Retrial for Sentencing of Jodi Arias - 1/22 thru 1/26 Break

[fillymj]

Jumping on Frigga train of thought.

BritsKate your posts are excellent & very clear as to how CMJA functions. Thank you

 

[RickshawFan]

:seeya:

BBM: LOL ... :hilarious: ... and Congratulations !

It is just unbelievable what MDLR has been able to get away with in that courtroom and as a "mitigation specialist":

- Tweeting while Court is in session.

- Tweeting while in the professional capacity of "mitigation specialist" -- including the "provocative" sounding name of "Cougarlicious" and "provocative" photos of herself on social media sites.

- Conducting 3-way telephone conference calls with JA while in :jail: and other person(s).

- Passing notes, documents, artwork, etc. from JA to whoever in the courtroom.

And no telling what other unethical "duties" she has performed.

Oh, and when the DP is handed down by this jury, MLDR will never be hired again ...

:waitasec: Well, I don't think she will have a job as a mit specialist when this re-trial is over regardless !

Curious: how do mitigation specialists get selected and do they have special training? Does the DT pick them? Does the court assign them? Do they have to be attorneys? Or are they more like paralegals?

 

[Val1]

Supreme Court will review use of lethal injections

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/23/supreme-court-execution-drug/22212827/

I'm not a death penalty advocate, but after yesterday a firing squad aimed at JA wouldn't bother me overly much, I don't think. Botched executions though, must stop.

http://www.courtchatter.com/2014/11/jodi-arias-motion-for-joinder-and.html
"Jodi Arias Motion for Joinder and Omnibus Hearing to Dismiss Death Penalty "
This doesn't give me a lot of comfort either, how does a convicted, albeit not yet sentenced, murderer get her name added to a list of people not yet convicted that are possibly facing the DP where if this Motion were to be granted she would be included with them??

AZ? Some insight would be nice, please?

 

[Frigga]

Curious: how do mitigation specialists get selected and do they have special training? Does the DT pick them? Does the court assign them? Do they have to be attorneys? Or are they more like paralegals?

In Arizona it is through a program to retrain out of work clowns... stripper-type Vegas clowns.

 

[AZlawyer]

Had the DT seen the contents of this letter before? Does the prosecution have to show the defense all the pieces of evidence they have in advance? I'm not clear on the rules here. It seems in the Guilt-Phase Trial, the DT were taken by surprise by those magazines, but don't they get to see evidence ahead of time?

Yes, the DT 100% definitely has seen this letter and 100% definitely had seen the magazines before they were used in court.

Curious: how do mitigation specialists get selected and do they have special training? Does the DT pick them? Does the court assign them? Do they have to be attorneys? Or are they more like paralegals?

They are usually social workers--no legal training. During law school (my young and idealistic years lol), I worked for a summer with a death penalty defense group and shared an office with the mitigation specialist, who was very nice, intelligent, and appropriately dressed.

ETA: They are assigned by, I believe, the Office of Court-Appointed Counsel if the defendant is indigent.

http://www.courtchatter.com/2014/11/jodi-arias-motion-for-joinder-and.html
"Jodi Arias Motion for Joinder and Omnibus Hearing to Dismiss Death Penalty "
This doesn't give me a lot of comfort either, how does a convicted, albeit not yet sentenced, murderer get her name added to a list of people not yet convicted that are possibly facing the DP where if this Motion were to be granted she would be included with them??

AZ? Some insight would be nice, please?

Technically, JA has not been "convicted" yet. She is in the middle of trial still. Even lawyers will loosely refer to her as having been "convicted," and I'm sure I did it on here myself until someone asked a question that made me clarify the distinction between being "convicted" and having received a "guilty verdict."

"Conviction" is a judgment by the court; the guilty verdict is a judgment by a jury that has not yet been formally accepted by the court.

 

[I'mjazzed]

Yep she even put it down her pants. They asked to make a copy.

Seems like JA slips A lot of things down her pants!!! I guess its just her method of operation!! What a strange thing she is.

 

[RickshawFan]

Along the lines of there never having been any "official" in TA's and JA's relationship from TA's point of view, does anyone else think TA's focus on anal sex in this case was precisely so there was not chance JA could say she was pregnant? And that the only way JA could use her sex wiles at all was by introducing him to anal sex? Maybe even BJ's? Her claim that TA said forms of sex other than vaginal/penile penetration were okay with Mormons outside of married partnerships may have the usual grain of truth, namely that TA wouldn't go there with JA.

 

[MeeBee]

This gives me hope that the defense is winding down and JSS is doing one of her marathons to get their case done next week.

@jeffgoldesq: #JodiArias trial may run late into the evening on Monday 1/26/2015. Attorneys, court staff and jurors are preparing to stay until 8pm.

Last time she did this it was to bring the trial to an end. Maybe an indicator Jodi will not get back on stand?

 

[RickshawFan]

I think she knew the letter portions were coming in yesterday and dressed to deflect - 'I'm too cute and sexy to be as mean as JM is going to make me out to be, see?' I also think that outfit said she'd likely testify again, and maybe why JSS is finally speeding things up, she knows how long JA could be on the stand again if she gets back up there. I don't think the defense has any more witnesses to put on so it's either her or we go to JM's rebuttal sometime early next week (or whenever the DT lets Geff off the stand). I'm just wondering how JA procurred a black bra to go with that snazzy (barf) shank top?

Is that a bra or another tank top? A black one? Maybe a top with the sleeves ripped out? She has a white bra underneath it all.

Maybe her attorneys issued her the brown top with sleeves on it too, but she ripped those out as well and stitched hems into the arm holes. It all looks so bizarre-o. I mean, the top itself is not sexy or revealing at all, but she's tried to sex it up in the armpits, lol. And she keeps wanting to show off her armpits, 'cos that's the way she's chosen to sex the top up.

 

[5bigfish5]

Along the lines of there never having been any "official" in TA's and JA's relationship from TA's point of view, does anyone else think TA's focus on anal sex in this case was precisely so there was not chance JA could say she was pregnant? And that the only way JA could use her sex wiles at all was by introducing him to anal sex? Maybe even BJ's? Her claim that TA said forms of sex other than vaginal/penile penetration were okay with Mormons outside of married partnerships may have the usual grain of truth, namely that TA wouldn't go there with JA.

Even Jodi minimized (<---clue # 1) "missionary" sex with Travis. Although the number of "times" has increased (<---clue # 2) a bit through this trial, I think Travis KNEW better than to go there.

I doubt it ever happened but that one time in the tub and Travis probably thanked his lucky stars she didn't manage to trap him, he KNEW she was obsessed.

Unfortunately, she massaged his ego more than his hinky meter.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

If there is evidence that is the subject of a motion to exclude/redact, or that has been attached to some other pretrial brief, the judge will see it before trial. Otherwise, the documentary evidence is filed with the clerk a few days before trial, but there would be no reason for the judge to page through it.

The monitor system in the courtroom allows the judge to see what's on the screen before pressing a button to allow the jury to see it.

I don't know about the letter. JSS wouldn't have seen it, though, unless Juan was trying to admit it, and I don't remember any motions about that. It's not like she can go down to the evidence room or the prosecutor's office and just look through things.

Um, was that the DA's first trial??? lol



No. I can't wrap my head around the ethical issues. I can hear and understand when my defense attorney friends explain these things, but the explanation doesn't quiet the little moral voice in my brain. So I can handle criminal defense work on appeal, because to me that just consists of making sure the system is dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, but pretending someone is actually innocent when they aren't is not a thing I could do.

BUT I have to say I did come up with an absolutely freaking brilliant defense strategy for this case last night. Unfortunately a version of it could still work as a "Hail Mary pass" even now, so I don't want to say it here. Is there a "sealed envelope" on WS in which I could place my suggestion, to be opened only after the final verdict?

Glad to hear you won't ever be a defense lawyer. I know we need them and there are some good ones out there but I agree with you on the morality of possibly getting someone like JA off because that is your job. I know I couldn't do it, but heck I couldn't be any kind of lawyer because I don't like arguing, I don't like the "game" that must be played, so I do appreciate those like yourself and Juan Martinez for doing the job I could never imagine doing.

 

[GigiG]

Good post Curious. I still say she won't get back on the stand--if this was her last avenue to exact revenge, manipulate the truth, and attempt to destroy TA and those he loves, then hell yeah she would get back up there. But I suspect that she will use the appeals process, writing a book, social media, and any other avenue she can dream up to continue this demented and hateful mission of hers. As to your point about the original jurors, I would love to hear from them now that this letter has come into evidence.

She is so deluded, OF COURSE she's going to take the stand again! That's how her mind works. She's frustrated that nobody is "getting" her. She needs to set the record straight. She's so much smarter than her attorneys, OMG! Why can't they see her version of reality? I almost feel bad for Nurmi & Wilmott. Almost...

 

[kaRN]

Hmmm but how do I know you're not Nurmi in disguise?

ETA: Also, I just realized my plan requires acting abilities on the part of JA. That's the only snag.

I think you should copyright your strategy LOL!! Or at least type it out, send it registered mail to yourself and don't open the letter. I can't wait to hear it when it's safe to!! Woohoo

 

[kaRN]

She is so deluded, OF COURSE she's going to take the stand again! That's how her mind works. She's frustrated that nobody is "getting" her. She needs to set the record straight. She's so much smarter than her attorneys, OMG! Why can't they see her version of reality? I almost feel bad for Nurmi & Wilmott. Almost...

I tend to agree with you. She'll get on the stand and never get off. It'll be a whole new Jodi, playing with her hair, wearing tank tops, batting her lashes. It won't work though. The jurors have lives.

 

[Hope4More]

This gives me hope that the defense is winding down and JSS is doing one of her marathons to get their case done next week.

@jeffgoldesq: #JodiArias trial may run late into the evening on Monday 1/26/2015. Attorneys, court staff and jurors are preparing to stay until 8pm.

Last time she did this it was to bring the trial to an end. Maybe an indicator Jodi will not get back on stand?

Hmm. Next week. Four days at most. JM has to finish Geffner off. JA or not. Then JM has his whole mitigation to present and the DT gets cross. Then allocution if she dares. Then closings. Right? I'm not seeing all that in 4 days unless the DT wants to put their horror show on fast forward.

Maybe JSS is hearing or seeing that the jury is fried and is trying to speed things up?

 

[MeeBee]

Hmm. Next week. Four days at most. JM has to finish Geffner off. JA or not. Then JM has his whole mitigation to present and the DT gets cross. Then allocution if she dares. Then closings. Right? I'm not seeing all that in 4 days unless the DT wants to put their horror show on fast forward.

Maybe JSS is hearing or seeing that the jury is fried and is trying to speed things up?

No, I said to get the defense's case done next week, not the whole trial.

 

[AZlawyer]

Glad to hear you won't ever be a defense lawyer. I know we need them and there are some good ones out there but I agree with you on the morality of possibly getting someone like JA off because that is your job. I know I couldn't do it, but heck I couldn't be any kind of lawyer because I don't like arguing, I don't like the "game" that must be played, so I do appreciate those like yourself and Juan Martinez for doing the job I could never imagine doing.

Oh, I'm not a prosecutor either. Mostly civil litigation, and all areas on appeal. Sometimes I get sucked into probate, bankruptcy, medical board hearings, etc.

 

[Ricki]

http://www.courtchatter.com/2015/01/jodi-arias-letter-to-alexander-family.html

 

[bsk]

Yes, the DT 100% definitely has seen this letter and 100% definitely had seen the magazines before they were used in court.



They are usually social workers--no legal training. During law school (my young and idealistic years lol), I worked for a summer with a death penalty defense group and shared an office with the mitigation specialist, who was very nice, intelligent, and appropriately dressed.

ETA: They are assigned by, I believe, the Office of Court-Appointed Counsel if the defendant is indigent.



Technically, JA has not been "convicted" yet. She is in the middle of trial still. Even lawyers will loosely refer to her as having been "convicted," and I'm sure I did it on here myself until someone asked a question that made me clarify the distinction between being "convicted" and having received a "guilty verdict."

"Conviction" is a judgment by the court; the guilty verdict is a judgment by a jury that has not yet been formally accepted by the court.

BBM1 - They had the magazine - at least it was available to them - but I don't think they realized what she had done because it sure looked to me like they got caught flat-footed. I'm sure JA thought the jail people and Juan wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out if they even noticed it. I bet she got screamed at by LKN that day after court.

BBM2 - Where that came up was when we were asking if her conviction could be overturned if she wasn't convicted yet, and you clarified that it's the verdict that gets overturned.

 

[Hope4More]

No, I said to get the defense's case done next week, not the whole trial.

Unless they're putting JA on the stand they are already done, no?