Respectfully snipped...
Good morning :seeya:
I know there were many fans of DeMarte out there, so don't shoot me, but I personally wasn't hugely impressed with her as a witness. I didn't dislike her. I just didn't think she was incredible like some people thought.
Certainly no offense to her and her practice at all. I am not questioning her ability in her career. I am looking at it strictly from the perspective of somebody sitting in a jury box, summing up the person sitting in front of me giving testimony.
My initial impression of her was that she seemed a little bit cocky. I did appreciate that she was direct in her answers; a very refreshing difference from the defense witnesses! But at times, her answers felt a little defensive to me. I don't know if this was nerves, or perhaps she is just a straight forward, no warm fuzzies kind of gal. To each his own. But that air of cockiness came off to me like they were one-upping the defense. It felt like... so you say PTSD, well, we know better and we say BPD. That was just how it "felt" to me. (Sorry to get all Nurmi on you there) :giggle:
Mentioning BPD at all is a slippery slope. Any time you introduce any type of mental assessment, you run the risk of the jurors using that for an excuse or for leniency. With that said, of course the prosecution has to present something in regards to her mental state, being that the defense is claiming she has PTSD, not to mention the fact that she walks around with zero emotion and everybody is like, WTH. They had to offer something.
I do think that in his closing, Juan could have wrapped up the point that BPD does not equal clinically insane, and is
not to be considered as a mitigating factor. I would not have spent a lot of time on it, because the more time you harp on mental issues, the more the jury thinks about it. Just a simple and direct point, which he is brilliant at, to remind them.
I tend to think that this was
part of the reason that we never saw the Sandy Arias interview tape in trial. Her stating that Jodi had mental issues, including a bipolar speculation, can open up a whole can of worms with the jury. Maybe Juan just didn't want to go there, too risky.
All just my opinion, and I welcome your feedback