Retrial for Sentencing of Jodi Arias - 2/5 - 2/9 - Break

[Hope4More]

Actually, BK doesn't say it is a mitigator. The DEFENSE says it is a mitigator and BK is saying DM testimony backs that up. There is a difference.

Seems like part of the problem is that folks hear "mitigator" and think it means "mitigating."

To prove a mitigator exists doesn't mean the jury or anyone else has to give it the time of day, much less use it to give her LWOP instead of the DP.

It doesn't seem fair to jurors to give them instructions that are so readily misunderstood. Isn't the purpose of the instructions to give the jury the best possible guidelines to help them make an extraordinarily difficult decision? Why not at least translate them from legalese into English?

As in: the defendant's attorneys have presented evidence to you intended to support their list of reasons why you should show mercy.

You will take that list of reasons back to the jury room with you. For each reason listed you should first discuss whether or not the defendant's attorneys met their burden of proof that the reason should be considered reasonably true.

For example, if one of the reasons provided on the list is that you should spare the defendant because she was victimized as a child, you must first decide whether or not the defendant's attorneys have demonstrated that it is reasonably true the defendant was victimized as a child.

If you are in agreement that this or any other listed reason to show the defendant mercy could reasonably be true, then you must decide if each or any of the reasons on the list convinces you that the defendant should be shown mercy.

Hmmm. That exercise is more difficult than I imagined......

 

[ohreally]

BK is correct that Nurmi has used a prosecution witness to prove the borderline personality disorder mitigation as it stands now. Seems to me that its all part of Jane's plan. I didn't see tweets that Juan was objecting to Nurmi's line of questioning. Leads me me to believe Juan wanted Nurmi to bring this all out. Juan wants the jury to know without a doubt that she has this disorder. Juan still has his rebuttal, and that is when Juan will make it clear to the jury that the disorder is not a mitigating factor.
I found it very interesting that the very end of Juan's questioning he brought up Jodi's many threats of suicide, then dropped it, and rested. Hmmmm.
Juan is not finish questioning Dr D and will use everything that Nurmi has brought up to prove it is not a mitigating factor.
IMO

 

[DebinGA]

I know this has already been posted, but it was awhile back. Since this is the weekend, I thought I would re-post it for a "refresher." I had it bookmarked because it is from a favorite blogger of mine.

http://jodiariastrialtruth.blogspot.com/2014/12/timeline-of-journal-and-messages.html

That 1-2007 "You have caused irreparable damage to mine and Jodi's relationship" email to Skye was obviously (imo) written by Jodi and sent from TA's email account as if coming from him. JA admitted to the Hughes in Jan. 2007 that she'd hacked his accounts and had all messages between Travis and other women forwarded to her. Whatever BPD does, in JA's case it didn't diminish her mental capacities at all, as she continuously and lucidly schemed like mad from the time they met to the moment she left his mutilated body in his shower.

 

[ICit]

I've read people saying he was taking Ambien here before, but I haven't seen or heard any evidence of that. Could be true, could be speculation. I just want to know which.

I think he just sounded drowsy and the sound in the recording was distorted. The talk was not that out-of-character. She couldn't have drugged him over the phone.

No, she could not have drugged him over the phone. However, she could have taped these calls early on and recorded them to the Helio phone on the date given.

 

[Truth Detector]

I don't know what a K-Bar is, but according to his 2014 obit, her grandfather was a veteran, having served two years in the Army (early '50s).

True, and KA-BAR also manufactured knives for the US Army:

They are sharp and will hold an edge if used primarily on/in flesh.

I still think the especially cruel lying torture murderess prefers kitchen knives.

IIRC, no KA-BAR knives were detailed in the list of items stolen from Gramps' house. Three other guns were there at the time of the alleged burglary, but they were not taken.

 

[Truth Detector]

I've read people saying he was taking Ambien here before, but I haven't seen or heard any evidence of that. Could be true, could be speculation. I just want to know which.

I think he just sounded drowsy and the sound in the recording was distorted. The talk was not that out-of-character. She couldn't have drugged him over the phone.

JA snooped every inch of his place.

If he had Ambien around she would know it.

If one assumes it was there, it seems odd that she didn't whip up a zolpidem tartrate smoothie to sedate him on June 4.

 

[Hope4More]

BK is correct that Nurmi has used a prosecution witness to prove the borderline personality disorder mitigation as it stands now. Seems to me that its all part of Jane's plan. I didn't see tweets that Juan was objecting to Nurmi's line of questioning. Leads me me to believe Juan wanted Nurmi to bring this all out. Juan wants the jury to know without a doubt that she has this disorder. Juan still has his rebuttal, and that is when Juan will make it clear to the jury that the disorder is not a mitigating factor.
I found it very interesting that the very end of Juan's questioning he brought up Jodi's many threats of suicide, then dropped it, and rested. Hmmmm.
Juan is not finish questioning Dr D and will use everything that Nurmi has brought up to prove it is not a mitigating factor.
IMO

JM doesn't fear truth. His expert told him years ago that JA likely has BPD. The DT made it easier for him last time around by fighting rather than embracing the diagnosis.

This time around the DT is opting to accept the BPD. The problem is that their client has forced them to present a mitigation case that necessarily leaves all the dots unconnected.

An all out mental illness case would put BPD front and center. Their case would be, her BPD made her see things wrong and to make very bad decisions. Athough she didn't understand this at the time, she killed Travis to make her own pain stop. And she feels very very remorseful.

Because his client insists on making herself the victim, Nurmi can largely use BPD only as another aspect of her victimization. Travis brought out her BPD. Travis took advantage of her BPD.

The jury won't miss that the State , not the DT, convinced them she has BPD. A reasonable conclusion for them to draw is that although the DT is asking them to believe her BPD is a reason to hold her less culpable for the murder, the DT hasn't explained why. Except to suggest that it's one more reason to blame the victim. As is her PTSD.

I waited and waited for the DT to get to the murder. They're allowed to argue that there were mitigating circumstances in the crime itself. But they never went there. It finally occurred to me....they can't. Neither of their narratives takes them there. The Travis deserved to die narrative can be suggested and inserted wherever possible , but indirectly, and always followed by vague denials if confronted. PTSD as mitigator belongs to this narrative.

The JA as mentally ill narrative doesn't allow them to revisit the murder either. BPD can't explain away the premeditation. They can't openly claim PTSD and snapped. They have no story to tell.

JM hasn't gone there either, and IMO will not until closing. DM isn't there to draw conclusions about why JA's BPD shouldn't be considered mitigating. That's JM's job. I can't wait to hear him tell it like it is.

 

[ILikeToBendPages]

Did anyone know of the date of the text/IM about the missing ring? It had to be after August 2007 because she was cleaning Travis's house by mid September, and I don't think she was by December when she barged in his Christmas party and announced she was his girlfriend. And cleaning that is about the only reasonable answer I can think of.

So, she hit town with no real place to live, no job to support herself, a house in foreclose, a car run ragged and she'd let be repo'ed, credit cards maxed out, sleeping on the floor until someone gives her a futon, to be near Travis, and she goes into the song and dance of my times is too valuable to clean my house, so you do it. I wonder if she thought he'd let her move in, to be another roommate? That way he could pay her to clean his house while making her pay rent. I can see how ALV, geff, and MCF would spin that. Taking advantage of Jodi and using her for sex.

( Didn't she bring all her crap with her? or did she go back or have MM to bring it to Mesa? and wasn't Travis leting her store her things at his house?)

 

[Truth Detector]

That 1-2007 "You have caused irreparable damage to mine and Jodi's relationship" email to Skye was obviously (imo) written by Jodi and sent from TA's email account as if coming from him. JA admitted to the Hughes in Jan. 2007 that she'd hacked his accounts and had all messages between Travis and other women forwarded to her. Whatever BPD does, in JA's case it didn't diminish her mental capacities at all, as she continuously and lucidly schemed like mad from the time they met to the moment she left his mutilated body in his shower.

Unemployed waitress, "dabbling" Mormon, wannabe professional photographer, and Lawyer of Attraction -- she was certainly one busy beaver.

 

[peedoffinny]

That's a brilliant thought! And so much like Jodi to stop and look (as well as assess) at her own injury as Travis made his way to the bathroom sink. Then, her attention is back on Travis as he stands there. She went full bore on Travis with the knife at that stage in time.

And I'm sure she blamed Travis for cutting her finger and that made her really angry. She really scares me.:scared:

 

[Truth Detector]

And I'm sure she blamed Travis for cutting her finger and that made her really angry. She really scares me.:scared:

Can you imagine how livid she was when TA and others mocked her stalking behavior in their social media?

Hell hath no fury...

 

[TexMex]

Did anyone know of the date of the text/IM about the missing ring? It had to be after August 2007 because she was cleaning Travis's house by mid September, and I don't think she was by December when she barged in his Christmas party and announced she was his girlfriend. And cleaning that is about the only reasonable answer I can think of.

So, she hit town with no real place to live, no job to support herself, a house in foreclose, a car run ragged and she'd let be repo'ed, credit cards maxed out, sleeping on the floor until someone gives her a futon, to be near Travis, and she goes into the song and dance of my times is too valuable to clean my house, so you do it. I wonder if she thought he'd let her move in, to be another roommate? That way he could pay her to clean his house while making her pay rent. I can see how ALV, geff, and MCF would spin that. Taking advantage of Jodi and using her for sex.

( Didn't she bring all her crap with her? or did she go back or have MM to bring it to Mesa? and wasn't Travis leting her store her things at his house?)

On BK site it appears that text about the ring was 3/18/08

 

[DebinGA]

Unemployed waitress, "dabbling" Mormon, wannabe professional photographer, and Lawyer of Attraction -- she was certainly one busy beaver.

I've wondered why someone as intelligent as JA never got even a GED until forced to take the class in jail. Could it be that JA's focus was never on making her own way in the world, but always on being the wife/partner of someone who already had everything materially that she craved? Nothing against being a server, but why did JA limit her options, since there was apparently no learning disability? The only success she seemed interested in was successfully snaring a successful man.

 

[DebinGA]

On BK site it appears that text about the ring was 3/18/08

I wonder how 3-18-08 gibes with JA's journal entry about TA thinking Mimi might be "the one"?

 

[Hope4More]

Did anyone know of the date of the text/IM about the missing ring? It had to be after August 2007 because she was cleaning Travis's house by mid September, and I don't think she was by December when she barged in his Christmas party and announced she was his girlfriend. And cleaning that is about the only reasonable answer I can think of.

So, she hit town with no real place to live, no job to support herself, a house in foreclose, a car run ragged and she'd let be repo'ed, credit cards maxed out, sleeping on the floor until someone gives her a futon, to be near Travis, and she goes into the song and dance of my times is too valuable to clean my house, so you do it. I wonder if she thought he'd let her move in, to be another roommate? That way he could pay her to clean his house while making her pay rent. I can see how ALV, geff, and MCF would spin that. Taking advantage of Jodi and using her for sex.

( Didn't she bring all her crap with her? or did she go back or have MM to bring it to Mesa? and wasn't Travis leting her store her things at his house?)

She crashed under the tree in December 2006, three months after she met him.

 

[TexMex]

And she could have made decent money as a waitress IF she was willing to work hard. Our oldest worked at Pappasitos while in college. He made over $50K one year. But he worked double shifts every weekend and every shift he could around his school schedule (probably 55-60 hrs a week)

Jodi would work but if anything else came up she would just leave...confronting Bianca ...tracking down Travis...quitting to go on vacations etc

 

[pocketaccent]

From what we can tell, to her, pedophilia is just one more slander weapon she wields to assassinate her victim's character.

Neither more nor less...

That's what Dr DeMarte said yesterday. According to one tweet, Dr DeMarte said something like 'Ms Arias continues to devalue Travis as we are seeing in this trial'. I went back to find that tweet from yesterday's thread but it is buried somewhere and couldn't find it. Anyone remember how she said it exactly?

 

[ICit]

On BK site it appears that text about the ring was 3/18/08

3/18/08 was just a couple of weeks before she left. Hmmmmm.

Didn't Travis note about the ring being missing in his journal? When was that?

I wish I could read somewhere her excuse for why she has it! Was she looking for a pen in his desk after she snuck in through the doggie door and it accidentally fell into her pocket?

 

[TupeloMz]

Hello :seeya:
Lurk a lot but post very little here.
I have a question...
Has the DT given a list of mitigating factors that they are trying to prove?.. or are they just putting info out there to the jury and will spell it out for them later?
TIA

 

[peedoffinny]

I don't think JA was very intelligent or ambitious. There's really nothing I've read about her that shows she excelled in anything. She was a failure with her jobs and a failure in relationships. She wasn't smart enough to even master waiting on tables and making a good living. She read and used 'big words', but that's about it. I think when she wasn't stalking, scheming or taking selfies, she was napping. Her whole plan in life was to find a Prince Charming and live happily ever after.