Originally Posted by scorpio24
I actually appreciated both equally. His cross exams
WERE brilliant, but I thought his closing was particularly
effective. I expected the same JM I had seen since JA
took the stand: a man on overdrive, angry & spitting fire.
I'm sure the jury did, too. Instead, he was almost
reverent. I found myself transfixed by his demeanor and
the pacing of his argument.
I thought the closing showed a great deal of restraint on
JM's part. I also thought it showed a great deal of
respect for Travis and his family as well as the jury. He
let them know that he believed them to be reasonable
people. He simply laid out the facts based on the
evidence and put his trust in them. It was a far cry from
Nurmi replaying the sex tape and saying he didn't even
like his client.
JM DID show emotion when the circumstances dictated.
For instance, when he described the chain of events by
showing the crime scene photographs, I wept. I thought
he was brilliant throughout the trial, but I thought his
subdued approach during closing was absolutely
magnificent. He rocks!
Yes, ITA Juan Martinez does in fact ROCK! I, too found his closing arguments to be presented with such reverence and respect for Travis..and especially the respect that Juan has for Travis' siblings who have been there with him not only just throughout these last 4 months of trial..but rather Travis' siblings have been there through this for 5 long years with Juan preparing and pushing this to go to trial so that he could get justice for this family that he knows is long past due..
What I noted in closing arguments was Juan's having made a very real effort to go out of his way to show this uber reverence and respect toward this victim, Travis..as in to try to "right the wrong" that this evil murderer has gone about inflicting throughout the course of this trial.. I felt as tho Juan somehow wanted to express and show this man the dignity and respect that this evil murderer literally and figuratively stripped him of in both life and death.. As tho, to somehow put a proper end to her very literal reign of terror..and IMO Juan did this withOUT going out in a big, flashy bang type of way, but rather to bring to a close this nightmare with a restoration of respect for this man who more than deserves it..I felt as tho it was a perfectly fitting closure of sorts..it just felt "right"...it felt "good"..it felt like there was very real meaning to it and it was not just memorized words from a prosecutor to a jury... I don't know that I'm adequately describing what exactly I mean, but I can only say that it moved me and that I truly felt as tho it was a signifying of Travis' name, Travis' memory being set straight and brought back from the dark, depths of hell that the evil murderer had taken and dragged his name and memory down into in an all out effort to truly continue to slaughter Travis over and over and over..even in death.. I believe this affected Juan..I mean honestly how could that NOT affect someone who has been witness to what this evil individual has done to this victim physically in slaughtering him??...and then going about continuing to slaughter his name, his memory, and his legacy??.. I believe that this long drawn out nightmare with Jodi Arias at the helm has sparked an anger in Juan in his being a man who stands for what is "right".. I believe that he has made it part of his goal in not only successfully prosecuting and convicting Jodi of having murdered Travis...but equally as important was Juan's goal to attempt to somehow "right the wrong" where Travis' name and memory are concerned..and I personally believe that his closing argument was every bit as much about restoring that respect to Travis' name and memory..as much as it was about summing up to the jury Jodi's guilt of the premeditated murder of Travis.
I even got the sense that Juan was attempting to somehow even negate the nastiness, the dirtiness, the seediness of Kirk Nurmi's continually droning on for months about their sexual relationship...Kirk Nurmi's gross way he spoke about every aspect involving sex..the slang, crass, disrespectful way in which Nurmi over dramatized every tiny issue that he could dredge up regarding these grown adults sexual relationship.. I felt as tho Juan, in his closing arguments went out of his way to speak about their sexual relationship with such respect and dignity..even saying to the jurors that they knew that this couple had a sexual relationship and that this sexual relationship was "NORMAL" and that they didn't need the prosecutor to continue on and on with over zealous, salacious, dirty details of these two grown adult Individuals who had an equally consensual sexual relationship.. I really felt like he wanted to somehow take the skankinees.. The dirtiness of this young man's PRIVATE, perfectly normal, respectable sexual relationship, that Jodi, Nurmi, and her defense team had twisted and turned, spewed and spat out of their mouths day in and day out for over 4months ..I felt as tho, Juan wanted to get back to the "real" of it all, away from the seedy, dime store, bad sex novel that Jodi and Nurmi had created and fed to this jury..
I REALLY FELT AS THO JUAN MADE AN EFFORT TO RESTORE THE RESPECT AND DIGNITY TO TRAVIS' AND TRAVIS' MEMORY DURING HIS CLOSING ARGUMENTS.. ..AND IMO HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN DOING SO and I know for me, the perfect stranger, it is very much appreciated..so, I can only imagine what it meant to Travis' family to have Juan take the time and effort to show such reverence and respect for their brother, Travis..after having witnessed the relentless disrespect, lies, and blasphemy that Jodi and her defense have spewed these past 4 months...
Jmo, but I'd say what Juan has done means the world to Travis' siblings and they have great respect and appreciation for Mr. Martinez fighting so damn hard, and with such fierceness for their brother, Travis...a young man who Mr. Martinez will never even have the chance to meet/know in this life.