Verdict is in! GUILTY of MURDER ONE - Hung Jury On Penalty Phase

[grammieto5]

I just had another thought, is the CMJA going to get back on the stand and tell her lies for another 18 days for the new jury?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I was too upset about the verdict to post any more yesterday and stayed off the computer for the rest of the night. DH picked up a pizza, and we watched the Red Wings game (they're up 3-1 in the series with Chicago), but we switched back to HLN between periods.

I am frustrated beyond belief with the outcome of the penalty phase of the trial but was glad to hear that the hung jury was 8-4 in favor of death. I hope this frightened the @#$% out of Jodi even though she and her DT are gloating over their mistrial. I saw the video clip of her returning to the jail several times and noticed that she kept her face covered with a manila envelope. By that time, she knew the outcome but might not have known when court was dismissed.

HLN reported that KN and JW plan to remain on the case, but I'm not sure that this is true. Jodi might opt to fire both of them and hope that she can manipulate new attorneys. I'm not confident in the outcome of a retrial of the penalty phase with a jury that won't have seen/heard all of the evidence first-hand or watched Jodi's courtroom antics and the unprofessional machinations of her current DT.

Personally, I would prefer that the DA and/or JM take the death penalty out of the equation and that Jodi is sentenced to life in prison without parole so that she never has an opportunity to inflict emotional or physical harm on another human being. :moo:

 

[discogirl]

During the closing remarks, JW kept emphasizing to the jury what "life" meant: that CMJA would be in prison forever and never released. That simply wasn't true and there was a skirmish about it.

Why couldn't the judge be the one who explains the concepts of DP, LWOP & LWP. It seems that the lawyers can make it more confusing or misleading on purpose. This just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Sleuth5]

I think thats him! :hot:

But Mark has an edge because of his personality and he's hilarious.

Don't tell Mark! rinces:

You left out his eyelashes...they're dreeeeeaaaaaaammmmmmyyyyyy....:floorlaugh:

 

[Soliloquy]

The judicial process is geared toward protecting the rights of the accused. Too bad that more of her behavior could not be admitted as evidence for the jury to see her true nature.

That said I think AVL may have played a role in this juror's views in believing her claims of abuse. The Court allowed her to restate JA's testimony as fact. The Court also allowed her to read her journal and text messages to the jury. This juror may not have believed JA's statements, but he may have believed AVL.

Probably so, but that makes him all the more ignorant. ALV came across with distinct traits of a narcissist, IMHO.

 

[hindsight2020]

I wonder if there were texts other than the May 26th that could be considered verbally abusive. I remember I kept listening for JM to say explicitly that the May 26th text was the only time Travis had ever written anything like that to her, but he never said that. He put the text in context that she had done something horrible, and that Travis had finally reached his breaking point, but he didn't make it clear the text was absolutely singular, if it was.

Who knows if that would have made any difference, though. I can't fathom the thinking process that thinks its a mitigating factor that T said some mean things to her, whatever the circumstances were why he did.

There are no other texts/evidence where Travis was verbally abusive to JA. I distinctly remember Dr. DeMarte testifying to this, she told the jury that there was no record of any abusive verbal or physical other than that one text and the claims of the lying convicted murderer, au contraire, she also said that Travis was kind and loving toward her all along except for that one text.

 

[Sleuth5]

I can only stomach HLN coverage when Ryan, Joey, or Beth are reporting; I trust their facts and their presentation isn't part of the insane, circus-like, sensationalistic, blood-lust-stirring, ratings-inflating, speculation-as-facts, shrieking TH mentality.

And yes, Ryan is really fine .

I like Vinnie and Joey. But just as friends. :floorlaugh:

 

[Linda7NJ]

If Jodi killed their family member they would want her put to death.

I agree. The justice system isn't about revenge. That's why it requires 12 unbiased jurors. Each juror can weigh for themselves and have every right to their own conclusion.

I respect the system.

In Reality it's incredibly difficult to wield the power of life or death. I not sure I could do it. I know I most certainly would not want to have been a juror on this case.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cityslick]

Just read this on the facebook page..

"Angela Simpson, the Phoenix woman who impaled, stabbed, strangled, beat, and extracted the teeth from a disabled man -- then dismembered him and set pieces of his body on fire -- was sentenced today to life in prison for the 2009 murder."

Life, not death. Lord knows why they even have the DP if they don't want to use it.

ETA: This murderer said she should have gotten the death penalty!!! Only fair she said!

I think you touched on the issues with the DP in general. Another poster said above, the DP is administered very unevenly in this country. I think that's because there is no guideline to what determines that. How cruel is too cruel? Does it matter if it was only one victim? Does it matter the race/sex/age of the victim? It's these questions that make we wonder if the DP should exist or at least exist where the average person off the street is deciding it.

 

[TigerBalm]

I'm still in disbelief that this case had a hung jury. I suppose it being 8 men and 4 women had to do with it after seeing Jodi naked, on the stand for 18 days, and her before killer pictures. I think it's interesting that the 1st degree murder/felony murder was an 8/4 split as well. Sorry if this has already been brought up. I just got to work and watched the foreman interview.

My heart goes out to Travis's friend's and family.

No, you are off by one.

The first degree murder conviction was:
5 premeditated murder
0 felony murder
7 BOTH premeditated and felony murder

Translation:
12 (unanimous) premeditated
7 felony

 

[Hope4More]

Just read this on the facebook page..

"Angela Simpson, the Phoenix woman who impaled, stabbed, strangled, beat, and extracted the teeth from a disabled man -- then dismembered him and set pieces of his body on fire -- was sentenced today to life in prison for the 2009 murder."

Life, not death. Lord knows why they even have the DP if they don't want to use it.

ETA: This murderer said she should have gotten the death penalty!!! Only fair she said!

???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! words fail me.

 

[MidwestMama]

which is why the 8 who held out for death didn't come down to life.

exactly! ^

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Jury foreman says Arias testimony didn't help her
BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP
48 minutes ago

PHOENIX (AP) — As jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial filed one by one from the courtroom after a dramatic five months of gut-wrenching testimony and gruesome photographs, three women on the panel cried and one looked to the victim's family, mouthing the word, "Sorry."

The silent gesture toward the loved ones of Travis Alexander offered a glimpse into what was likely a tense few days inside the deliberations room as the jury finally determined it could not agree on whether to sentence Arias to life in prison or execution for murdering her boyfriend.

After about 13 hours of deliberations over three days, the panel gave up.

Judge Sherry Stephens gave a heavy sigh as she announced a mistrial in the penalty phase of the case Thursday. A conference with the judge and attorneys was set for June 20 to determine how both sides want to proceed. In the interim, Stephens set a July 18 retrial date, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case and details of sex and lies to another 12 people...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130524/US--Boyfriend.Slaying/

 

[AZWatcher]

Hello Sleuth,
I never thought about it that way but you could be right in that it may actually be easier for them to give DP because they did not get to see all the baggage that Jodi portrayed. Interesting.

My biggest fear is we wont get that chance. I have a really bad feeling that the DA will just not try the 2nd time and just give it to the judge to decide LWOP or LWP. To save a ton of money and also I think the family maybe has had enough of this madness and they may want it to end too.

If the judge gets it, I cant read her and really dont know which way she would lean.

Highly likely that a LWOP deal will be struck here. The rub lies in the 8-4 split. JMO. I don't know how that works legally but it seems a viable option if it can happen.

 

[trudy]

I just had another thought, is the CMJA going to get back on the stand and tell her lies for another 18 days for the new jury?

Once JA hears that some on the jury believed her abuse stories, it will give her so much glee.

Also, no way will she accept a plea of live without parole and no right for appeal. The state of AZ may be force to continue with the DP phase just to make sure she stays in prison for the rest of her life.

 

[aa9511]

Jodi, in her interview said she does not believe in the death penalty but that is exactly what she did with Travis. She had a choice to stop, to seek help and she did not stop. She made the decision that Travis would die because he "insulted" her and called her a sociopath. Obviously the only justifiable response from her for the name calling is death. Not just death but one that was horrific.

I completely agree with you. After thinking about this last night, I am convincred that the 4 thought this was some kind of terrible, CRAZY "incident" for her. B/c the defense made it seem like she was sooooooo stable the rest of her life, when we know that's not true, however she was able to hide it in a way that no one knoew. NO ONE EXCEPT FOR HER PARENTS WHO WOULD NEVER TELL THE JURY THAT THEMSELVES AND POSSIBLY RISK THEIR DAUGHTER GETTING THE DEATH PENALTY. So what else is Juan supposed to do? There is no way he can get this proof of instablility from anywhere else b/c she is so sneaky and manipulative, and hid it successfully from whoever she didn't want to show it to, which was everyone except her family.

This was a brutal, horrific act, which was painted as coming out of nowhere, I might add painted successfully by the defense, at least in terms of creating doubt within the jury as to the REASONS BEHIND THE KILLING. IMO, the 4 view her a generally normal person, who maybe b/c of her BPD, just kind of went crazy in this regard.

That is THE ONLY reason I can come up with as far as the 4 jurors' thinking process.

 

[atthelake]

Beth still talking about the trial will be starting in July. Does not everyone know that Juan the prosecutor has another trail ..that it's beginning in July. I'm surprised the mainstream media has not learned that yet . they need to be reading here more often!

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

 

[grammieto5]

From the State of AZ vs Jodi Arias FB page:


A message to you, from juror 17:

Hello all! I was sent to this page thanks to a friend of mine now that I am able to see and hear things! I was juror 17 and later on I was chosen as an alternate. I was so disappointed and upset to hear my number called after all the time and work I put into this trial! Today was a hard day for the jury but it was also a very hard day for me!! To say I am devastated is an understatement! I feel so much pain that I can't even begin to imagine what Travis's family is feeling! Although today's outcome wasn't what I wanted and probably most of you as well, I just ask that you remember we are all human and no matter which juror voted which way, it was a very hard decision for all of them! I want to send my love and prayers to Travis's family and I really hope they get the right outcome next time!!!

And this is why this country should have professional juries!

 

[Puzzler]

And that is exactly what JSS was instructing them on.
Each juror has to decide what it mitigating to THEM.
They do not have to agree on which item is mitigating.
It could be fact (a) is mitigating to me, fact (c) is mitigating to you and that another juror feels there are NO mitigating facts.

That is what makes this stage so difficult - you cannot PROVE to other jurors that fact (c) is mitigating - it is a personal decision, a personal opinion. Each juror may feel differently on what counts as mitigating. This is why it would become obvious relatively quickly that they were deadlocked. No hope of whipping out a piece of evidence to convince others, it is a personal decision you have to come to.

As difficult as it is to see justice delayed for Travis and those that love him, IMO, the jury did exactly as they were told.

BBM

I totally agree. I grieve that the Alexander family is having the their long ordeal extended yet again, but I don't have the same feelings of betrayal and horror that I experienced after the reprehensible actions of the P12 jury in Florida.

This jury paid close attention, took notes, took their job seriously, deliberated in a proper fashion, found JA GUILTY OF M1 with EXTREME CRUELTY, and then could not agree on life vs. death. They did a very difficult job to the best of their abilities, and I salute them.

 

[Lilly12]

I don't disagree. I think that on face value, most don't deal with these kinds of issues or this kind of BD that is JA. Unless you have dealt with someone who is a constant source of problem and countless other things TA dealt with, you really don't know where you will go. He 'said' some not so nice things to her, but we don't know what provoked them. I am assuming the jury did not either and took the 'words' at face value. Which is not what I was hoping they would do.

K

Face value of a liar, I might add. That really disturbs me more the the hung penalty verdict. It bothers me that this juror could not read between the lines with Jodi's testimony. And who has not been called names. As you said we do not know what provoked Travis. Maybe Travis thought those strong words would get rid of her for good. To think that any juror would buy into her lies distresses me to no end. Mores the pity. There are lies and then there are liars, if you know what I mean. moo