis, if a person "snaps" they may go over the top in protecting themselves. Especially if you have pent-up anger from emotional or sexual abuse. Lets all hope for the best justice for Jodi and Travis.

 

[Steely Dan]

Has anyone heard if the defense has any other ladies that Travis treated the way he allegedly treated Jodi? Looking at the brutality of the attack on Travis, if a person "snaps" they may go over the top in protecting themselves. Especially if you have pent-up anger from emotional or sexual abuse. Lets all hope for the best justice for Jodi and Travis.

I don't know. I do know that they have ex-boyfriends of Jodi's lined up to testify. I don't know if those guys are defense or prosecution witness' though.

 

[dizzychick]

Robert Durst the millionare killed and cut up his neighbor then threw him in Galveston bay and walked away with just improper disposal of a body, I bet this defense team looked at that case and will try to repeat it

 

[princesspjs]

IMO this case does not rise to the level where it should be a DP case. First degree murder LWOP, yes of course. DP, no. I consider a DP case to be reserved for the "worst of the worst" type crimes. This one is horrific, but no more so than any other spurned lover gone evil.

I predict Arias will be convicted but not be sentenced to death.

Really??? IMO the death penalty was created for murders like this. She stabbed him 27 times, slit his throat from ear to ear and shot this man in the head.

If someone did those things to YOUR loved one, wouldn't you think death was appropriate? :waitasec:

 

[Leilei]

Really??? IMO the death penalty was created for murders like this. She stabbed him 27 times, slit his throat from ear to ear and shot this man in the head.

If someone did those things to YOUR loved one, wouldn't you think death was appropriate? :waitasec:

She also gave three different stories about what happened. We know that two of them were lies. The third, well, that's her defense right now, but I wouldn't swallow that defense if it were mixed into a mimosa. Seeking DP is the absolutely right thing to do, IMO.

 

[Steely Dan]

What I'm getting from day one of this trial is that Travis kept leading Jodi on. he did this in order to get sex while looking for a good Mormon girl. I'm not saying he deserves to die for that, but it must have been hurtful to her. Once again, I'm not excusing her. It happens everyday to women who don't kill the guy. They just move on a little wiser.

If Travis did in fact get her a T-Shirt saying "Travis Alexander's" then I can understand how she would think she was his one and only. JMO

 

[Isabelle]

Really??? IMO the death penalty was created for murders like this. She stabbed him 27 times, slit his throat from ear to ear and shot this man in the head.

If someone did those things to YOUR loved one, wouldn't you think death was appropriate? :waitasec:

And just heard on HLN that 2 weeks before the murder, Jodi called cops saying her home had been broken into and her grandfathers' gun was stolen. The gun used during the murder was never found. If I were on the jury, that would be premeditation to me!

 

[Isabelle]

From the stories Jodi Arias told, I would thin she and Casey Anthony were twins!

 

[Madeleine74]

jmo but the descriptors of a horrific AND evil murder are exactly what IMO makes it death penalty worthy...

not to mention cold blooded, calculating, methodically planning even to the extent of having staged a robbery of her home A WEEK PRIOR TO THE MURDER to claim one of the murder weapons(.25 caliber handgun) was "stolen from her home"..moo clearly indicating a great deal of prior thought and premeditation..

quite obvious Travis Alexander's family disagrees wholeheartedly that this cold blooded slaughtering of their family member IS NOT death penalty worthy..

I think what I am trying to say, but obviously failed, is that ALL first degree premeditated murder is evil, regardless of whether someone is stabbed, shot, bludgeoned, strangled...the method doesn't lessen the impact and one family doesn't have a better time of it than another because of how it happened. So that's not what constitutes a DP case to me.

To me factors that I consider for a DP case are: prior crimes, # of victims, age of victims, circumstances, mitigating/aggravating factors, just to name a few.

This murder deserves LWOP. The reason I personally don't find it to rise to the level of a DP case is because:

1. No prior felony convictions before this crime
2. 1 person (an adult) killed, no others killed or injured, and no children were killed)
3. This is a crime of passion (i.e. an intimate relationship between killer and victim, in which something went very wrong and the killer turned to murder). However, IF a child (born or unborn) had been involved in addition to the adult killed, that would push it into a DP level for me.


For a case to be a death penalty case, I'd need to see

- more than 1 victim and/or
- other felonies (kidnapping, sexual assault, etc) and/or
- crime against a child

Examples of cases that rise to DP level for me: Petit family murders, serial killer murders like Bundy, Danielle Van Dam (victim 7 yrs old, kidnapped and murdered), Christian/Newsome, Laci Peterson & unborn full-term son, Tate/LaBianca murders. These are the "worst of the worst" type crimes in which the DP is a proper sentence and in which the killer is not mentally incapacitated or insane.

You get to decide what constitutes a DP case for yourself. Just because a state goes after the DP doesn't mean it will work and in some cases it can be a more difficult trial for the state. In this case, for me, it's not a DP case regardless of what the State of AZ is attempting. And note I'm not saying this case isn't heinous (it is) or terrible (obviously it is) or that the family isn't devastated (obviously they are), it's where I draw the lines as someone who does believe in the DP, but does not believe every single murder requires that sentence.

ETA: This case reminds me a bit of the Susan Wright case from TX, which was not a DP case in a state that is extremely pro-DP. Total overkill of the victim (male) by his intimate partner (his wife), she claimed she was abused, but stabbed him 190+ times while he was tied to their bed and then semi-buried him in an outdoor patio area . She called it "self-defense." The jury said otherwise.

 

[iluvmua]

It was always my understanding (IMO) that Travis was just using Jodi for sex while dating/looking for other women.

I thin it's very obvious that he did not intend on being engaged or even marrying her.

Are we allowed to post TM here?

Gems from those court documents:

'Examples of the communications from Mr. Alexander to Ms. Arias include an instant message wherein Mr. Alexander calls Ms. Arias a "three whole wonder"'

(Jodi to Travis) "Ahh!! I fell asleep! But to answer your question, yes I want to grind. And I want to be LOUD. And I want to give you a nice, warm, "mouth hug" too =)"

'There are also text messages that can be characterized as emotionally abusive [court documents' words, not mine], such as a text message Mr. Alexander sent Ms. Arias on May 10, 2008, which stated, "Why don't you have him come and **** you in the woods, I can only imagine you are so worried about me reading. You are paranoid because you have no respect for people privacy and you dare insult me of all people. Someone you have should through your actions you hate more than love by denying me a human right of privacy countless times. You have a lot of freaking nerve. We are not all like you in that aspect."'

 

[trigger]

JVM did a whole hour on the trial. Nancy Grace is also covering it. They have the 911 call and showed graphic photos of Travis in the shower. She warned her viewers but they had put it up the picture while she was warning her viewers.

 

[iluvmua]

What time does Nancy come on central time?

 

[Sweetiemom]

What time does Nancy come on central time?

7 PM-then again at 9PM.

 

[norest4thewicked]

KC and Jodi= both photographers interesting

Neither of them were/are "photographers" as in Professional Photographers. Anyone who picks up a camera can claim to be a "photographer". I laughed when JA was described as a 'beautiful photographer". Definitely not beautiful or a photographer in my opinion.

 

[norest4thewicked]

Snipped for brevity. Did he or she have that T-Shirt made up? If he did then he was leading her on. Not that, that excuses anything.

I bet she had that made for herself. Something a stalker would do...

 

[mrsb2001]

Just wanted to bump up the link again for any who may have missed it earlier and are wanting a play by play of all opening statements by DA and DT as well as any/all testimony..

click on the link and read from the bottom of the page up..it begins at 12:30pm PT and is still continually updating all the way to the present time..it will refresh every few mins to give you the up to the minute testimony that is time stamped as well..and this is supposed to continue each day for the entire duration of the trial...excellent for any who are interested in getting to the heart of statements and testimony taking place each day in the courtroom..also you will find no shortage of photos taken and posted throughout the course of op statements and testimony(photos of defendant, all attys, each witness on the stand, as well as shots of the family whose emotions obviously are outpouring at times regarding specific graphic and/or disturbing testimony and of photos that are being introduced into evidence and displayed in open court)

**again reminder scrolll all the way to the bottom of the page to begin reading from the bottom of the page up, it begins at 12:30pm PT..
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/01/02/live-blog-jodi-arias-opening-statements

Thank you for this! I missed opening statements and would definitely like to read them!