My last posting about taking CMJA back to Travis' bathroom so she will finally be forced to re-live and think about what she did....has got me thinking...
Remember when she told the jury that she's gone over her journal "constantly" over the past 5 years. I think she has practically memorized every line of it. And then in her allocution, she was talking about how she's gotten "many offers" to teach people to read but she hasn't done it yet because she was busy preparing for this case (but she would do it later! Promise!). And her whole story which was made up of smaller stories, made up individual made-up lines, which were all memorized. And she had memorized to a very great degree, because even when taken out of order, she could still go back to her memorized lines. It makes me think how much time it must have taken her to make up all these stories, and then memorize all the lines, and then practice everything. I know she had a lot of time in jail, but that's my point - she filled that time up with getting ready for this case. She was a busy lady. She didn't even have time to help one person with their Spanish or reading, b/c she was too busy memorizing lines and thinking about her case. In the meantime she also drafted letters to the judge and her attorneys, drafted the pedo letters, etc..
All of this has helped her avoid thinking about the reality of what she's done. She hasn't been forced to re-live the moments and think about her actions, b/c she's been so busy preparing for her case and in her fake movie-land.
And this has me thinking...if she gets the death penalty...she will keep her mind occupied for many, many years focusing on stories and agendas for appeals. If she gets LWOP and no possiblity of appeal, she will no longer have the case to occupy her mind and allow her to avoid thinking about what she did. This might be the better punishment.....
But then I think...with the death penalty, yes she'll have a good 15 years or so for appeals and busying herself with appeals, but then she will die. And that will be the end. With life, she won't have distractions she can escape to, but yet she will have a long life.
I'm still sticking with the death penalty.