Sad to say but yes, from what we have thus far learned I absolutely believe that it is an issue such as this that led to there being jurors who believe that there was some degree of abuse with Jodi as the role of the victim and Travis as the aggressor.. In jurors having told us that there are jurors whose belief was that's its quite possible that Jodi was abused in some way by Travis..I look at what evidence there is of abuse by Travis on Jodi and I come to the conclusion that there is none.. There is 2 or 3 electronic communications of the nearly 100, 000 electronic communications between the two, and in less than a mere handful there is Travis speaking to Jodi in a negative way..that's it guys! Thats it as far as evidence of abuse by Travis on Jodi..
So, I then began looking at what possible preconceived notions or personal beliefs could someone have that would lead to their looking at this same evidence we did and come away with an opinion that there was proof of some type abuse..at minimum verbal/emotional abuse..and some jurors have even gone as far as to say there were jurors who possibly believed there was even some level of physical abuse by Travis on Jodi.. I pondered what specific mindset "could" skew or alter the perception of the evidence we have into it being indicative of abuse..
And IMO ONE TYPE OF SPECIFIC MINDSET COULD BE the one that is adamant in it being a fact in their minds that no young woman would enjoy, prefer, or initiate the anal sex.. The member who described this as his older father's exact mindset that remained throughout the trial regardless of the evidence and even the testimony from the defendant herself that IMO clearly showed that Jodi was well versed and practiced in anal sex and that it is she, herself who most likely initiated and introduced anal sex into she and Travis' sexual relationship.. And even tho, all of the evidence and testimony IMO appears to be every bit indicative that she was a wanting and fully willing participant.. Yet there are still people just like one our members father's who is of the firm mindset that she didn't like it, enjoy, prefer, initiate it and that it is Travis who at minimum initiated, manipulated, and coerced Jodi into anal sex..
This places Jodi in a sympathetic light and there are people who may be of the above described firm mindset and thereby see it as a form of abuse by Travis on Jodi..and while obviously that mindset would still allow one to see the murder as a premeditated first degree, with proven agg factor of especially cruel..yet their belief of this "abuse" is of sufficient weight that allows them to spare her life from the penalty of death in this final phase..
So, do I believe that it is actually the specific issue of anal sex which is the pivotal point by which the entire hung jury was hinged upon?.. No, not necessarily..but I believe that it is an issue such as this where you have in place an already long since preconceived firm belief about a certain issue or specific aspect..that when that issue came into play in this case that most see clearly no evidence of abuse, yet some are stating they do see evidence of abuse..well, imo the reason they perceive it starkly different than all others is due to their having a strong mindset about a specific issue or aspect THAT THE MAJORITY DO NOT SHARE THAT SAME FIRM MINDSET RGARDING THE ISSUE..
Maybe it was the anal sex aspect just like it was for one of our member's older father's who it was for him..if not anal sex, IMO its just another factor involved in this case that some people's mindsets affected how they perceived and interpretated the evidence and testimony in this case.
