WOW! I laughed out loud and had to remind myself that this is a trial for the serious crime of the murder of Travis Alexander.
JM is doing a masterful job today and the DT must be scrambling. He is destroying the whole PTSD/amnesia possibility and with it he has brought out evidence of a history of physical violence by JA against her mother.
When JM read that JA as a teen had hit her mother for no reason, JA mouthed "I don't remember that" to JW. Then JM started going into the episode when JA kicked her mother in April "08 when helping JA move back to Californian and JA got a look of panic on her face, gripping her chair and starting to rise up as JW got to her feet. The meek, mild JA has a history of violence.
I loved JM's line of questioning about alternate reality and lying. He was very effective asking Dick how JA met individual criteria to arrive at the diagnosis of PTSD, using prior history to refute the onset of symptoms and showing the jury previously unknown sides of JA.
Zemrag @ZemragSkrap
#JodiArias Martinez will not need a lunch break ..he is eating up Dr. Samuels testimony and results for breakfast and lunch...
MY LOL came when Dick gave his qualifier for meeting feeling of detachment or estrangement from others as being unable to relate with jail mates. Even when pressed by JM, Dick forecefully declared "It still meets the criteria." LOL
The blunted affect and her smiling, giggling during her police interview and press interviews was great for JM to bring out, and once again it met the criteria because it was an alternate reality, according to Dick. Then JM asked if there would be a difference in affect between someone talking about a loved one who had been murdered and a killer talking about that person who had been murdered. Dick seriously undermined his credibility here with the alternate reality; while he may think some people would buy this explanation, a jury will not.
We still have the rest of the afternoon with this clown and the door is wide open. He has made it clear to JM "This is my dx and I'm sticking to it", so JM can introduce so many things now and Dick is going to rationalize it to fit his criteria.
Great research, strategy and delivery, JM. Wish I could be half as brilliant as he is.
I hope that this gives Travis's family a sense of optimism that is borne out by the verdict of guilty of first degree murder.