I don't think the defense legitimately hopes to get her off on self defense. I think they are using this defense only as an avenue to get in some negative evidence about Travis in the hopes that it might persuade the jury not to give Jodi the death penalty.
Agreed. Can you get verified as an attorney? I like to hear as many professional opinions as possible, although I must say that many of the posters here have been so involved in these trials that they are practically as good as!!!
Jurors have to roam around in their own minds trying to figure this out, trying not to form an opinion yet, until further proceedings...it's just a long time to have jurors out there resisting not being exposed to the case. I think it is still confusing for them and that they want more by their questions.
That's where the stalking of the victim info would help. I think there's much more proof of her stalking Travis and torturing him because she would not respect his privacy nor his property, his words and statements. She would not stop even when he told her to stop. (politely because he was that kind of nice guy, and didn't believe he needed to get legal with her) I call that abuse of Travis by Jodi.
The state proved first degree murder, IMO. But I do think they make a mistake in not providing motive to a jury, even though that is not required. We have seen that repeatedly. In the Laci Peterson case, where there was really no blood or fiber evidence and frankly, much less circumstantial evidence that he murdered her than in cases where the defendant gets off, the state proved its case with motive via the taped calls with his mistress. scott peterson is on death row.
In the Caylee Anthony case, where there was a ton of forensic evidence linking casey to the murder of her daughter, I think the state did a poor job of establishing motive - nothing showing exactly how tied down and trapped she felt, nothing showing that her new boyfriend really didn't want the baby around and that her parents refused to babysit overnight so much. casey walks.
I do think evidence of her stalking and obsessive behavior should have been presented in the case in chief, if they could.
Thank you! Now I can see what I missed!
I just finished watching the 48 hours piece. HOLY Cripes! So many thoughts coming off that show; my mind is reeling. First off, thanks David Lohr for linking it for us! Second of all, I wonder why Det. Flores is so convinced Travis was shot first. Is it because of the partial truth she tells in her lies? Or is it because the small impact a gun of that caliber would have, that he would still be alive and moving? Or a combination of both?
I don't see him getting shot first.
For one thing there is not much blood from that wound and he would have been incapacitated. Why so much blood in the bathroom and down the hall?
You can tell the blood from the head wound just went straight down his face.
Why 29 stab wound on head, back, neck, front, etc if already shot in the head?
Some of the wounds look like he was moving, others are packed together.
The gunshot path looks to me to be from someone standing over a prone body. It goes from the top of the head downward. No way he could have been standing in the shower and got shot there.
I;m on the fence. I think he could have survived a gun shot for awhile. Many people do. I mean, she came prepared with a gun and her statements about how she would have shot him over and over instead of stabbing him support that scenario. Also, the fact that in her ninja story, the shot came first sticks out to me, because I think she was then trying to match up what any potential witness, like a neighbor, may have heard: A shot, then screaming, then someone saying "shut up".
In the least picture of Travis, he was seated. She may have shot him, looming above and he may have screamed or held his head and asked for help. Frightened that he could get away, she may have run for a knife in his kitchen or in her purse and when she came back, he may have been able to stand up and was weaving on his feet. Then comes the stab to the lungs. Impossibly, he is still able to lurch toward the sink. She then begins stabbing him in the back. He falls to his knees and begins crawling and she continues to stab him in the back and head before, panicked that he could still somehow survive, straddling him, pulling back his head and practically cutting it off.
I think the ME allowed for some wiggle room for this to happen.
ETA: I think in the casey case, there were a few facets to motive. The others were her deep hatred for her mother and jealousy of Caylee and of being replaced as the princess of the family by Caylee. The state did a piss poor job of showing any of that.
what: yes, indeedy!) told him/her that another client who was on the jury had spoken with that hairdresser about the trial. The Chief Resident Superior Court Judge (heavy-duty dude) wrote a directive to the State Attorney General for his office to immediately visit and get affadavits/evidence, etc., from each juror about the issue. It was done -- at additional cost to the County, of course -- right away, and it turned out to be a bunch of horsehocky. And the trial went on, but not without a strong admonishment to the jury and the principals. 
