Well, that was certainly a riveting 3 days of testimony from Jodi. She did well. It must have been painful in every sense of the word.
Kirk Nurmi is doing a great job too. He’s enabling Jodi to slowly (very slowly some might say) give a full & detailed account of both the mental & physical abuse she suffered at the hands of TA, who can only be described as a bad tempered & very abusive philanderer.
But these things can’t be rushed. So it’ll take as long as it takes… maybe another few days? We shall see.
I’m also not worried about Martinez’ cross examination next week either. Whatever happens, happens. He has a performance to put on, and I’m quite sure he’ll continue to perform just as badly as he’s done throughout the trial.
And even though there’s still a long way to go, I’m confident we will ultimately get a positive outcome for Jodi.
So in summary… here’s the gist of what we’ve had over the past week or so, up to where we are right now… and with Jodi (early next week) approaching her testimony pertaining to the events of June 4th 2008:
Chris Hughes being a lying bastard about everything (and tweeting/joking with Vinnie Politan afterwards)… Juan Martinez’ worst nightmare come true (Gus Searcy)… the ongoing “Mr X” blackmail plot as orchestrated by Chris Hughes… little girl costumes… proxy surfing… the revelations from Jodi regarding anal sex straight after her Mormon baptism… TA’s affair with a married woman… TA’s “psycho bitch” warning (to Jodi) about his ex – Deanna Reed… kids Spiderman underwear… the list goes on…
Under any other circumstances, it’d be humorous… but in reality, it’s not.
If you missed any of Jodi’s 3 days’ testimony, click these links… Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday.
Leave your thoughts & comments below…
SJ
Team Jodi
I think that you are so right in that there are no winners, SJ. I don’t think you can say it enough!
Like you, I’m not worried about the cross examination either. I think Martinez will have a difficult time on cross. He has displayed his ridiculousness several times. I think having Jodi on the stand will bring out the worst in him. If he yells at her, he risks coming across as abusive. If he pushes her too far and she cries or shuts down, he only shows how traumatized she is. His best option would be to remain civil – but I’m not so sure he can do that.
It would be best for him to lose it like he did on Gus, other wise she could be introuble. Why is Jodi immitating her lawyer through dress and actions. Weird
I don’t think Jodi gets a lot of choices on what she wears. She’s right back in the prison stripes as soon as the court day is over.
Right, but someone is supplying her with clothes, and I bet her lawyers have a say in the matter to help the case. It is kind of weird to see Sara as the trial goes on how similar they are becoming…
I think it’s quite clever that the defense team chooses outfits and hairstyles for Jodi that are similar to her lady lawyer. It reads like she’s always seeking a leader, someone to follow… as if she doesn’t know who to be or what to think on her own. Like she’s very easily persuaded.
The jury will apply this to Travis as her religious leader and motivational guru. It signals that Jodi likely went along with whatever Travis said, right or wrong. As she said, she wanted to do whatever HE wanted to do.
Our attire is a factor in sending subconscious body language signals. Just like if you wear a jogging suit to a job interview, people will sum you up. Similarly, Jodi’s “mirror” attire of the lady lawyer is speaking to the jurors. I’m sure they think it’s “weird” too — and that’s exactly what the defense is going for.
Lets explore this possibility. TA is a virgin b4 he meets Jodi (highly unlikely but please bare with me). Jodi introduces him to the wonderful world of sex. He loves it and wants more so he feels like he is missing out and wants to experiance it with other woman so they break up. But TA still needs a place to park his cock and fill his salacious need, so he calls his “3 hole wonder” to use as he wants. This very pleasure makes him feel dirty and guilty cause he luvs it. So he takes these feelings out on Jodi. Given Jodi’s past this has happened b4. She has felt abused and miss treated her entire life. Unless the defense brings in a woman to say other wise TA could be considered a virgin prior to Jodi, when in reality he prob bent over every girl he baptised.
Jodi is innocent! She had the right to protect herself from a abusive ungreatful piece of crap like. Travis. He jus got what was coming to him. And please stop the BS bout him being a nice guy..wow what a scum bag! TEAM JODI!!!
http://www.azcentral.com/video/2147548069001
Right now I am more concerned about the prosecution psychiatrist having her home broken into and her laptop being stolen with Jodi’s case file on it. Who knows what that could mean for the trial. :S
Does anyone know what is going on with the trial today? Why hasnt testimony started? Its already 11.
no trial today
no trial today Ms.Melly it will resume monday
here is the story of the laptop http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/21010530/2013/02/06/expert-witness-in-arias-trial-has-home-burglarized
Where did you hear about the laptop being stolen Debbie?
I’m not sure where others learned of the stolen laptop, but I posted a link here about it a couple of days ago. I found out about this news report on another crime site that’s following Jodi’s trial.
That said, my assumption is that “everybody” has copies of this expert’s profile report of Jodi. I’m sure the prosecution has a copy, and so does the defense. My impression is that no expert can go up and testify unless both sides are provided — in advance — a write-up about their findings or views.
So this expert will still be able to testify. The theft will likely be treated like any other and should have no impact on the trial. (Unless it’s discovered that the defense team had a hand in it, which I seriously doubt.)
Stolen laptop?? Her reports would be shown to both sides but she would have info in her notes. This may be random or maybe there are those worried about what is in thoses notes…..
Yes it was apparently stolen yesterday (Wednesday Feb 6th) from the home of psychologist Dr. Janeen Demarte. I am concerned about what it could mean for the trial. Would they have to start over? Jodi has given out too much info now on her life for that to happen. What if something gets leaked that isn’t supposed to be? I am sorry but this is weighing on my mind.
Today there is/was a closed door hearing going on. Insession was trying to figure out what was up. Beth Harris went through unresolved motions and found that one was a motion filed to preclude the prosecution’s expert witness from saying travis was not abusive. The motion was based on the fact that she made her assertion on the word of travis friends and while never meeting with Travis. Sounds reasonable to me!
The second motion was over jury instructions. The defense wants the notion that jodi had a duty to retreat left out. I read on a pro pros board that in AZ, the duty to retreat has been left out of jury instructions in other self defense cases. I wonder if AZ doesn’t have the duty to retreat law as it varies from state to state.
Next, I wanted to mention that NG is slamming a well regarded defense expert, Alyce LaViolette, M.S., MFCC. I don’t even watch her show yet have heard her drone on about this expert on GMA when talking for her 3 minutes. This expert is well published and has been working with victims since the 70s.
http://www.alycelaviolette.com/Publications-By-Alyce-LaViolette.htm ( Her papers are interesting reading with regard to the central issue of this case. IMO, NG slamming this witness is slamming me and other survivors.
However, the expert the prosecution is using – I can’t find a thing she published. I’m wondering if any of you have heard of her. I google her name and can’t find a website, publications, trials she testified in, nothing! I must be doing something wrong?
Let me know your thoughts.
Update,
This is what I found on the prosecution’s expert: http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Janeen_DeMarte_PhD_Phoenix_Arizona_136525
Note she specializes in personality disorders. I think that’s where she’s headed with Jodi ( naturally._
NG is such a hypocrite. So someone that the defense pays is less credible than the people she does? How is it more credible to be on a show that there is only one accepted answer than to be a consultant where you have many possibilities. Could you imagine if someone went on NG and said I have a PHD in psychology and specialize in abuse victims, oh by the way Jodi fits the bill. Nancy would lay an egg right there.
CJ,
I remember hearing about her earlier in the case. I think they were saying that she was going to have a Type B/cluster B personality disorder (Antisocial Personality (sociopath), Narcissist, Histrionic or Borderline). I do not remember where I read this though. Unfortunately if they say some of these disorders the suicide thing will blow up in her face because it will point to those disorders.
Thanks CJ for the links.
I will be reading up on these two.
Reminds me of when HLN was slamming Dr. Werner Spitz, a highly respected ME, as a “doddering old man” when he testified for Casey’s defense. This is the same Dr. Spitz who actually knew the importance of fully examining the skull the trauma, which Dr. G. (for the prosecution) failed to do. Everyone who has a show on that channel is a moron.
Jodi arias is innocent. It is shame that a nice young lady like her shares the same fate as terrorists. She had a right to defend herself from an abusive jerk. Travis got what was coming to him and please stop the BS of him being a “really nice guy”! FREE JODI !!
I agree Debbie. This is a valid concern as the prosecutor is relying on her! Nevertheless, she is a professional and my concern is this: one would assume that she would have backed up her laptop, or kept this confidential on a portable drive in a secured place. IN the APA ethic guidelines keeping info like this secure is a very important guideline. She could also be in trouble with her license over this.
Another supporter thought that perhaps, she didn’t want to testify and felt in over her head so perhaps, she reported the laptop stolen? It certainly is a big coincidence isn’t it?
Of course, the media is alluding to team jodi but I doubt the defense attorneys would want to risk their careers over obtaining illegal information for this case. That to me, sounds absurd.
Yes CJ that does sound absurd, I doubt any lawyer worth their salt would want to be caught up in something like that. I would think that even if the defense was sent the info, the defense would be required to take it straight to the judge and let them know.
CJ I went to that link earlier today and I was wondering how she could have been practicing for 8 years when she graduated in 2009. She also specializes in trauma and ptsd from what it says on her website.
It really doesn’t matter if the laptop contents are leaked. Jodi could just claim she didn’t say what was in the psychiatrists notes or was misunderstood … since it seems that many just need to hear only her latest version of events to restore their faith and trust in her word.
That is just it MickyD this psychiatrist is a rebuttal witness for the prosecution. She will go on and explain what she believes is wrong with Jodi if anything and Jodi cannot refute it because her time on the stand is over and so would her psychologist’s be.
Micky D,
This shrink NEVER talked to her.
CJ,
Did the DV Expert Witness for the defense also not directly talk to Jodi? I’ve read on here many speculating that it was good Jodi was on stand first so DV Expert for defense can speak to her testimony. I thought that was strange initially because typically you would think you’d want your own expert to have direct access to your client and talk to them personally. HOWEVER, if you do that, you open the door to the prosecution being granted same access. To NOT allow your own witness access to the defendant prevents the state’s expert witness from having direct access to her. Its smart strategy.
I make it a habit of commenting first, being corrected, then listening to the testimony and reading the evidence: why should I change now.
Listening to Jodi the last 3 days, it seems to me that Chris and Sky Hughes came up a lot. Isn’t Sky supposed to come to court to testify on the defenses’ accusation of prosecutorial misconduct? And isn’t Chris still on the hook as a witness? Why can he be doing all this Tweeting and crap he is doing? My gut says that Chris and Sky know much more than they will EVER tell about Travis and Jodi’s relationship.
Frannie did you watch 48 hours Picture Perfect where Chris and Sky were on it? They stated that something seemed off with Jodi so they took Travis aside and told him they didn’t want her back at their house anymore. They would have to find someplace else to go.They said Jodi was listening outside their door at the time. What I think really happened after listening to what Jodi has said so far during the trial is that Sky got up sometime during the night and was just checking on everyone and opened the door and found Travis and Jodi in bed together. She would never say that on national tv because after all that would put Travis down, him being a mormon elder and all. So far, Jodi has only mentioned ever being at their home over night, one time for a party.
Not to mention this little tidbit, “Shortly after they began hanging out, his business [and] income began to suffer,” Alexander’s close friend Sky Hughes told The Huffington Post. “She made it impossible for him to live a normal life.”
So it likely had as much to do with ppl & $$$ as it did lds & values.
Speaking of C&S Hughes, I read that after Jodi’s testimony (re: their 1st sexual encounter) the Travistown cult is aghast in that there was NO way Travis would disrespect their house by having sexual relations with Jodi under their roof! What a bunch of dingle-berries. I am convinced that if Jodi was a money maker for PPL, in which she served directly under the CH pyramid, they would have embraced her and none of this stay away from Jodi crap would have ever surfaced. It’s all about $$ with this group.
Trixels –
Dingleberries. Love it.
I’m going to have to use that now.
Dingleberries! I got a kick out of that!
And Travistown cult. So true!
LOL really? Really?? See this is what I mean about the reversal issue. JODI was the one whose life suffered. SHE is the one who lost a house, lost her dignity, lost her ability to pay her bills, lost the basic human right to not be abused, which consequently led to have lost her right to a fair trail, and presumption of innocence.
Well, I think the definition of normal to CH and SH has very much to do with the productivity of the downline in the mlm biz.
Most definitely the are part of ppl. CHs 48 Hours interview speaks to him meeting TA, mentoring him & placing him in ppl. And iirc, Jodi’s testimony was that she rolled up to CH – Team Renew, although TA was not in her up line.
My guess is that CH immediately pegged JA as not being someone who embraced conning and manipulating enough to make this ppl thing work (& thus make him $$). And then if she was just somewhat of a distraction to his master manipulating mouthpiece (TA), maybe causing him to be unavailable for a session/seminar where he can give his rag to riches story and thank ppl for it all (thus making CH some serious $$) then she had to go!
So Chris and Sky are part of prepaid legal? I’m watching Chris’ testimony now (ugh).
Now how in the world could they come to the conclusion that Jodi had anything to do with Travis’ productivity?
Ah ok, that makes sense! Thanks!
And CH has the nerve to accuse Nurmi of being a snake? Wow!
Oh VERY interesting…sounds like Travis was earning less money, which in turn may have caused the Hugheses to earn less money. Now their motivation for disliking Jodi early on is clear!
Skye also had travis’ diary and had to be compelled to turn it over! Media reported that jodi had taken the diary for years.
No way! I’m sure she tore quite a few pages out of it before she turned it over.
That’s what I was thinking.
How else would she twist Travis’ lies and avoid making her and her husband look like deceitful scum?
But as much of a liar Travis is turning up to be, he probably lied to his diary too, writing about how great he was or something.
I was reading through an old thread about this case on another board today and learned that it took Chris Hughes six years to finish high school. Clearly we’re not dealing with the sharpest crayon in the box, which is probably why he can’t follow the judge’s instructions to avoid media. LOL.
Yes, he was probably “board” at school.
Lol, Trixels!!
I’m curious as to why she’s crying in court during this trial when they show pics of Travis…..and not when she’s detailing her history of abuse by her parents and Travis, and the hurtful relationships she’s had. Does anyone have any theories about this?
She cried a bit when she brought up the wooden spoon but regained control quickly. She has likely been instructed by her attorneys to try to maintain as much composure as possible. If she were crying all over the place she would be accused of having “crocodile tears” by the media for sure. I fully expect her to be totally stoic when she has to tell the part about killing him because she will distance herself from it completely and remain very calm. It is a self preservation mode some of us have.
Also if she were crying all over the place she would likely be viewed as mentally unstable.
she mentioned when she was upset about the drunk woman all over Travis that she didn’t want people to see her upset. Maybe the pictures were too overwhelming while the rest she just has been able to lock down because she has been through it so many times to prepare for trial. I was molested and when I speak of it, there are times when I do not even flinch and there are other times when I am a basket case. She appears to try to put on the impression of strength. I cannot give specific examples but I know that she doesn’t try to stretch things further than they can go. If he asks her a question about pain or how she feels she will typically give an answer that to me implies I don’t want to be seen as weak so its really not that bad. In many cases he asks her a question that seems to be leading her to dramatize it and she tunes things way down. People are saying she is lieing but honestly why lie about things that are so basic. If shes gonna lie then why would she make it all so low key and dial everything back. The fact that she dials back makes her appear more believable to me. She may say bad things about men but she is always making excuses or making things matter of fact. She is not exaggerating and then sitting back and waiting for the shock and awe.
I have a feeling that the real stuff is just about to come in, all these little stories are just the intro.
I think he will get more violent and more aggressive as he discovers how Jodi is not confident.
I agree Eli. I think things will start getting worse and more degrading and/or violent. What we’ve heard is the tame stuff so far.
I looked at Jodi’s hands yesterday and saw that one finger is indeed crooked like Matt described. She REALLY needs to mention that, and it would be great if Matt testified to back her up on that and the neck bruises.
Do we know at all if Matt has been in contact with Jodi since her arrest?
Daniel, I’m not entirely sure, but I think so. Matt posted that he had asked Jodi to leave him out of the case due to wanting to protect himself and his family from media attention, and she agreed. It sounds like he may have receive a subpoena from the defense anyway though.
True. I thought she might be trying to remain so stoic in her demeanor and meticulous about the details she describes to show to the jury that she is being as truthful as possible and avoiding the stereotypical dramatic teary eyed performance. Maybe this will make the jury believe that she is being completely honest, but I’m afraid it will backfire (in terms of her stoic demeanor). I would more than likely feel more grief and sympathy for her if she was giving a heart wrenching testimony full of grief for herself, and for the guy she thought she loved so much… even when he abused her. On the other hand, even that could backfire if it comes across as a fake performance. damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Exactly Leah – in many things, Jodi is damned is she does, damned if she doesn’t.
Its a no win situation for her with the media.
But as many have said, its not up to the media (thank goodness), its up to the jury.
Lets hope they respect the fact that she is trying to be strong and calm.
I also want to note, Jodi has had many years to reflect on this an discuss this with her lawyers, I suppose at a point you become a little numb, no?
unfortunately,she has ALREADY been accused of having crocodile tears….there’s no winnning with the Media or the haters for that matter…
I’m also a little concerned about Jodi trying to explain her feelings in a way other people can understand that its normal, (even its not) but on the other hand it makes her more believable
But i hope that the next 2 days on the stand will be revealed more aggressive behavior, that way she will be believed much more all the violent behavior because she has credibility already based on the other stories what she was honest and not just bash Travis
I agree. At this point, we haven’t heard enough (in my opinion) to believe that he would suddenly snap and turn physically violent towards her. From my standpoint, it seems like so far she is just detailing feelings of being used and emotionally hurt from being his shameful sex secret. I’m really curious to hear the rest of her testimony and how the story will unfold.
Hi, can someone please explain how the stolen laptop could hurt the case, I don’t understand how it can. Like, wouldn’t both parties already know what the Dr. would be testifying to? If it gets leaked to the public domain, it wouldn’t matter as the jury isn’t allowed to listen to media. I’m not sure if I’m getting my point across, does that make sense?
Well that is what I am wondering. Could it affect the case? I understand that the jury is not allowed to listen or pay attention to any media. But couldn’t Martinez say that there were things the defense does not know about? and call a continuance until such time as the laptop is recovered? I really don’t know that is why I am concerned.
The concern is that the defense could use the info to build their case. But wouldn’t they already have an idea of what the expert is going to say?
I am not positive on this, but I think in rebuttal, the prosecution can only refute what the defense brings in . They cannot bring in new testimony of their own. Perhaps if the defense could not get a decent psychoanalyst that would vouch for Jodi, there would be no psychoanalyst to refute what that one says.
The state already knows in what direction the Defense is going in based on the report the defense would have had to submit in discovery by their DV Expert Witness. The expert witness is supposed to file a report that lists all critical subject matter they will be testifying to. And I BELIEVE this is true in reverse as well. That the defense would already know in what direction the state is going to go in on rebuttal based on the report submitted in discovery by their expert witness. (Not as confident in the last though.) But notes would be important for either side because it would give them even further information in which to prepare for.
Yes, Debbie you are correct. The state can only rebut what was previously testified to in direct by Defense w/ the DV Expert. And they already have the expert lined up. Is that what u meant by decent psychoanalyst?
Yes and no Daniel. The domestic violence expert for sure but I would think she would have also seen a psychiatrist while she was in jail. She would have had to see someone to determine if she were fit for trial because it is a death penalty case no?
Debbie not sure didn’t they do that with KC only when she wasn’t going to consider something later in her trial?
Daniel,
Older court minutes show that, the prosecution made a motion to compel the defense to turn the notes made about Jodi made by THEIR expert for the purpose of Dr. Demarte ( the pros expert whose laptop was stolen) to read. Based on that I concluded that Jodi most likely allowed the defense expert to examine her. I could be wrong, but that’s how I’m interpreting things so far.
That is too what I think CJ.
I think regardless Jodi had to take the stand, and even though the expert will back up Jodi’s claims and could have done so without Jodi taking the stand, I think it will be much more relatable since Jodi took the stand and explained the abuse herself rather than just relaying it through an expert. no?
(whew, run on sentence…)
Got it. But in other states, if the defense has an expert witness interview the defendant, the prosecution then would be entitled to get their own expert witness to interview the defendant. Meaning the judge would order the defense to make available their client. This sounds like maybe the defense has a better deal in AZ. I remember this was an issue during the Casey Anthony trial. At the time Jose Baez informed the court that Dr Danziger and Weitz (?) would be on the defense witness list, this prompted the state to request the judge to make Casey available to their psychologist, but then JB removed them from the witness list so the state never got a chance to do that.
I don’t know if the laws are different in AZ?
Ah ha, I see what you’re saying Daniel.
Sorry, I misunderstood the question earlier.
You bring up a very interesting point and I dont not know the honest answer to it.
How would it hurt Jodi to have the prosecutors psychologist have access to Jodi?
Any specific reason Jose Baez didnt want Casey Anthony invoved with the prosecutors psychologist?
Honest questions, its a very interesting point you bring up, you’ve got me curious.
Jose Baez had specific reasons for removing Drs. Weitz and Danziger from the defense witness list. According to Jose’s book, Danziger started backpedaling during his deposition out of concern for how the media would interpret his evaluation and Weitz ran the risk of not being believable to the jury because he made statements about George murdering Caylee.
Hmmm, thats too bad, that an expert was worried about the media.
Kind of scary really.
Thanks Kira, didnt follow the Casey’s trial like I have Jodi’s.
Yes Kira Jose Baez did say that in his book but that came much later, after the fact. Because the impression was left, the removal of Danziger & Weitz happened as a result of depos since it wasn’t until morning of the 2nd day of depos (when Jose was hoping to stop the depos completely) after the previous day when Danziger started “backpedaling” as you say. It also of course eliminated possibility of state interviewing Casey w/ their expert. I read the depo transcripts. Personally I did not see it as backpedaling, what I read was just clarifying that in his ‘opinion’, he could not be sure Casey was not lying and he was concerned about that and placing blame potentially on an innocent man. He repeated that more than a few times. He still stated all the other issues about Casey and the trauma. But regardless, this makes me wonder about whether the DV expert for defense directly interviewed Jodi. The defense and state’s expert witnesses would be far more compelling if they’d had that opportunity.
Good point!
Look who just can’t keep his mouth shut:
5 Feb Chris Hughes @cshughes
The PT in the #JodiArias murder trial should make a motion for defense misconduct, for boring us all to tears, + that devil suit.
5 Feb Chris Hughes @cshughes
I can not wait until cross examination (AKA The Truth). I’m sooooo board with #JodiArias La-La land & boy toys.
4 Feb Chris Hughes @cshughes
Can anyone verify that Victor is still alive? #JodiArias
4 Feb Chris Hughes @cshughes
zzzzzzz……zzzzzzz…..zzzzzz. Wake me up in 2007 pls. #JodiArias
4 Feb Chris Hughes @cshughes
Jodi Arias is on the stand! #JodiArias
He’s “board” with Jodi?
HAHAHAHAHA, “board”.
What a fucktard.
I’m still completely confused how he can be tweeting about the trial at this point?
I’ve heard he’ll probably get a slap on the wrist, but no contempt of court?
Wow and this is a grown man!!!!
“There are no winners.”
So true! I think despite the differences of opinion here at this site, everyone would probably agree that if we had a time machine we would go back and prevent the whole thing from happening.
But it did happen and justice must reflect the TRUTH. Part of getting to the truth is hearing Jodi out, and supporting her constitutional right to a fair trial. I have to wonder why people support Jodi if they aren’t willing to take Jodi’s word for anything. Jodi took the stand, and is oathbound – that should mean something; especially since she was brave enough to do so knowing what a pedantic zealot Martinez is.
Her testimony about defending herself is still coming up – yet I see people coming here, condemning HER and her defense before she’s had a chance to recount what happened that awful night. People don’t understand that the defense doesn’t have to have pictures of bruises or witnesses to abuse (as if abusers are stupid enough to do it in front of other people). The point is analyzing the psychology between Travis and Jodi to find out WHY she had reasonable fear for her life. That is the real issue right now!
that’s the part that really gets me! so many people are ready to fry her before she even has a chance to tell her side and they do not see a single thing wrong with that. UM she has the right to a fair trial and a fair trial is not someone just letting her talk so that it can be gotten over with.
Right? How sad is it that so many people are ready to put her to death without even hearing the entire trial out? I just hope one day that they never have to be judged in the court of public opinion to determine their fate…
Hi mzmollymack, I agree the lynch mob mentality is troubling. They’ve drawn conclusions about Jodi with ZERO proof to back them up – and continue to repeat those same lies long after they have been debunked! They won’t even listen to her testimony when it’s her right to testify in her own defense.
Her right to a fair trial has been severely compromised, IMO. Other people believe that since the jury has been told not to take what the media says into account, that means what the media says doesn’t matter, but that does not mean the mentality OF the media isn’t sitting in the courtroom right now. Just look at Chris Hughes – he tweeted with Vinnie Politan ANYWAY!
Yeah, we are up against some major shit here.
Agree! People can’t get passed the same issues over and over.
All I can really say is stop using logic in an illogical situation!
The overkill was probably fear. Even if she had planned
the whole thing then I do not think it went down how she planned.
She said it herself, she would have just shot him. If she shot him
then the gun jammed she would have to finish it with a knife.
People say that you could just incapacitate him then go
but honestly if she did would it all go away? No! Then
he would be after her even more especially if it was something
like a gunshot to the head. The law in Arizona does not protect
you that far but it does seem logical that if she shot him
and he didn’t stop she would freak out given the size difference
and fear of what he would do to her if he survived.
I agree MB. I kind of feel like since Jodi got on the stand I’ve been hearing more people doubting her on this site. Maybe doubting her is the wrong thing to say, maybe doubting that the jury believe here? I might be misunderstanding the posts though?
Jodi isn’t even done testifying, who’s to say what she’s got to say next?
Maybe its this bombshell bruise photo everyone seems to be waiting for, thinking this is the only way abuse can exist (I know there are no photos, I’m seething sarcasm).
And honestly, I’m kind of tired of some saying that emotional or sexual abuse aren’t enough of a reason. That there must be some type of physical abuse to make this justifiable. As we’ve all repeated time and time again, we do not condone the fact that Jodi killed Travis, we do not think it was fair or deserved.
I thankfully have never experienced any type of abuse, but seriously, can one not understand how fucked up ANY abuse is? THERE ARE WOMAN that ARE MARRIED and have felt that their HUSBAND raped them. Is it not rape beause they were married? Questioning why Jodi never turned Travis in if he was soooo abusive. I just want to yell “Are you fucking kidding me?”.
Sadly, this trial has really opened my eyes to how much woman’s rights have actually digressed. And to hear WOMAN saying this shit – it’s completely insane.
I know many have talked about this aspect of the case, including myself, so you’re all probably tired of hearing it, but I just feel that I can’t sit back and keep my mouth shut when this survior is sitting on the stand spilling her experiences of abuse while all of these people are judging her, blaming her, and making it seem okay. It’s degrading ladies, men – we should all fucking know better!
If I ever have children, boy or girl, I will make sure he respects women (as much as I can) and that she know’s she doesn’t have to be belitted, sexualized, or kept a secret for anyone (again as much as I can control). I hope you all will do the same, because what Travis did to Jodi was not right and is not acceptable, no matter which way anyone wants to twist it.
I have listened to every word Jodi has said and what’s troubling me is her memory. If she is, in fact, telling the truth, how does she remember every single thing they ever did or said or who was there and what they were wearing? I am deeply in love with my husband, have been since our first kiss over 11 years ago in a parking lot at a gas station, but I can’t tell you what the freakin’ temperature was that day or what, if anything, we had to drink. The details are what are going to hurt her. If she even once says “I don’t recall” on cross examination, she’s toast. Besides that, the other troubling issue is if,( and it’s an if until she tells us how he attacked her), he ever hurt her, why did she make the long trip to his house to allow him to do it again? I’m anxious to hear the rest of the story, and I’m struggling with how any of the rest of this is relevant at all.
Trina –
I think this has been said, many a time, many victims of abuse go back to the abuser; I think there is more than one reason why this do this, if I’m correct.
The abuse expert will explain this.
Woman (or men) that die from domestic abuse, do you think its the first time they guy (or woman) has hit her (or him)?
The memory – maybe its because she’s had so long to dwell. maybe because her lawyers (even the previous one) has been making notes as she remembers things, for later use a “rehearsing”. She’s also an artist, do some of their brains works differently? Some people are also just much better at remembering details than others. But I do agree, if she uses the “I dont recal” line during cross examining it won’t look good.
This is spot on I think… She has had nothing but time sitting in jail to go over and over and over it all in her head (trying to make sense of what happened)… Her memory I think would be heightened due to the circumstance… And I totally agree, artists see things in pictures… they capture images with their eyes; are very left brained and I think emotional and expressive…
She remembers the details not only because she has had so much time to think about it but it is common (in any type of court trial) that the attorney and client “rehearse” what is going to be said.
She’s had four years to refresh her memory on details. She’s been prepped by her lawyers. Some people are extremely good at remembering details.
This is one of the biggest things people seem to hold against her. She went to him. If she was so abused why didn’t she stay away? The domestic violence counselor better hammer this topic. I think the biggest thing here is that its applying logic to an illogical situation. Why are there so many obese people in America? They should just stop eating bad for and exercise. Simple? Not quite. That is common knowledge and millions of dollars are thrown at the “obesity epidemic” but people still eat bad food and don’t exercise.
Exactly mzmollymack.
It seems completely illogical from certain people’s view.
Great analogy.
Trina Just came in out all day I don’t know if I missed anything But as Far as Jodie having a good memory believe it or not that is very common with victims of Child abuse, since they block or disassociate they have tremendous recall of events, I remember reading about this when I was studying psychology. Perhaps the brain works harder to compensate for the memory lapses as children, usually children block or disassociate themselves from trauma the brain continues to work overtime. That is also true of people with Dementia they will have very acute perception in some areas I remember a Psychiatrist mentioning this in reference to his relative.
Some people just have an incredible memory for detail. My mother can tell you what outfit she wore to the amusement park in 1963 the day that her cousin threw up on her. My son has a memory like that too. I myself am really good with remembering dates.
My Mom has incredible memory and is detail oriented The Media is making a big Deal about her memory they are too against her ,I am surprised at their lack of training in Psychology & ignorance. They claim the Pollyanna personality proves she was not abused, I have never heard such flat black & white commentary especially she is a slut and Travis is acting like a Man, That tells you what the LYNCH MOB mentality that permeates our communist media.
This post really made me think, thank you for that. It was a good post that made sense to me. I have struggled with the abuse issue. I know all victims of abuse react differently. I have experienced emotional abuse in a relationship before. It was awful. I became someone I did not know. I lacked self respect and I definitely let myself be used. It stemmed depression and anxiety in me. And from that, I started to self loathe myself. and if I was to do harm, it probably would have been on myself. I am thankful I had people around me who I felt comfortable confiding in and getting help. I am much, much stronger now. However, even thinking and remembering what I was like and how I felt in that relationship still makes me shudder.
I have followed this case closely. I have really struggled with it too. I think its very neat how this page represents a different view. I don’t think you can get the truth of anything unless you look at it from all angles. So I appreciate all of your thoughts.
I have a few issues with the whole thing. I am conflicted with the abuse. Most abuse victims do not document their abuse. I think proof of abuse is hard, so for people to say no abuse occurred is not fair. If she would have been documenting it, I would think that would mean she knew how bad it was and would have probably left. When I was in my situation, I would make excuses and let things go, not document them.
But on the other side, I am hard pressed to just believe her word. I do not doubt he was shitty to her, but because she has lied so much, I find it hard to just take her word for all of it. He is not here to tell his side, and I do believe there is two sides to the story for sure. I do understand your position, we have not heard everything from her. And I guess after she is off the stand and has answered questions from both sides, I will be able to understand more. I don’t know. Its just very complex. I am really torn. For me, the gas cans, possible gun/knife with her, going off the grid in arizona, covering up the crime scene and her changing stories need to be explained. I will listen with an open mind. Nothing is cut and dry. But by the same token, her word of abuse, porn he may have viewed, and such needs to be put into context for me. I cannot assume her behavior can be explained away, without putting his behavior into an appropriate context as well.
I do think it is very shitty to brand her and her family with demeaning names. Her family is guilty of nothing but loving their family member. My parents would stick by me through anything. They may not agree with what I have done, But they would always love me. And she has not been found guilty yet and should not be painted as she is being painted.
Well put Dawn. I must say though that I too have been where you have been and I began to keep a timeline of events to make sure I wasn’t going crazy if you will. That’s what an abuser want you to think and believe. That You are crazy. They are not.
She has told many lies and no one will ever know why she did that. But during testimony she seems alot different than the television interviews. She really does. But her life is on the line here. There isn’t any doubting that in her mind. The judicial system will kill her if she gets the death penalty, it’s not even close to wondering if today is “the day” with an abuser. It’s a for sure thing. I myself do not believe in the death penalty. I certainly would Never want to sentence anyone to death.
I do believe Travis was an abuser. It’s so not uncommon to go back to your abuser. It’s that simple it’s just Not!
I am very much against the death penalty. And I do agree that it is not uncommon to go back to an abuser. I know I did. It’s a sick cycle that is hard to break
Dawn –
I understand you want to hear Jodi out, good for you!
I am in no way trying to convince anyone to just take Jodi’s word for it.
But at this point, I do personally believe Travis abused Jodi (mentally and sexually at this point).
Congratulations for removing yourself from an abusive relationship.
I say congratulations because I’m not really sure how to express the strength you must have and my respect for you. I hope people can learn from you and others who have survived and overcome abusive relationships.
There is a lot of trial left to go, so we’ll see what else there is to learn from.
Thanks for posting Dawn.
Thanks for your reply! Abuse is just a tough thing. If I had been in her position, and only had my word, it would be hard if people doubted me. I can understand that, and relate to it. Its scary. Nobody wants to believe their friend or son is abusive.
I can appreciate the support you feel for her. Just because you support her does not mean you like or support her actions that day. I think that is what people fail to realize.
You hit the nail on the head there Dawn * When I was in my situation, I would make excuses and let things go* To me that is exactly what Jodi has been describing she had done. The difference is, she is still making excuses and letting things go. When asked how she felt about something, she has difficulty answering that question. She looks down or looks away and picks at her fingers. She really does not want to paint Travis or anyone else in a bad light.
M, exactly! Thank you! Your response sums up what I’ve been feeling too.
It’s not just the fact that people think Jodi is guilty (everyone has a right to their opinion, ect) – it’s how this entire case has been so sexualized and condones violence against women. And violence is violence whether it’s psychological OR physical.
In fact psychological trauma is almost worse because a person doesn’t have bruises to “prove” their mistreatment, so people belittle victims by pretending what happens to them doesn’t matter. That’s what they are doing to Jodi – she doesn’t have pictures to prove it, and you know if she did they would say “well that bruise could have been gotten anywhere, anytime, blah blah” and it wouldn’t matter anyway. It would still be explained away, just like the underwear, the pigtails, the proxy server Travis used, the abusive language and behavior, ect. Nothing to see here folks, everything is fine, act like it’s normal and don’t speak up if you have enough self respect to know it’s not cool to be degraded.
The ironic part is, they want Jodi to have the self respect to get away from Travis – but then condone the behavior that erodes the capacity for it. Riddle me that!
Can’t people be content with just saying “Well I think Jodi is probably guilty” WITHOUT bringing up that they think she’s a slut or that she had anal sex ONCE with an ex boyfriend? If their opinion is not motivated by hating women, why assume Jodi *asked* for the shit Travis dished out to her? Wow!
And it’s not just the masses of ignorant, blathering fools – the so called EXPERTS on tv reflecting this attitude to validate it and give a platform to sadistic mobs! Insult to injury – many of them are WOMEN which I will NEVER understand. Don’t they know one day they are going to be shit on and told they deserve it? Don’t they know one day their daughters are going to grow up and if they are raped be told their date, boyfriend or husband had a “right” to their body?
I’m surprised more people *aren’t* talking about it!
Precisely MB, at this point I’m not even trying to convince anyone that Jodi is innocent (though I feel she is, not innocent of killing Travis, I know some think it was a conspiarcy, just not thinking on that level personally), I’m just trying to figure how people don’t see where the abuse is.
The media, the experts, the women, the people who are completely overlooking or denying that mental and sexual abuse exist or are just as henious as physical abuse are practically telling victims of abuse to “Shut up, sit down, enjoy the ride, because you deserve this. And if you do come forward we will be here to judge you, to decide if you brought this on yourself, to decide at what level it really affects you.” And we wonder why Jodi didn’t come forward before it was too late? Who in their right mind would want to endure this type of criticism after already feeling so fucking tiny?
M, exactly, and this is why victims of rape never come forward. Why would they, knowing the avalanche of bullshit that is going to come crashing down on their heads? And people demand them to be so fucking brave and come forward, even when their capacity to function on a basic level is already so diminished.
As I’ve said before, the major problem with her case is the fact she didn’t exercise her Miranda rights in the beginning, so we ended up with conflicting accounts. She wasn’t involved, and then there were the intruders, and now she says it’s self-defense. She has been branded as a liar, and it is difficult, if not impossible, for her to get back any credibility. It is almost insurmountable, and it would be a tragedy indeed if she got the death penalty because of not exercising her legal rights to remain silent and the right to an attorney in the first place.
I guess I’m looking too far into this case, making it about something bigger than it is.
I’ll refrain from my women power comments and hide under a rock.
Jodi should’ve been honest from the get go (ignore the fact she was probably scared, didn’t think clearly enough to just get a lawyer immediately as I wish she would have), at this point, I guess its all her fault if the jury doesn’t believe her.
At least that’s the feeling I’m getting from some of the posts.
But thanks for listening guys!
I think she needs to explain it, and perhaps she will. The one thing that undermines her entire case is those inconsistencies and also why she felt she needed to go to the media (Inside Edition, 48 Hours) when she needed to remain silent. There is a reason you are read your Miranda rights–anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
I just don’t understand why she did that at all. We hear her on the stand and she is obviously bright and articulate. Yet she never said no out right. Maybe Jodi just didn’t know how to assert herself? And say no? That whole thing, the interrogation tapes, along with her now on the stand, have me wondering if she wasn’t in her right mind when she did all that.
She also called his phone 15 days later I read. But the prosecutor hasnt talked about that yet.
tonysam –
You kind of sound robotic here.
I can understand where you are coming from as I’m trying to be open minded on something I feel so passionate about.
You actually made me feel like no commenting for a moment, because the frustration was blurring my brain.
I’m not holding your doubt against you, by any means, and am not trying to bully you. I just think its really low to justify the things that clearly happened to her because she didnt get a laywer and because she lied.
Innocent people are found guilty all the time, is that their fault somehow?
Maybe you’re just implying that the jury won’t ever believe here, I dont know, because I just really can’t put myself in your shoes.
I can look past the fact that she didnt get a lawyer, no matter how bad I wish she had, and I can look past the fact that she told a couple if lies. Do you ever think that she was just so scared because she knew the odds were aginst her? All of Travis’ friends hated her, she didnt document the abuse, and she killed a man. I would shit my pants and probably wouldnt think clearly. I mean hell, your posts are making it hard for me to think clearly and I didnt kill anyone!
Dont overlook and belittle the fact of abuse here. You have to be better than that. Im not asking you to come to the dark side, I’m simply just asking you to look at Jodi as a survivor because she made it out alive. If she were dead she would now be the victim, so because she didnt know she must be guilty?
Do you see what I’m saying here? She defended herself and became a survivor rather than another deceased victim of domestic abuse.
CJ –
I do agree, dont know what she was thinking.
If she were really contemplating suicide, maybe she thought she better go out with a bang, do some interviews, get her words out there?
Sometimes people do really stupid things in really inappropriate situations.
Amanda Knox and the cartwheels anyone (I dont think Amanda Knox is guilty btw), but that sure was strange wasnt it?
Maybe she went into the interviews thinking she was going to explain this away and then ended up saying stupid things. I know how shit can start coming out of my mouth when I’m nervous and afterwards I’ll think to myself, “WTF was that! I sounded so stupid!”.
I do agree and I wish she hadnt done these things, hopefully she can explain or the jury can overlook these lapses of judgement on Jodi’s part.
And I also think you are onto something CJ, concerning her not being able to say no and assert herself – that probably goes way back to her childhood.
Calling Travis 15 days later – do you think she had an out of body experience when killing Travis and thought it might not be real? That sounds stupid, but I dont know how to explain my thoughts here. During the interrogtion she would somtimes to refer to Travis in the present tense – maybe she really wanted to believe it wasnt real?
I am not being “robotic.” I am just laying on the line here what she has to do to have a chance with this jury. She HAS to explain why she lied to Flores and to the media. If you watched the trial at all, Martinez kept playing and replaying her interviews with Flores and the media. She’s going to have to counter that and be convincing. Granted, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, but she just can’t let them get away with saying in effect, if she lied in those interviews then, why should we believe her now? So far she is doing a great job explaining her background and her relationship with Travis.
Where do you get the idea I am justifying anything that has happened to her? Good grief. The whole media spin has been based on her telling different stories. She has been branded as a liar and a crazy woman for some four YEARS.
Okay, maybe repetitive would’ve been a better word.
I understand what Jodi needs to do, but hear the girl out for fucks sake.
I feel like since she hasnt answer your questions quickly enough you’re convincing yourself she’s lying about everything. I think the defense has made it pretty clear that Travis was an expert liar, but still you need Jodi to convince you that she’s trustworthy because of a small lapse in jugement (the lying)?
Are you holding Travis accountable for his actions as well? And I wouldnt look to the media for an answer to that question; because somehow he’s compelled everyone into pretending he was someone he wasnt, even as his lies continue leak out.
Sorry if I misunderstood you though.
M,in regard to your ”February 7, 2013 at 10:29 pm” comment.No it doesnt sound stupid at all.I too have thought that this”out of body” scenario experience is quite likely,actually. I mean,c’mon lots of ppl do things they regret later and pretend it didnt even happen,Im talking even for little insignificant things like acting inappropriately,initiating a kiss etc,you now things that you contemplate on later and say ”nooo,this cant have happened”.So,I take almost for granted that after the incident she realized what she had done,calling TA to leave him a voice msg never seemed like trying to create an alibi as most ppl believe.I think she was trying to prove to herself that he was still alive that it was all a bad dream that he was still in his house and that he would pick up and everything would be ok.PLEASE,let us NOT forget what she wrote in her diary ”It just feels like he hasnt called me in too long.I hear him singing,I hear him laugh” . She obviously suffered from a post-traumatic experience syndrome during that time,after all who would argue that killing your loved one is sth less of a deeply traumatic experience? I cannot read through those lines of hers without aching,this girl is clearly NOT a cold-bloodd murder.No such would be devastated afterwards.Cold blooded murderers dont go about,writing how much they miss the person they killed.Imho,yes she wanted to believe this never took place,that she was not the person who took her lover’s life,the intruders story was more soothing to her conscience and psyche I believe,not a well-thought out plan.
I love your comment!
M,
After watching her interrogations I was wondering
if she was in denial. Honestly, that is actually consistent with
it being a traumatic thing versus all these morons saying
she was a sociopath and just was glad she did it. I do not
think it was clicking at all that he was really dead. She wrote about
it in her diary. She called him. In her head if
she wished hard enough maybe she’d call and he’d answer
and it would have just been a bad dream. The haters call it
obsession I call it subservience. Imagine if you
were being told constantly what to do and who you
are by someone and then it they were gone.
Who is Jodi without a man validating her? Harsh but
honestly she probably didn’t know. Then-why lie about it?
Travis was still wonderful in her eyes. She had to protect
his image and who would believe her anyway Travis was
a kingpin and she probably saw herself as a 3 holed wonder.
Protecting him at the expense of herself is not a change.
Tell tales about ninjas because telling the truth would
hurt travis or because no one would believe her because
She is beneath Travis ( in her mind).
Tonysam I don’t think she lied at all. Understanding how the human mind works makes it totally plausible that after Jodi killed Travis, she could not get her mind around that and even while it was going on she dissassociated from it. Those two people she was describing when she spoke to Flores were in fact her and travis. The woman had the knife. The man had the gun.
Thomas Brown had stated that Travis had been doing some kind of protection rite that night before Jodi got there. Jodi stated that Travis didn’t have a gun he used his fists as weapons. Who is to say, if Travis was doing some kind of protection rite, that he had not purchased a gun after the last time he saw Jodi in April? It seems obvious if he was doing a prayer of protection or whatever Thomas Brown was talking about, Travis was afraid of something or someone. According to Flores, one did not even have to register a handgun in Arizona. They checked the dna of the blood found on the wall and got her hand print but they found no gun powder mixed in with it.
Mollymack –
I was thinking along these lines as well – her actually thinking she may have had “a bad dream”.
I think I might have posted about this further down (forgetful, so I cant remember if actually did or not).
And I’m sure it sounds completely ridiculous to some people that I’m saying this, but I really don’t know what I would do if I killed someone.
Maybe I would “lie” too, maybe convince myself that it wasn’t real, that this time Travis will pick up the phone and it’ll all be okay.
You know, even if Jodi has called the police immediately and admitted that she had killed Travis in self defense, I think she would still be in this same position, because no one believed her from the get go.
Everything she said (even if they were fabrications) Flores would immediately tell Jodi that he didn’t believe her, he just wanted Jodi to say she murdered Travis and move on with his life while she suffered the consequences of Travis’ actions, but she didn’t, she has never said she murdered Travis (killed yes, there is a difference) – so for that I can say Jodi did something right.
During the interrogations she often times referred to Travis in the present tense, I mean come on people, you think she thought she was pulling the wool over Flores’ eyes, convincing him Travis was alive? No! She was struggling to believe what she had done and that does not make her a murderer.
I see your point but I think from a defense standpoint you need to specify that Jodi was physically attacked in order to justify the fight or flight self defense murder. It seems less likely that he turned in the shower and called her a whore, which made her lose it and kill him in self defense. It needs to clearly layout that he physically attacked her, which made her fight for her life to defend herself and she won. Not to minimize sexual, psychological, or verbal abuse….they are very real and just as bad, if not worse. But she is claiming he attacked her and she killed him in self defense.
M,
thank you for your comments!!!!!!!!Somehow I always agree with them,they are full of psychological insights! MB’s as well!
Honestly,if I hear one more time ”why did Jodi go back to her abuser?why didnt she distance herself from that sick relationship?why does Jodi remember every little detail?is she going to be able to remember everything on the cross examination?” I think I’ll scream!!!!!!!! If people cannot understand that being abused does NOT mean that you let it happen just once,if people cannot understand that going back to the abuser is actually more common in women with low self esteem than running away from him,if they cannot understand that having a vivid and strong memory does not make you boring,weird or a psycho,if they cannot cope with the possibility that yes,Jodi may say ”I cannot recall” when asked to give a fully-detailed description of that day(let us not forget blocking traumatic experience) then…I rest my case.Noone deserves to die like TA did but listening to ppl calling Jodi a slut and what not is driving me up the wall too,just like you.makes it almost impossible not to comment or stand up for her.I pray that these ppl will never have to face abuse,be it verbal,mental or physical.I pray that their daughters and sisters won’t either.
I pray that when she steps off the stand she will have given us all the information we are now trying to figure out on our own,I pray that her mind finally find some peace after being mistreated for such a long time.As to everybody else’s opinion let it be.The haters right now are overjoyed that Martinez’s day is getting closer and that FINALLY they will get the chance to see Jodi humiliated,ripped apart(look what one of them wrote for example ”Can’t wait for Martinez!!! He is going to hit her so hard; she is going to cry out her lies and ask to be put to death in order to stop Martinez’s from asking her further questions. She its not going to know what hit her. Uuuuf, its going to be Sooooooo good seeing her smirks, smiles & casual attitude crumble ” )
This site is a blessing,for having a decent place to express our humane,objective opinions.Thanx each and every one of you.
M.
Your posts ARE awesome! You have a way of cutting to the chase and getting to the heart of the matter! Please don’t stop commenting!
I’m not leaving. (its not that easy to get rid of me 🙂 )
I just dont want to bore everyone with my views.
Or make some feel like I’m forgetting this is ultimately about Jodi.
I get really frustrated when I feel like people are making excuses, as to of why we shouldn’t believe Jodi (referring to lies with Flores) was abused. I think the evidence has been presented, that she was indeed abused and sadly I think it might get more intense as she continues to testify.
Thanks for the support CJ, MB, and others.
I just really want victims and survivors of abuse to know that they shouldnt be ashamed, that the media is completely blind. How are we to protect these innocent souls when we’ve created a barrier between them and justice?
If you or I can touch one life…
It’s not that we “shouldn’t” believe her –it’s that she HAS to explain why she did lie to Flores and to the media. Her life is on the line after all. I fully expect her to explain this during her testimony and throw prosecutor Martinez offguard.
As do I tonysam.
And if not with Nurmi, Martinez will certinly ask these questions of her.
And I think the experts will back up and explain the reasons she lied.
“I get really frustrated when I feel like people are making excuses, as to of why we shouldn’t believe Jodi (referring to lies with Flores) was abused.”
Me too!!!
M… yea dont lv & you sure don’t bore ME! LOL
About the laptop issue:
I cannot speak for certain because there’s not nearly enough information to draw a definitive conclusion. But if I know one thing about this case is this: Everything they say about Jodi, applies to Travis or his followers. They said Jodi was a slut, when Travis was the one sleeping around. They said Jodi was a liar, when Travis was living a double life. They said Jodi was angry at Travis for moving on with his life, when in fact Jodi was the one who was seeing another guy and probably ready to break up with Travis the night he attacked her.
These are but a few “reversals” I found, if I were to mention them all it would be a post in and of itself!
Now consider they also accused Jodi of “pretending her grandfather’s gun was stolen.” Is it not out of the realm of possibility that they are STILL doing the very things they accuse Jodi of doing?
It would NOT surprise me if this was a stunt to harm the defense. Let’s face it, the defense is doing a FANTASTIC job, and it’s made all the pro-Travis sharks come out to take another bite of Jodi and anyone who supports her.
Well Jodi’s family was brought up as a concern. That’s pretty prejudicial without releasing all the facts don’t you think?
I’m confused, what is this in response to CJ?
Explain?
OH. I’m sorry! I thought I explained my thoughts. Duh.
In the media report – they alluded to that the the police considered Jodi’s family and friends as a concern in reference to missing laptop and them ( supporters) possibly being involved.
So I was saying that it was pretty prejudicial IMO to Jodi’s case to even hint someone associated with her would do that without giving us real information about the robbery itself.
They alluded to someone in support of Jodi stole the laptop for the defense without actually saying it if you know what I mean.
It seems unfair because the media has not released anything about the burglary to support the idea that Jodi’s family had taken it! It’s salacious media crap but maybe im overreacting.
Okay, I thought this is what you meant, but hadn’t heard that people were involving Jodi’s family or supporters.
That’s really sad, that people are implying they were involved in this.
Jodi just can’t win for losing here…she’s being held accountable for things she knows nothing about!
Thanks for clarifying CJ.
CJ im not surprised, the moment I heard about the laptop, I KNEW they would pull something like this! Lol
What keeos bothering me is……. god I hate to say it n point fingers (but its still in the back of my mind) at these church people. From the beginning iv thought that she couldn’t have done this alone n that she’s covering up for someone. I know thats not the point because she DID confess and what the defense has to do to save her life, is show that it wasnt premeditated. But how ironic that now a laptop was stolen from an expert on the prosecution side! !!! So much looked staged to me n now this laptop looks like part of the set up. To me it does, I mean, what are the chances of this happening? ?? These church people are sneaky n very secretive!
Hey LC, yea the church people have a huge influence in that area! And they keep going on tv to lie about Travis being Mr Wonderful and how Jodi was so evil, ect. The media, Travis, his family and friends; that is why I call them the cabal of deception. They are all working together to punish Jodi for getting out of the house alive by manipulating the public.
IF the laptop was stolen on purpose on the prosecutor’s side, could it have been some sneaky church folks? Absolutely!
CJ, yep that’s what I mean! Assuming that Jodi’s family must have done something when yet again there is NO PROOF of anything.
I’ve been thinking about it all night at work. I remember on 2-5 when Martinez stormed out of court. He was pissed. He knew Jodi had the jury riveted, and he knew he would actually have to do some work instead of his usual game.
2-6 testimony was great, but a lot of people noticed that Martinez was cool as a cucumber. 2-6 is also the date that the laptop went “missing.” Hmmm!
I’m starting to seriously consider that this is a stunt by the prosecution. I admit – I have no proof other than my own suspicions. But this follows THEIR pattern of behavior, for sure (accusing Jodi of things they or Travis have actually done).
Yup MB and we know Martinez has been shady with stuff like this before, I wouldn’t put it passed him either! !!
Oh no I dont think Martinez would actually put on his batman suit and do it himself. But he would probably find out what happend, who has it, anything and use what happened to his advantage.
I’m not sure if Martinez himself did it – he may have known something about it or who did it.
There’s SO much hinky stuff going on in this trial, it’s sad we have to explore this angle to get to the truth!
Good point MB. I hardly think Jodi was pursuing Travis to give HIM oral and anal sex. Sounds to me like all signs would point to him being the pursuer. Yet he was accusing her of stalking him… That’s a real head scratcher huh??
Yep!!!
M It is obvious that Jodi was abused I think her child hood abuse is what caused her to tolerate the abuse by Travis. What surprises me, or perhaps makes me angry, is the Medias twisting of this. She lied about what she did for numerous reasons. Her whole outward appearance is of pleasing others she is a perfectionist, so it is important what people think of her. Travis shattered her self esteem, he groomed her and then treated her like garbage. He was very twisted & saw a person he could victimize. Jodi also wanted to protect her image & oddly enough Travis. She denied murdering him because most likely she was afraid confused & oddly enough wanted to protect Travis. I think the defense is doing the best Job they can by just laying all the cards on the table. The Mental Health experts will be able to explain why she lied remained in a relationship that was so abusive. We all need to know what led of to the tragic event. People say she murdered Travis, But there is also Soul Murder I remember someone speaking of this a long time ago. I truly Believe that Travis murdered her Soul.
Oliviero –
Exactly – he made her disappear, while still existing – is that not fucked up?
To convince someone that they are not worthy anything but being a shell.
I try my best to not bash Travis, as many are sensitive to the fact that he isnt here to defend himself.
But again, that brings to one of my many (probably sick of hearing this) points, would this all have been different if Jodi were dead and Travis wer here? Would everyone be sad for Jodi? Too little too late at that point (if that had been the outcome). So, how can people honestly hold her accountable for fighting to live after all?
As MB said earlier, “The ironic part is, they want Jodi to have the self respect to get away from Travis – but then condone the behavior that erodes the capacity for it. Riddle me that!”.
What more can I say, MB said it perfectly.
M, yes please keep posting here!
I agree that it seems like people would *actually prefer* if Jodi were the one who ended up dead. They hold it against her that she’s the one who walked out of that room alive. To the point where they are willing to let her rot in jail for the rest of her life! Why? If one believes self defense the only logical conclusion is an acquittal – plain and simple. But there’s people who are like “well, I’m too squeamish to be comfortable with the death penalty, but lock that b**** up and throw away the key!” Really??
M exactly give her a chance The media is like a Lynch Mob, I want to hear her side, her Lawyer is keeping her on the stand to humanize her I done Condone Murder but he was a Manipulative Monster!
I have never posted here, before. I must admit that when I first saw Jodi’s initial interviews, I was really put off by the way she came across. In the bigger picture, though, I realized that this is a defense mechanism. Realistically, if she should be punished for lying, then what are we going to do with all of the politicians, who lie almost daily?
Anyway, what really troubles me about this case is that it appears that Jodi was willing to give Travis everything, of herself. But, was Travis willing to reciprocate? No, he took the sex, and abandoned the person. Even after the official “break up”, Travis continued to take the sex, while having no real interest in the person. His subsequent emails, phone calls, and “penis shot”, demonstrate this. Jodi was not good enough to be an “eternal” mormon wife, in heaven. But, she was good enough to take sex from, down here on earth. This is so sad that it defies words. What if the woman kept giving out sex with the hope that one day there would be a real relationship? Then, once the disillusionment began to set in, what would eventually happen? Suicide? Retaliation? Given Travis’ track record, it is ironic that he wrote a public blog titled “I Want to Marry a Gold Digger”. Maybe he could have equally written a blog titled, “Beware of Male Sex Diggers, Who will Take a Woman’s Sex Even after Throwing the Woman Away”. In principle, this is reminicent of cases of men who have been convicted of murdering a woman, simply to make love to her lifeless body.
Also, the idea that this was a cold-blooded murder seems absurd. Shooting, and killing, someone on vacant urban street, for twenty dollars, is a cold-blooded murder. If anything, this was probably a “hot-blooded” murder, fueled by feelings of retaliation, and maybe even justification. Does it make it “right”? No. It is the result of too many things done wrong, by both parties. But, the idea that this was a “cold blooded” murder, seems outlandish. Also, the amount of times that Travis was stabbed, the cutting of the throat, and even the gun-shot wound, probably reflect the fact that he struggled, and lived, for some time. As a matter of logic, if a person is going to kill someone, then it would have to be done swiftly so that the victim did not have time to pick up a phone and dial 911.
Judging from Jodi’s reaction when when Travis’s “death photos” were shown, I would have to guess that at some level, somewhere inside, she still has feelings of love for him. Only, on another level, she probably has feelings of extreme hatred. There will be no winners in this case – not a single one. But, I think that we can all look at this, and learn something valuable, and apply it to life.
I think that she was surprised at his strength to fight back. That is why it got messy she planned for it to happen in the shower, but he chased her after she first attacked him. That is why she had to do so much damage they were both fighting for their lives
Ben –
Wonderful post. This is exactly what I’m trying to convey with people who want to keep using the “…but she lied!” excuse.
I’m not a perfect person and I’ll admit, I’ve lied (gasp)!
Okay, maybe not in such a serious situation, but off with her head, for lying?!
Just because I’ve lied before, doesn’t mean everything I say is now a lie.
When did it become so hard to redeem oneself, so impossible to be able to make bad decisions and move forward?
I too think it could have very likely been a defense mechanism (the “lying”) and do agree that initially Jodi put me off, but after hearing her out (and she’s not even done) I grew to understand better.
Once I quit letting the media decide for me I was able to make an unobstructed decision of my own that I can stand behind and feel good about.
I too, think Travis struggled and thus Jodi ended up fighting much harder and now it looks like “excessive” self defense which then turns into murder somehow.
I guess we’ll hear her version next week as I personally believe she will absolutely have to explain every detail about that day and evening and then no one can ask how or why because she will have given everyone what they “needed” (an answer).
We’ll see how many people are satisfied though, I’m sure they’ll find some other excuse to hold her accountable, to justify the person Travis was and the person they think Jodi should’ve been.
Thanks for posting Ben, look forward to hearing more from you.
I am a license Ph.D. psychologist—not reading what anyone else has said—Nancy Grace just makes me sick. She is just so Blood Thirsty—not a thing objective about her. “Justice” is supposed to be the burden of the prosecutor, not guilty verdicts and people put to death.
I am so sorry, but what is up with that? As abnormal as Grace easily claims others to be, I find her definition of justice, her rush to judgment, and her failure as an attorney to understand such Constitutional Rights as “innocent until proven guilty” just very, very frightening.
How would I (or any of her callers) have any idea of what Arias did and why before she has had the opportunity to explain.
JC—this is her LIFE—I just don’t know what Nancy Grace’s idea of what a person is supposed to do in a situation like that might possibly be.
I am hearing Arias say things that are extremely, extremely concerning to me.
However, no one yet knows how this in any way relates to the plea of self-defense.
Therefore, these people should just shut up.
I am personally wondering about the physical capability of a shorter, lean woman like Arias to be able to enact that kind of physical injury in such a short period of time.
There is no way I could overpower a man the same height as me who was obviously a muscle-builder.
If I stabbed a man like that in the back, even if he was in the shower, even if he had been stabbed multiple times, he would be all over me, and I would be dead.
Pre-meditation? It simply does not make sense.
None. Zero. There was obviously no thought-out plan regarding what she would do after the murder took place. She is obviously quite smart. If she is so very cunning, and articulate the way she is, she would have come up with some incredible post-murder alibi.
There is a lot more to this story than “jealousy.”
Does not yet compute.
“Does not yet compute.”
Yep, that’s kind of what I thought when I actually started looking at the evidence and interviews.
Virgina –
I completely agree. People are bashing (that’s not the right word, but I cant think of what I want) Jodi for not explaining herself.
What do they think she’s doing, sorry its taking her a few days, its only her life on the line for fucks sake?
So I guess to satisfy those people’s needs she should’ve just come out with the explanation, since this should all be about satisfying the media, the public, etc. – she shouldn’t be concerned for herself, right?
But as MB stated earlier, all in the same breath, the media, the public, etc. who don’t want her to be concerned for herself and give them what they want and NOW are saying that Jodi should have been better than that and concerned for herself and left Travis long before that tragic night – its quite the contradiction if I don’t say so myself.
“Therefore, these people should just shut up.”
Exactly.
Shut up and let the girl speak!!
Yes Virginia, you are so right about the size. There has been alot of comments on this very same subject but since JA has confessed, well most have dropped it as a possibility. But it still buggs me because like you said, there is no way that anyone can tell me that a girl like JA beat the lvg sh** out of this man!!! Funny how this is the story the chose to blv.
And ill say it again n again someone else must’ve been there. Plus all the evidence makes more sense to the story she told about the intruders. Im not saying that all that she said about the intruders is the truth, but some of it has to be n shes scared n covering up for someone n taking the fall.
Virginia,
What is your opinion about these TV psychologists diagnosing people that haven’t met as cluster B’s? I have some grad classes in psychology including ethics and I wonder if that’s considered a slippery slope area, an ethical issue and/or if professionals such as yourself, view those people ( Dr, Drew, Bethany Marshall) as professionals or people that have traded ethics for $$$.
That’s a good question. All of these “professionals” who have never spoken to Jodi are so quick to slap a cluster B diagnosis on her. Then we have all of the Internet psychiatrists who are just SURE that she’s a sociopath with dead eyes. How the hell would they know?
Well and interpretation would be huge in this. So if you
are reading from what Nancy Grace told you it’s
easy to see someone as sociopathic but if you meet and
talk to the real person it’s insanely different. Who the media
paints her as does not need a psychologist to
diagnose her because they will see what they want to
tie her to the disorder they want her to have.
It’s kind of like webmd. If you have a cough and are tired, it could be just
a cold or you may convince yourself that you have lung cancer.
I saw a post about this elsewhere where someone
mentioned that Travis could have been diagnosed
as antisocial personality/ sociopath based on just
reading the net. It’s true.
I am only on my bachelors toward psych but I am pretty
uncomfortable with ANY experts not having met
the person they are diagnosing.
I agree Virginia, Nancy grace is whacked! She is no longer a lawyer, shes actually more suited to be called a National Enquirer reporter. The more sensational she can make a story sound the better. It’s all about the ratings now, not justice. I wonder if everyone who works for HLN has been warned to take Travis’ side or be fired. Even Dr. Drew is coming down on Jodi. He is a physician he should know better. He does not seem to be recognizing any of the signs Jodi is exhibiting as one who was abused. One of the other reporters was dripping with sarcasm everytime he made a comment about Jodi. I find that kind of reporting unacceptable.
When Grace get’s lawyers on, as soon as she doesn’t agree with what they are saying she cuts their mic. Even when she has asked defense lawyers what they would do, or to give their opinion, she then goes off on them for stating what she asked them to state.
I am wondering if Travis’ penchant for anal sex is just an extension of his desire for young boys. After all if he was with one of them there would be no vaginal sex.
I also wonder if the day of the murder, did they get in a huge fight because they had spent the day having sex, then he informs her he is taking a trip with someone else, and maybe had some harsh and cruel words for Jodi. Then it developed into a huge argument during which he might have said some very mean things to her.
I watched one of Travis presentations on Youtube and one of the comments beneath it stated that he was likely a virgin before he met Jodi. If Travis was a virgin then I definitely am one! Honestly I don’t know what Jodi saw in him but he talks in the presentation about not being married. I believe if he was not married it’s because he wasn’t all that attractive to women after they got to know him. He would never have been capable of being faithful. He proved that time and time again.
Anyway, hopefully things will become even more clear after next weeks testimony.
please read and understand https://www.facebook.com/notes/susan-elizabeth-staatz-kirkpatrick/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/508535132522983
Oh my GOD, Susan…. I am so sorry to hear that all this has happened to a person, to you. Thank god you head all that it took to get out n even though ur ex still found you n still tormented you. I can understand why after years of therapy n help you received you can still be disoriented. Your doing a great thing by helping others n i myself, thank you for it. I wish people would get help when they find themselves in these situations, but we both know its easier said then done. Keep growing strong, your a very brave person. Thank you.
So what do you think about the JA trial n how shes been holding herself up on a the stand? Like you mentioned on your site…”people dont blv when a victim does come out for help” Do you think the jury will feel this way to an extent? ? What do you think? ??
My prediction they have something up their sleeve on Valentines Day.
Just reading the website. Does anyone else get the jist the a may have been more to the story than what meets the eye. A close friend of mine was murdered and it was all over the media. Although a lot of people our friends circle knew what really happened, the media put out very different stories of what happened. The people that spoke to the media barely even knew my friend or the things he was involved in. Just a theory but maybe Jodi got upset with Travis because he was throwing in her face about going to Cancun and maybe she threatened to expose him and thier scandal pics to the church (they were time stamped). Maybe he figured out there was a sex tape and damaging photos and tried to take the camera away from her and then it got physical in which she was trying to get him off of her?
I was thinking the same thing Ann… I would not be suprised if she threatened to expose him and he just went ballistic….
Excuse the typos I am writing from my phone, another thing I question in my friends murder there were four people involved, the media only portrayed that there was two people of interest. The police only took in three people and held them, the fourth they only questioned. This was a very high profile case and the main person involved hired a very high profile attorney in which charges were dropped. She later died about a year later of a drug overdose. The point is could have someone else been involved that is not being brought up due to lack of evidence?
Yes Ann I think its VERY POSSIBLE! ! Detective Flores did such a shity job, everone knows he did. I dont understand how they (the Mesa police dept or investigation unit) let this happen.
When is the next day in court? Feb 11th?
I believe Feb 11th will be the next court day. I don’t think there will be court on Feb 12th on account of Lincoln’s B-day.
Thank you Tony! I couldn’t find that info anywhere.
Hi everybody! I have 3 days to catch up! I’ve missed sooo much due to work. Thank goodness for the weekend! 🙂
Hi Suzy!
MB,
When you say “people making excuses for not believing Jodi”..could you explain? Hear me out for a minute. Take the emotional aspects out of this for a moment. I get that you and I and many “want” to believe Jodi. I get that. But let’s say the situation was reversed and it was a man being accused of this same situation. He was claiming self defense for killing his girlfriend. And let’s say that the injuries were the same. On both their bodies. Man very little injury, does killing, woman’s throat cut, stabbed and shot. Wouldn’t we expect him to prove that he was not lying and that it was in fact self defense. Let’s say the exact particulars are all the same yet reversed. We KNOW there are abusive women out there who could lead a man to kill in self defense. Its happened. Emotionally abusive. Maybe use “financially abusive” in lieu of the sexual abuse. I don’t know. But if this man had already told multiple lies to the police, the media etc, shouldn’t he be made to have proof of the abuse (physical attack) before we could return a verdict of not guilty? (And let’s take the DP completely out of the question for the moment. I personally believe now there is no way she will get the DP. She has succeeded imo in removing that.) I know many on here have lived with abuse and survived it and so know intimately its warning signs. And to be really honest, the issue of abuse is talked about quite frequently in the public sphere. People who have never been abused, now know the warning signs. We can easily read about it. Read on other’s experiences. It is NOT a secret out there. The signs are well known. Don’t you think we have to be sure that this is not a performance? Let’s for argument sake (please don’t be mad at me, it’s just for arguments sake), say that Jodi is putting on an act. We know there are good actors out there. I for one was convinced Jodi was not at Travis’ house that night based on her first story. I was then again convinced she was innocent and that there was potentially intruders there. I could not see a woman her size taking on a man that big. And yet..we now know she did per her own words. (For the sake of this argument, let’s not go into the other theories as to she is taking the rap and covering up for someone else..its neither here nor there at this point since she has admitted it.) She is, aside from coming across charming, gentle, sweet, also a pretty good actress. Or she is good at acting out what she truly believes happened if there is denial involved, despite what really happened.
I want to make this really super clear too. I could care less about the sex stuff in terms of branding Jodi some sort of Harlot. I do not now nor ever see Jodi as some sort of whore. (Just needy, due to her childhood.) I have never blamed her for the sex, stalking etc. I think all of it is media fantasy. I have never listened to Nancy Grace nor watched her. I know of her opinions strictly through the posts on here from others. So the media has nothing to do with my viewing this case. To say I am denying abuse simply because I am not taking her word for it seems really unfair to me. It seems very unfair to think people who want proof of the attack and won’t JUST take Jodi’s words for it, since we know she is a good liar, also seems very very unfair.
I guess I am more confused, given the scenario above, why everyone does not expect there to be evidence to back up “words”. (Additional disclaimer: I also believe Travis was an ass, and did manipulate Jodi sexually and emotionally. But again, flip it around, its a man claiming self defense and it was a woman killed. What then? Does the standard change?)
Daniel,
I can see your concerns. When I look at the lying, I want the experts to explain some of it to me. I almost think JOdi was in denial at some points when she talked about travis in the present tense, her memorial on myspace, her calling him 15 days later.
I guess I excuse her lying with the cops because in her mind she was up against the state of AZ! LOL We see all these “friends” of travis talking for years and I think she knew what they thought of her. She KNEW that Travis brother was a cop for Mesa PD and Sam, the sister, a cop in Cali.
But the interviews Daniel, I don’t understand those. Maybe she couldn’t say no? Its so odd it needs to be explained. However, I think the pro expert will label her as a cluster B and He expert will say she’s abused. It will be down to who is a more compelling expert IMO.
Since those interviews, including with the media, are being used as evidence, Jodi HAS to explain why she told different stories. One of the biggest arguments in the prosecution’s favor is that she has lied in the past about what happened. It goes to her credibility.
I’m sorry I interjected when the question was directed at someone else:-)
Oh no CJ, Thank you for your response! I meant it as a question to everyone though I did start out saying MB. That was only because she/he had made the earlier statement I just wanted clarification on. Thanks 🙂
Travis’ brother was a cop for Mesa PD?? Really? I had no idea. So even with a cop brother he couldnt get the tire-slashing call answered (assuming lisas house was in Mesa)?
Ok Daniel, you said a lot. Lol so ill try to be short. I have a girl friend, used to be “bff” iv known her for 15+ years. Shes also abused ex-boyfriends, has a 9yr old with my cousin that she was also in an abusive relationship with him, him ending up in jail one time. Well a few years ltr, she married a marine. They used to get into nasty fight, fist fights. This girl has that “chihuahua” syndrome (like Martinez) lol anyway, this girl is like 4″5 very small petite, he was big, bigger then Tavis. She used to hit this guy, well all of them, the husband, he used to hit her back n he abviously didn’t hit her with all his strength, if so, shed be dead! Lets say that he did defend himself one day n stabbed het 20smthing times, slash throat n shot her in the head. Then he goes to trial, the prosecution n defense present there case n then brings her husbad to the stand to tell his story (like Jodi). Well up to this point, “I” would blv him. Why? Because, all the signs are there. The signs of the abuser, not ever knowing the background childhood life of the husband (the man on trial) because I didnt know him that well. By that time her n I driffted apart. The way she was n treated man, the way TA was n treated woman…. thats why I think it’s very much a possibility for it to have been SD. As for my cousin, he could’ve killed her too, she took a knife to him, they struggled, fought n HE (with the strength of a man) took the knife away from her n didnt hurt her with it. He could’ve n then claim SD, but he didnt. Thats what most man, I think are able to do physically, that a woman cant, therefore it would be very hard to blv a man killed a woman in SD. Idk if I made sense, if I dont let me know, ill clarify as best I can.
Thanks LC. I think I understand what you’re saying. But in that scenario, you personally knew the girl right? So you knew first hand she had a history of being violent & abusive to boyfriends previously. Am I understanding that right?
Yes, Daniel. I never SAW the bruises on these man but yes. I knew. And by hearing TA and JA lives with Jodi now on the stand (she also has more to say n show) it will help us understand n see what the defense is claiming, SD.
Daniel –
Quick response from me (I know I’m not MB, so not speaking for MB).
Please don’t take offense to my post – as I didn’t to yours.
I think my point might be getting misconstrued.
I am not expecting anyone to just believe Jodi and take her word for everything.
What I’m saying is that I’m tired of people insisting that there must be physical abuse involved to justify (wrong word – cant think of a better word at the moment) Jodi killing Travis.
I just don’t agree with this, I really don’t.
I’m not saying it wouldn’t help her case, but I personally don’t think physical abuse is pertinent.
But I think I’m getting off track…
The reason I don’t see why the lying is so important to everyone is because I think Jodi has proved abuse, regardless that’s its (so far) only been sexual and mental.
I’m also exhausted with people jumping the gun, so again I’m not telling anyone that they HAVE to believe Jodi, I’m just saying that they need to hear the lady out, give her a flippin’ chance to tell you her story.
So you tell me, not to give Jodi the benefit of the doubt, see what she has to say.
But isn’t that essentially what I’m asking for? For people to shut up and heard Jodi out before making your decision to not trust her?
Does this make sense?
Hi M., Yes, it does make sense and I do agree with you re: hearing her out. I am waiting of course to hear her out. My post was initially because I had read a couple posts where people were saying they did not understand people that were not just taking her at her word. Sincerely, and with all due respect, while I do believe there was emotional abuse (but its unclear just how bad it really was, I mean yes he was a jerk, manipulative etc) and perhaps sexual abuse (because the allegations of sexual abuse again are just based on her word and there is no proof other than Jodi’s testimony that Jodi truly was a passive unwilling, sexual partner and NOT having just as much fun as Travis) I really believe that is simply not enough for her to be acquitted and I don’t think it should be either.
The thing is for it to be self defense in the state of AZ, the law requires that the injury (death) be shown to basically be commensurate or in-line with the “threat” she had against her which prompted the attack. Considering his injuries, that means that the ‘physical threat’ will need to be proven. (Remember its her defense team that went with self defense not crime of passion and they knew the burden of commensurate injury). In my mind, even if we can get testimony from someone else that Travis assaulted them or that Travis was physically violent somehow would help me arrive at proof provided. I personally do not think emotional and sexual abuse is enough for the jury to arrive at self defense. The reason being is that we do not have any testimony other than the defendant, the person on trial, Jodi, the person who admitted the killing to explain said abuse. The problem is, what is emotional and sexual abuse to one person and how that person reacts to said abuse could be very different from another. Another could simply walk away from the abuse and refuse to be a victim (I know, I know, I understand the psychology) or just look at the “abuser” as simply a jerk not worth their time as a the vast majority of men and women in the world do every day. At a certain point I believe the jury will be thinking, at what point does the problem stop being Travis and becomes more about the reaction Jodi had to the situation.
I found this so interesting but it may have already been posted before –
Here are some of the jury instructions In AZ self defense cases.
The language uses is interesting such as the threat doesn’t have to be real to be considered? ( Paraphrased)
A defendant may use deadly physical force in self-defense only to protect against
another’s use or apparent attempted or threatened use of deadly physical force.
Self-defense justifies the use or threat of deadly physical force only while the apparent
danger continues, and it ends when the apparent danger ends. The force used may not be
greater than reasonably necessary to defend against the apparent danger.
The use of deadly physical force is justified if a reasonable person in the situation would
have reasonably believed that immediate deadly physical danger appeared to be present.
Actual danger is not necessary to justify the use of deadly physical force in self-defense.
You must decide whether a reasonable person in a similar situation would believe that:
Deadly physical force was immediately necessary to protect against another’s [use]
[attempted use] [threatened use] [apparent attempted use] [apparent threatened use] of
unlawful deadly physical force.
You must measure the defendant’s belief against what a reasonable person in the
situation would have believed.
A defendant has no duty to retreat before threatening or using deadly physical force in
self-defense if the defendant:
1. Had a legal right to be in the place where the use or threatened deadly physical force
in self-defense occurred; and
2. Was not engaged in an unlawful act at the time when the use or threatened deadly
physical force in self-defense occurred.
The State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did
not act with such justification. If the State fails to carry this burden, then you must find the
defendant not guilty of the charge. [The user is directed to the Prefatory Use Note regarding the
CJ –
I had kind of been mulling this idea around in my head, but didnt know if it was a silly comparison…
Say Jodi and Travis knew nothing of each, never met, nothing.
Jodi’s at home doing whatever and suddenly hears this noise.
She goes to investigate and sees a window broken in her home.
She goes a gets a gun (or whatever weapon) as there is clearly something strange going on.
Then say Jodi sees this man, Travis, all of a sudden and shoots because he’s in her house and she doesnt know him, he dies.
Come to find out he had no weapon, he was simply just trying to rob the place and go.
Is this not self defense and is it no justifiable?
Is that what your post is kind of explaining?
Do you get what I’m saying?
Did Jodi have to wait until Travis physically harm her before defending herself or could she have felt that there was GOING to be physical harm (death) if she didnt defend herself immediately?
P.S. I know the scenario is kind of stupid, its just the best way I could get my question across. Dont laugh at me!
thanks CJ for researching in posting that… very very interesting.
Daniel, I’m not sure why you devoted an entire post directed at me, with things in it that had nothing to do with what I’ve been talking about with Travis’ pattern of behavior.
So I will repeat the point, because it is really this simple:
No matter what Travis does, no matter how manipulative, abusive, domineering, weird, perverted, or questionable; it is always compartmentalized and sanitized to mean nothing. There is a severe lack of willingness to not only hold Travis accountable for his behavior, but to take it seriously enough to consider that he presented a pattern of salacious, sadistic tendencies that clearly, abundantly, contributed to Jodi feeling her life was in danger the awful night he attacked her.
THAT is what matters right now to the defense, and that is point of my posts – how and why Jodi felt enough fear to defend herself. It is not about whether Jodi can prove she was bruised and battered. It’s about the psychological dynamic between them. Her life meant NOTHING to him. ZERO. Does it matter if she had bruises or a blackened eye if she KNEW for a fact, that he could take her out and feel nothing about it? THAT is what the point is – she had NO reason to believe that if he was angry enough, that he would stop his hand and spare her. This isn’t just “Jodi’s word” it is also Travis’ behavior that supports this conclusion.
I’ll be honest Daniel – my patience is very thin right now. This is the fourth time I’ve had to explain myself for statements that are self evident and pertinent and relevant to this phase of the trial. I am trying, so very fucking hard lately to be nice to everyone – even the rabid, reactive, viscerally-raged Travis defenders; and I have to ask why you keep coming back to Travis doing this or that means nothing, because it COULD be nothing, therefore it IS nothing, no matter how well it speaks to his character.
Jodi is on the stand and oathbound – that would mean something to anyone who supports her, but it means nothing to you at all. Then why are you here? Why say on one hand how much you support her, but on the other try so desperately to undermine every effort the defense puts forth no matter how legitimate and credible?
I’m sick of defending the right to post my opinion here because it bothers you that much that people take Jodi seriously. I’m sick of coming back to this site to accusations of bashing or demonizing Travis and his family when I simply speak the truth about their actions; or saying that Travis deserved to die for being an asshole when I never did. I’m tired of being accused of formulating defenses I never postulated in the first place. Most of all I’m sick of people thinking that I somehow think I’m better than anyone else; what do I have to have – a disclaimer on each and every fucking little post that says “oh by the way, I know I’m not perfect and don’t consider anyone beneath me?”
The last I checked this is a site to support Jodi, is it so much to ask for people to actually DO that?
I’ve got to go. Be back later.
MB,
I thought this website was a place for folks to discuss, debate etc their opinions about this trial? I thought it was a place to have intelligent discussions without getting blasted for those opinions as well as being supportive of Jodi Arias? You are not the only one getting sick to death about needing to “defend” something. In my case, it’s my ‘support of Jodi Arias’ which I have stated over and over. While it might not look just like YOUR ‘support’, it IS support nonetheless.
You made a statement criticizing people who did not take Jodi at her word. Why is it a problem asking you to clarify that and providing context to that question? Aside from ignoring my question to you completely, you instead respond to my post by railing against me & making absolutely false statements as to how I view the sins of Travis Alexander. How I “sanitize” those sins and have a “severe lack of willingness to
not only hold Travis accountable for his behavior, but to take it seriously enough to consider that he presented a pattern of salacious, sociopathic tendencies that clearly, abundantly, contributed to Jodi feeling her life was in danger the awful night he attacked her”.
Many of the things you said in your post are not fact, they are simply your opinion and yet it sounds like you are angry that I do not look at your opinion as if it were fact.
Doing that, is EXACTLY what we on this site rail against the media for doing to Jodi. Is it not?
Daniel, your reaction says everything. Rather than acknowledge the points I am making, you turn it around and make it into something else, and yet another personal attack insinuating that I somehow give a shit if you agree with me or not. I don’t.
I don’t expect this website to be a self-satisfying circle jerk like HLN. But I do expect the basic right to voice my opinion without you or anyone else jumping on me and trying to make me feel like I am not feel free to voice my opinion here.
You have repeatedly demanded that I explain myself to you, and even when I do – you have another go at creatively reinterpreting what I had to say and making another accusation at what you feel are my opinions, feelings, whatever. Let’s face it, nothing I say will satisfy you, no amount of articulating my thoughts will explain anything well enough, and anything short of scraping, bowing, or ingratiating politeness is “blasting” you. Funny – nobody else has felt blasted by me, have you considered your own reactions might be hinging off the rails?
If you think attacking me is “supporting” Jodi, and that’s a really fucked up way to rationalize your attitude here. Jodi is taking the stand, defending her LIFE for godsakes, and here you are, posting anything and everything to cast doubt on Jodi and the defense knowing that it’s the prosecution that has the burden of proof.
I NEVER said that you had to take Jodi’s word (reread the fucking post already), I HAVE said that you should be willing to examine Travis’ behavior that collaborates what she says. But I know what will happen after I type that sentence – you will then once again, try to convince me that everything we know about Travis is “nothing” and that anything Travis does can be neatly categorized and scrubbed to mean “nothing.” I can’t even get you to CONSIDER Jodi’s testimony without you accusing me of saying I want you “to just take her word for it.” Wow, just wow.
I have TRIED to reason with you. I have TRIED to be polite, I have TRIED to have a basic conversation with you. All you end up doing is attacking me, making assumptions about me or what I’m saying. You REFUSE to read what I have to say at all, and bring up nonissues that have nothing to do with my original point. In fact now you are trying to rewrite history by saying the things I have brought up are not “facts” – LOL – wow considering that I am not the only one to say them, and that a lot of them appear right on this web site. But I don’t see you going after anyone else, I guess you think I’m easier to bully.
I am not addressing the specifics in your post, because they had NOTHING to do with what I said in the first place. You have a lot of nerve to accuse me of not responding to your arguments when in fact your arguments are NOT based on the content of my comments. You make suppositions that deliberately obfuscate the point, and then when called out on it pretend like it’s a big misunderstanding. No, it is underhanded and I don’t appreciate it.
You may not be a “knuckle dragging hater” but you are sure doing everything in your power to keep the conversation off supporting Jodi and her defense. You seem far more motivated in taking me off this web site – either by making me angry enough to get banned, or just running me off by piling an avalanche of accusations on me – than you do about supporting Jodi at all.
“You are not the only one getting sick to death about needing to “defend” something.”
I never said I was – see how you put words in my mouth? But I’m curious – are you talking about Travis? I ask because that is who I see you defending those most at this web site, not Jodi.
Does anyone know the discovery laws in AZ? I thought trial by ambush wasnt allowed accept on TV. But the media is concerned about that laptop getting into the hands of the defense? Im starting to think that media report Wednesday was just more media b.s.. There has been nothing else said on it unless I missed something.
Do any of you know if discovery rules are different in AZ than most states?
Trial by ambush is for sure not allowed. Discoveries means you usually disclose all relevant documents, depositions and pretty much anything to the other side that is not bound by attorney privileged. I checked AZ laws, and it specifically says this about experts for you:
Experts: (A) A party may depose any person who has been identified as an expert whose opinions may be presented at trial.
(B) A party may through interrogatories or by deposition discover facts known or opinions held by an expert who has been retained or specially employed by another party in anticipation of litigation or preparation for trial and who is not expected to be called as a witness at trial, only as provided in Rule 35(b) or upon a showing of exceptional circumstances under which it is impracticable for the party seeking discovery to obtain facts or opinions on the same subject by other means.
(C) Unless manifest injustice would result, (i) the court shall require that the party seeking discovery pay the expert a reasonable fee for time spent in responding to discovery under subdivisions (b)(4)(A) and (b)(4)(B) of this rule; and (ii) with respect to discovery obtained under subdivision (b)(4)(B) of this rule the court shall require the party seeking discovery to pay the other party a fair portion of the fees and expenses reasonably incurred by the latter party in obtaining facts and opinions from the expert.
(D) In all cases including medical malpractice cases. each side shall presumptively be entitled to only one independent expert on an issue, except upon a showing of good cause. Where there are multiple parties on a side and the parties cannot agree as to which independent expert will be called on an issue, the court shall designate the independent expert to be called or, upon the showing of good cause, may allow more than one independent expert to be called. In medical malpractice cases, each party shall presumptively be entitled to only one standard-of-care expert. A defendant may testify on the issue of that defendant’s standard-of-care in addition to that defendant’s independent expert witness and the court shall not be required to allow the plaintiff an additional expert witness on the issue of the standard-of-care. Rule 26(b)(4)
Thanks for this information!
you would think the defense already knows how the states expert will testify. Maybe not the exact testimony, but I would think they already have a pretty good idea the direction the expert would be going in?
That’s what I’m saying. I think the info you posted supports that too.
I think it is crazy the media is alluding that someone on Jodi’s side stole the laptop anyways. It certainly could not be someone from the defense side, careers would be ruined and I highly doubt her attorneys would jeopardize their careers in anyway for a psychologists notes. And if someone gave it to her defense, I would assume they would have a legal obligation to report how they got it– and attorney/client privileged would not be covered for whoever took it. It is just kind of a ridiculous claim in my opinion.
Cj, yep, it will be a battle of experts. BTW, my qstn ws for anyone.
Cj, if it ws rvrsd, as in abve scenario, wld ye expct more proof? Wld ye need some sort of evidnce of attack beyond words of defendant or at least proof of violence against anyone?
I think no 1 likes me anymore and I’ve lost all my friends
Lol no Daniel, we like you…. we like to have different points of views. Well I do. It just takes me a little longer to read n reply, I have a 4yr old n a 10mnth old that need to be fed.
Daniel –
I dont think anyone is saying they dont like you.
We’re simply looking at things from different views.
You’re trying to explain your point and I mine.
I’m not taking offense to any of as I hope you arent either.
I appreciate many of your posts and just because I may disagree with some posts doesn’t mean I dont like you. We just have to agree to disagree sometimes. And in fact, there are many of your posts that I completely agree with.
Ultimately I know that you are here for the same reason I am, to make sure that Jodi gets fair trial and that’s all I really ask Daniel.
Keep posting and don’t let me get you down, those are completely not my intentions.
M., I have to say, you sound like such a sweetheart! Yes, we do disagree at times, but as you say I think our hearts are both in the right place and I appreciate you getting that. Like I said earlier, I am a pessimist and do play devil’s advocate quite a bit. Some would say too much. Thanks for tolerating me 🙂
Thanks Daniel.
I’ve really enjoyed everyone’s posts on this site (for the most part, haha!).
Had a “conversation” yesterday with a poster that made me feel like leaving too, but I enjoy the feedback and many of the main posters ideas, even if I do disagree.
I think sometimes posts are taken harsher then they are meant to be.
This case has caused a lot of passion and I think there is a level of frustration that comes out when someone feels like they’re repeating themselves, which in turn makes them feel like they are defending themselves, does that make sense?
I’m by no means trying to mend any relationships, but again, I really enjoy most of the people here, even when I think they’re wrong. I think most of us can be adults and have healthy arugments, because end the end, aren’t we all here posting, learning,and updating eachother for the same ultimate cause?
There have probably been moments where I may have “lashed out” in my posts because the passion was pumping through me and it was most likely directed in the wrong place to the wrong person, but in a sense we should all respect that, because this case is intense in many ways. Its like family – we can fight it out and move on to the next conversation when its over.
I’m pretty sarcastic in conversation and I think MB’s posts are written in a similar manner as mine, I think its really easy to missunderstand us (I’m not speaking for MB, just my observation), sometimes I probably sound pretty bitchy, but honestly I’m just pretty passionate about this case and the many other issues its brought to light.
Sorry if you got caught in the crossfire today or any other time.
My goal isnt to make anyone feel bad or like their posts arent appreciated. (Jodi haters not included :/)
My goal is to learn from others and hope that others learn from me.
So, I enjoy you all – lets agree to argue and agree and keep posting, I love the passion on this website and I would never want that spark to go away because we’re all afraid of stepping on eachother’s toes.
NO actually Daniel. I believe that DV happens to men as well so if the situation were reversed and the evidence showed that instead, Jodi was the one leading the double iife, sending abusive texts and emails along with her friends white washing her (which isn’t happening) I’d be as interested in this case because DV is not okay just because it happens to a man.
Thinking more about the hyopthetical – A trial with the opposite scenario would be interesting to me alone, because I haven’t seen a case upclose of a man asserting self defense, DV, but I bet there are some.
hi CJ they are extremely rare…. but I know there been cases. will try and Google
What I’ve learned from watching the media report half-truths and blatant lies in regard to trials is to wait until ALL of the facts are in before determining how I’d vote on a jury. This includes cases where a man has killed a woman in self-defense (has there ever been a high-profile case with this scenario? Just curious.) If I only watched HLN and read online media reports, I’d think that Casey Anthony was the worst human being ever, and I’d think the same about Jodi. Thankfully that’s not the case – I watch the trials, read unbiased accounts, and pay attention. That’s why I love this site; there are a lot of critical thinkers here and not just people who join in the lynch mob.
Think we’ll get a jury nullification verdict?
Anything is possible Michelle. I know if Jodi is found not guilty we’re all going to go wild here with joy!!!
They said it could happen with KC and it did .. *fingers crossed*
OMG…I think the pro-pros boards will EXPLODE if Jodi walks. I’d worry for her safety, as I did with Casey.
Lets pray! If she walks im making a “Team Jodi” t-shirt!!! Lol ill probably get shot by a (nevermind) dont want to offend any religion… ; ))
LC you taking pre-orders on those T-Shirts?
LOL @ Michelle! I love your sense of humor my lady!
Lol whos up to wearing “Team Jodi” t-shirts?!! They’ll have to be on “gray” t-shirts like the one shes wearing in the pic. Lol
That sounds cool!
Obviously count me in!
I wonder if the t-shirt will have some sort of “final score”?LOL
When can I order one? 🙂
I don’t think that will happen. This jury is conservative and jury nullification is rare I read – the media is making more out of that idea that what needs to be.
Am in correct that the jury is able to present a lesser verdict?
How is it decided if the lesser charge is accepted?
Are they limited to the lesser charges they can present?
Not sure how all of that works.
M, iv read that AZ jury CAN suggest a lesser charge. Idk why they wouldn’t in this case. If shes found not guilty, im afraid that Martinez will not let her walk. At this point, he’d probably take anything.
methinks that Martinez didn’t realize what an idiot that Flores was until the trial started and it turned out that the stalking was NEVER witnessed by anyone, hence hearsay, and hence not brought up.
Martinez overcharged based on the garbage that Flores took to him.
Do they HAVE to go with something lesser? Or can they just find her not guilty of Murder 1 and she walks? Not sure how that works. Anyone??
bystander, I can’t remember about lesser charges…we did have an attorney posting here for a bit, I’m not sure what happened to him.
There might be more info here:
https://jodiariasisinnocent.com/self-defense-reasonable-doubt-premeditation-mistrials-viability-of-a-not-guilty-verdict-for-jodi-arias-criminal-defense-attorney-post-jodi-arias-is-innocent-jodi-arias-trial/#comments
M – I’m wondering the same thing. I don’t see Murder 1 at all in this case.
Bystander –
I’m new to the whole trial thing, so not sure how it all works.
And of course, sounds like each state is different.
I guess my concern is:
A. Jodi getting the DP
B. Jodi sitting in prison for the rest of her life
I feel like if the jury feels DP too intense that they’ll go with keeping Jodi in prison forever.
Am I understanding correctly that this is something the jury can decide?
I don’t think she’ll get the DP at this point. I hope not anyway. I do have my doubts that she’ll walk altogether if lessers are on the table. While I don’t think that the prosecution has proved murder 1, the jury might give Jodi 10-20 years or so on murder 2 if they don’t believe the self-defense theory.
I know for sure that Martinez was also the prosecutor for a death penalty case in AZ. The jury suggested a lesser charge. At the end Martinez had no choce thrn to go with manslaughter. It was a very interesting case. It was all screwed up, Martinez was doing some sneaky shit and so on. I cant remember the website, I blv CJ posted the website, maybe she can repost it. It helped me understand some of the AZ laws that most would apply to this on, I also learned how big of a cheat Martniz is.
Sorry I don’t understand what jury nullification verdict is. Could you please explain?
http://youcouldbewrong.wordpress.com/tag/jury-nullification-jodi-arias/
This post explained jury nullification and why it’s rare.
We can still hope for it though … KC got it she can too.
Interview with a judge pertaining to Jodi’s case. He does not think it was premeditated murder. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/20519270/2013/01/07/arias-case
Interesting. Thanks Debbie.
Napalitano is top notch too!
Thanks Debbie!!! They also had the laptop news. I think this is the 1st time I hear n see the media acting civil. Fox News 10. Even the video with NG, she controlled herself better then on her own show but she was the only one that made the negative comments. But good stuff here!! Thx
Just watched this video Debbie, thanks for sharing. Too bad the judge is senile and probably won’t kick out the murder 1st.
LOL BeeCee. I just went to watch it again and they have a picture under it that says Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander but the girl in the picture is not Jodi!!
so i come on here every once in a while and read some comments (to be fair, i can’t and didn’t read all 191 comments), only the first 20 maybe…so at the risk of being shot, here goes…
the general feel i’m getting (obviously with the very website that ‘jodiariasisinnocent.com’…that many here believe that jodi was innocent in killing travis…
again, i didn’t read all the comments, but i’m assuming that no one here believes jodi DIDN’T kill travis, but they just think she’s innocent in doing so nonetheless…
i would agree that travis probably didn’t treat jodi right…from what i’ve heard on testimony SO FAR…we haven’t heard everything yet…but i still challenge anyone to tell me that no matter how bad travis would have mentally or emotionally abused jodi (no evidence yet that there was any physical abuse so far-and usually with physical abuse, there are many signs and plenty of evidence), that jodi still had the right to kill travis in such a brutal way that she did? even if he called her the worst possible names, treated her like the skankiest prostitute that ever lived, used and abused and threw her away like jodi says “a piece of toilet paper”, does that justify her taking his LIFE?
if there is someone on this panel who thinks she had every right to take his LIFE, please let me know and give me your arguments, i’m willing and open to hear them…
as a woman myself, i can say i’ve been in jodi’s position many times (granted, we don’t have the same history that would cause us to react in exactly the same way), but unfortunately, under the law, there is no justification for taking someone’s life except for the genuine belief that he was going to take hers…and judging from the nature of his wounds, it wasn’t self defense, but more like a passionate hateful and brutal killing of travis…
when you’re defending your life, the very first blow that will subdue your attacker is usually all that’s needed before you start running for your life…you don’t OVERKILL…and i challenge anyone to tell me that jodi didn’t OVERKILL travis…if the stab to the heart wouldn’t have subdued him, the other 27 stab wounds on his BACK would have…if the slit throat didn’t subdue him, the shot in the head would have…
so its obvious this didn’t indicate a self defence attack, but was more one of a hateful passionate kill to someone who used and abused her…to some of you this may be enough for what she did, but under the law, its not unfortunately…
i’m not one of those media whores that believes everything she reads, and i tend to be a very diplomatic neutral individual who hears the facts and ignores all the other backlashing and hatred, but unfortunately, i still haven’t heard of anything that would warrant what jodi did to travis…did travis treat her like a piece of shit? i’m thinking so, but if we slaughtered everyone who ever used us, what kind of world would we be living in?
i’m also the type of person that even though i don’t believe there was any good enough reason to take travis’ life, i still hope jodi gets off because i’m such a sympathetic and empathetic person…i believe she did what she did because she believed she was justified in her own mind and that she was highly victimized, so i feel sorry for her for that and don’t like to hear about anyone being sent to prison or the death chamber…
i’m hoping my friend sj and fellow casey website owner will approve and respect my opinion enough to post it…
look forward to hearing from y’all…
“if there is someone on this panel who thinks she had every right to take his LIFE, please let me know and give me your arguments, i’m willing and open to hear them…”
You said you hadn’t read most of the content of the comments here. If you had, you would know that nobody views this case THAT simplistically.
A lot of women have suffered abuse without killing their partners including me, so your experience and my experience is the more common outcome. Just means that Jodi and others who have claimed abuse and self defense may be justified in doing so.
“so its obvious this didn’t indicate a self defence attack, but was more one of a hateful passionate kill to someone who used and abused her…to some of you this may be enough for what she did, but under the law, its not unfortunately…”
So what in the evidence made up your mind so quickly? Do you need to see bruises to believe she had to be in fear for her life before she tells us about that day?
”
when you’re defending your life, the very first blow that will subdue your attacker is usually all that’s needed before you start running for your life…you don’t OVERKILL…and i challenge anyone to tell me that jodi didn’t OVERKILL travis…if the stab to the heart wouldn’t have subdued him, the other 27 stab wounds on his BACK would have…if the slit throat didn’t subdue him, the shot in the head would have…”
That is an opinion. What about the evidence says that to you? I read the police report and many of those stabs wounds were puncture and defense wounds. That leads me to believe there could have been a fight therefore Jodi may have been fighting for her life.
“
Hi Katia , try to picture this scenario. I am not sure this is what actually happened but it seems plausible given the pictures in evidence. Jodi and Travis are in his room and he goes to grab a shower. He is to have a conference call at 6:45 and wants to be ready for it. He has duct tape around his right arm from earlier sexcapades( there is a pic of him with duct tape around his right bicep) so he grabs a knife and cuts it off in the bathroom, setting the knife on the counter. Jodi follows him in holding his camera and convinces him to let her take pics of him in the shower. She promises to be tasteful and keep them above the waist. He gives in and allows her to take the pics.(There are lots of pics of him in the shower) The door is open to the shower so water is getting all over the floor and she slips in it and drops the camera.( picture of ceiling from said camera) He jumps out of the shower and goes after her,pinning her against the counter and choking her. She reaches and grabs the knife and starts stabbing at him to get him off her. She is stabbing him in the chest . One stab hits and goes towards the heart and he reels back. She runs to the bedroom, but he, full of adrenalin, chases her and falls on the floor grabbing her foot. He has a gun and tries to shoot her but it doesn’t go off. She again tries to get away and starts stabbing him in the back. They are fighting and he is trying to get the knife from her as they head back down the hallway towards the bathroom. Remember this all takes place within a very short time and he is much stronger than she is. Finally she gets him pinned against a wall( tons of blood on the hallway wall photos) and anchoring herself with her left hand , slashes his throat with her right.
I cannot say this is what happened for sure but it would explain all the knife wounds and in no way would be overkill. It would certainly be self defense in this case.
I believe that Travis had a gun it just was not registered and that is allowed in arizona . I believe he got it after he and Jodi split up for good . He had warned someone that he may not make it there for dinner one night and another friend has said he wrote Jodi a very mean letter and his friend asked him if he wasn’t scared of her now. I think he bought the gun for protection. I also think there was much more going on there because he had tons of roommates coming and going in the time he was with Jodi. I really do not think it was Jodi that Travis may have been afraid of.
I read some evidence in the police report to support that Debbie. A tip was phoned in by a woman whose husband was mad at Travis. She talked to the cops and said why she thought her husband may have done something. ( we know he didn’t because Jodi admitted it, but this supports the theory that he had more reasons to want protection.
Also, a rommmate was mentioned by Lisa D! She said that someone ( cant remember his name) moved out because he could not get along with Travis.
Then there is the theory that LIsa D’s ex boyfriend, Steve bell was also mad at Travis and had been in trouble with the law.
And where these people interrogated like Jod???
That would have been John Hepworth CJ
This is similar to what I’m thinking. I have a feeling Jodi’s going to say she didn’t bring a gun and knife to Travis’s. Is it possible these were already in Travis’s home? Maybe he had them out as part of their sex game.
Neither weapon has been found, and there’s no proof that Jodi brought them. There’s only lots of conjecture that she stole her grandparents’ gun — no proof whatsoever. Plus, I don’t think her grandparents’ gun even matched the type of bullet casing found on the scene.
Well he certainly cut that duct tape off his arm with something MsCharlieChan. I believe it is that something that Jodi stabbed him with, after he attacked her.
Omg thank you CJ and Debbie….. I didn’t feel like “arguing” these same facts over n over again. It is nice to have others point of views but it gets a little tiring when you have to argue the same things like the level of abuse n what it does to someone doesnt necessarily mean it didnt effect someone else differently. Especially because they haven’t read most of our comments. 20??? Really? Lol AND the pictures??? And the wounds? How can someone really say they werent SD, if they werent there??!! What about if you were fighting for YOUR life, at that moment in time, is that what youll be thinking about, “overkilling” the person thats about to kill you n you can’t get away? What then??? This is why alot of us get frustrated, CLOSEDMINDED PEOPLE
I gave up a long time ago trying to chime in. It gets tiring thinking for other people.
LOL True.
LOL BeeCee
WORD.
Debbie, Yes imo this does seem plausible. Except ( 🙂 I am always living dangerously posting my devils advocate) what is hard to imagine is that someone would go after someone so threateningly for just dropping a camera. It seems an extreme reaction for Travis to have been so angry with her for that for her to have been in fear of her life without there being some sort of violent exhibition previously by Travis that someone could attest to. Even one example would make me feel better.
Lol im staying out of this one!!!
Too funny LC I already answered the question:P
yeah. people don’t listen and think. i had trouble explaining the NON FORGED letters so much I gave up.
Maybe there needs to be a page that specifically DEBUNKS all the false claims that are in the media. And one that points out how many pedophiles/rapists/killers were such upstanding wonderful citizens until they were caught.
I think that will be coming up in the trial Daniel. There is a post on this site, in fact it is a repost by Matt Macartney. In one part of his post he wrote that Jodi had a finger broken by Travis and now it is distorted because she refused to go get it set because she would have to tell them at hospital what happened and she did not want to implicate Travis. Matt also stated he saw bruises around her neck also from Travis.
Anyone have a good picture of this? I keep looking but can’t find
a good one.
The issue I have with this is that Matt is repeating what Jodi told him..how do you know she didn’t injure the finger some other way. Similar to the story about cuts on her finger she recieved from a broken glass at a resturant she didn’t even work at, well actually a resturant that didn’t even exist. In reality the cuts were from stabbing Travis. How do you know what Matt was told is true. She’s lied about injuries before? He could have seen an injury that had nothing to do with Travis. Just saying..she doesn’t have a good track record with telling the truth.
This is taken from Matt Macartney’s repost Daniel. Matt is an ex boyfriend of Jodi’s.
“Take a look at her permanently deformed hand, where he broke her finger in one of his many angry outbursts.
Q. Why wasn’t it set?
A. She didn’t go to the hospital that’s why. She was protecting him.
Q. Why didn’t she go to the hospital???
A. Because a report would be made that could lead back to him and he knew it.
Jodi is an artist. Her hands are a critical element in her life. Not only is she a photographer, she is also a painter.
I personally witnessed the purple finger shaped bruises on her neck. She originally claimed was from a seat belt. Later, after much debate, she admitted they were from him. She assured me that: “He is a good man” and “He didn’t mean it”.
You got it Debbie!!!
I just realized that the jury gets to ask Jodi questions. What questions would you ask her if you were on the jury at this point?
Really??? The roommate questions came from the jury. PrunePuss goes over them with the prosecutor n defense then they decide what Q are asked. I would ask, “Jodi are you scared for your life or your families lives?”
Good question. That would certainly throw a curveball out there! Would the defense allow it given what they are claiming? She did it but it is self defense?
Sorry, this is wayyy out of order. It was in response to your post to Katia.
I’m still curious about the one roommate myself. I’ve heard report that he got home around 6pm. Has anyone else heard this?
If that’s the case, it sure leaves very little time for Jodi to have been in the house alone after the killing…doing bathroom clean up, cleaning herself, stripping the bed, throwing in laundry.
If not alone in the house…How did the roommate not know she was there? How did she exit? Where did she park the rental car if she wasn’t planning anything? Wouldn’t she have parked it at the house if just visiting? So wouldn’t the roommate have seen it?
of course all of that hinges on the roommate actually being home at 6pm, which again is just something I heard along the way. Can’t cite my source!
Actually it was in Detective Flores police report that Enrique got home from work between 6-6:30 PM daily
But there wasnt anything in there as to whether he saw Jodi’s car- was there? That seems to be a BIG failure in terms of checking this out. This was never adequately explained.
Hard to come up with questions just yet …until the D rests and State does their cross. Depends on what else gets brought in/up and what else gets explained/answered. I’m interested in hearing more about what lead her to finally move back to CA..and if she says it was to get away from Travis once and for all or not.
GREAT QUESTION Daniel Tremont! Let’s see…..Here are some questions I would love to ask her. I’m sure many of them wouldn’t be allowed but if I could ask her anything….
1. Why did you color your hair dark right before your road trip?
2. Did Travis know that you were talking to Ryan and interested in him?
3. Why was your license plate upside down?
4. Where did the knife and gun come from so fast if this was self defense? What did you do with them?
5. Are you still a practicing Mormon?
6. What made Travis decide to start having vaginal intercourse after telling you it was against his religious beliefs for so long? Up until that point you believed only anal and oral were allowed…what was his reasoning to suddenly do it?
Okay now a few for fun….
1. Do you wish you could use your infamous Internet “back button” on this relationship/murder and have a do-over to do things differently?
2. Do you curse at yourself everyday for not grabbing that camera and dumping it wherever you dumped the gun and knife?
3. Do you feel that killing Travis was your only method of self defense?
4. How did it make you feel (sadness, envy, rage, hatred, happiness, etc.) hearing Lisa Andrews testify knowing she has everything you always wanted? A woman born Mormon, with a husband, new baby, career and most importantly her freedom?
5. What was your thought process in the overkill? Did you think slitting Travis’ throat would make it look more like a home invasion?
6. What was the last thing you and Travis said to each other?
Are you a Jodi supporter, Leah????
Yes, I am a Jodi supporter. I just listed every question i would like to hear answered from Jodi. Some serious questions, and some personal questions I’ll never hear answered, but if I could ask anything…I’m curious as to how she would answer them. Like how she feels about everything and what she’s thinking in her head everyday. Does that make sense? (trying to explain my thought process….)
She sure comes across as NOT being a supporter of Jodi?
Ah nevermind my last comment …
Throughout this case I have been trying to keep a level-headed openness about the facts and have followed the entire trial closely. I have watched every single solitary second available for public viewing so my opinions are based on the evidence I have seen thus far and not excerpts of the media. Nor, are they blind comments fueled with emotion. With that said, I can say that I do not believe the state has adequately proven premeditation, although, they have presented a decent amount of circumstantial evidence suggestive of it. As far as abuse in Jodi’s case, I have not seen any evidence of it yet thus far but I am in no way discrediting the fact that she certianly may have been. Unfortunately, everything she described up to this point with her mother and first boyfriends is stuff I have equally experienced and personally don’t equate with abuse. I have personally been on the recieving end of domestic abuse and it does not even compare. I experienced extreme verbal, mental, and physical abuse from a boyfriend I was with for four years so I have room to talk on this subject.
I would say that thus far he likely did not treat her well. Shame on him for that. If the Travis she describes is the person he actually was, then I know that guy. He made her feel used, not good enough, and second rate. Not grounds for murder. Again, the trial is not over so evidence of abuse may surface.
I will say that personally I think Jodi is a very articulate, well-spoken, intelligent, and talented woman. I think that if she had the oppurtunity to pursue a college degree she would be very successful. However, I cannot overlook the fact that the injuries she caused were brutal and she did take a life so I can’t say I would feel comfortable calling her innocent. I can’t get over the fact that if it was self defense then why didn’t she run when he was wounded enough to not chase her. She had at least 20 chances since the first 7 stabs likely would have weakened him enough. However, I do not think she should spend the rest of her life in jail wasting away. I hope she is given the oppurtunity to pursue a life and become a productive member of society.
I tried to stay as neutral as possible so hopefully this comment gets approved. I’m sorry but I just can’t act as if I think she’s innocent if I do not feel that way. I am certainly glad she has supportive individuals and I do not want to see her die in prison. I also feel so bad for the family. That has got to be awful. It’s your family member so you love them no matter what. She’s right up there with Casey Anthony so I can’t imagine if that was my family member at the center of all that anger and hate.
I think many of us have experienced some degree of abuse and unhealthy relationships. What differentiates this one for me (keeping in mind that there is MUCH more story to come) is the role of religion that TA inserted into the relationship. She was obviously seeking spiritual answers and TA did not hesitate to offer some. If she was just a booty call and she should have known when to say no, then he should have left the book of morman out of it. Or not incorporated church into their sex romps.
Knowing what we know now, do you think she would have felt the things she felt for TA if religion was not in the mix? I think a short-lived romance may have been possible but it was the talk of the mormon family and the celestial kingdom that kept her coming back for more.
G189, Thanks for your response. I personally don’t believe religion played to much of a roll in the relationship. I think she would have felt the same for him either way. I do think that the circles she became entrapped in might have made it harder to completely break away from him; however, the sheer distance (miles) between them until she moved closer would have been more than enough for most people to get over and move on from someone. Mormons have that close knit cultish type group so that is certianly appealing. I don’t know any other religions that have wards for certian ages to meet and find mates. When you have someone looking for love and marriage thats an attractive selling point because its a community/family. Regardless, I think the arrtraction/ gravitational pull between these two was more than religion. I do agree with you that he should have left mormonism out of it if this was just sex romps. On the other hand it’s very hypocritical of them both though for engaging in sexual contact. She testified that she was interested sincerely in mormonism regardless of Travis so she was just as bad for partaking in the forbidden sexual acts. To say she didn’t know about the vow of chasitty is something I just don’t buy. How do you convert to a religion without completely educating yourself about the beliefs. Even non-mormons know mormons don’t have sex before marriage. I tend to think that the religion came into play at certain points because he likely really loved her and was contemplating some sort of future with her. In my experience guys who just want sex or booty calls don’t typically want you to convert to their religion, don’t want you to stay at their house for a whole week ( she didn’t have a bed anymore so he let her stay there), sell you their car really cheap, send you valentines day gifts, pay you more than minium wage to clean a house so you could pay your bills, etc.. In my experience they typically don’t care that much to do any of that so this guy had feelings for her.
Kourtney, i dont think Jodi should be in jail PERIOD. Shes claiming self defense. Im not sure if you have read this post or even SOME. If you scroll up just a little youll see, Debbie posted a comment that could answer your comment regarding thst you can’t get over the fact that if it was self defense then why didn’t she run when he was wounded enough to not chase her. She had at least 20 chances since the first 7 stabs likely would have weakened him enough. Read what Debbie wrote, it is VERY possible that something like that could have happened. No body knows what really happened until JA gets to tell her story. When she does, im pretty sure people will not blv her. It seems like a lot of people have already condemned her n those people will not change there minds. We (people on this website) well most of us believe that Jodi IS innocent, weather we believe it was SD, heat of passion, or she didn’t do it AT ALL n shes covering up for someone, weather we blv she did it due to the abuse she endured from TA, we are here because we blv in Jodis innocence. Afterall this is a jodiariasisinnocent.com website.
Hi LC, thanks for your response. I read Debbie’s post and it may be plausible but doubtful. Jodi stated in a taped conversation that Travis’ weapons were his two fists and he didn’t have any guns or weapons. If this guy who is twice her size and strength, who we know through evidence uses a punching bag, and works out regularly comes after her how does she escape unscathed? How come she didn’t have any bruises or marks around her neck when she met the Ryan guy or the other individuals for dinner? Once a fight between two people escalates to the point where one stabs the other it typically becomes a no holds bar. Both are fighting for thier life. If she’s stabbing him and inflicting such brutal injuries he is going to retaliate with any strength he has left. He would have punched her, thrown her into the wall, grabbed her hair. If she was fighting for her life she would have evidence of that. She was unscathed aside from a few slice marks on her fingers. I just find it hard to picture him attacking her without leaving any visible injury. There was no significant amount of her hair left at the scene, no injuries to doors/walls, no stab wounds on her. A guy that strong could have certianly overpowered her and got a hold of that knife if he had the amount of strength to chase her like Debbie described. In addition, I doubt he would chase her if she inflicted the wound to the chest and he had been unsuccessful in hurting her/taking the knife away to stab her up until that point. I am basing this on encounters I had with an ex that almost did kill me and it just doesn’t seem plausible that she was able to inflict those wounds and not recieve any. In the fours years I went through it I never escaped unscathed.
It did not compute until…
Like many people, a number of things about the Jodi Arias case did not make sense, until I heard the interviews from people who knew Jodi when she first became involved with Travis. From the interviews of those who knew her, it appears that she went head over heels for Travis. She jumped up and left her boyfriend. She told some of her friends how she wanted Travis to be the father of the children that they would have. She willingly signed up for the Mormon faith, etc. A number of people who knew her described her as being quite obsessed with Travis.
So, here is the question: If she was really a “gold digger”, then why go after Travis?? Why not go after a real millionaire, or multi-millionaire? Why Travis? Given the descriptions of those who knew her, when she first became involved with Travis, I would have to say that she was motivated by love – probably unusually obsessive in nature – but, love. Also, I suspect that the “Jodi” everyone saw was not the “real Jodi”. The Jodi that people see – the hair, the makeup, the implants, etc – is, in my opinion, an adopted “persona”. The “real Jodi”, as can be shown, appears to be more of a highly intelligent, artistic visionary, and maybe even a “nerd”. The “real Jodi” might be almost the opposite of the “persona” that we see reflected in the images, and early videos. I came to this conclusion after reading Jodi’s blog postings, from 2008. The blog postings are worth reading. They shed a great deal of light on Jodi’s unique outlook on life. Also, they show that the “real Jodi” is quite different than the “persona” that we see in the photos, and early videos. You can find her blogs here:
http://jodiarias.blogspot.mx/
Also, at almost the very same time, Travis made his own posts, on the same bloghost. Travis’ first post was on April 14th, 2008. And, Jodi’s first post was on April 29th, 2008. Travis’ last post was on May 18th, 2008. His last post was titled, “Why I Want to Marry a Gold Digger”. You can read it here:
http://travisalexander.blogspot.mx/2008/05/why-i-want-to-marry-gold-digger.html
To be honest, between reading Jodi’s writings, and reading Travis’ writings, I am struck by a strong distinction between the two. Travis tends to resort to platitudes, and shallow cliches, while oftentimes sounding like he is in “selling” mode. Jodi, sounds brilliantly original in thought, and in expression. Here are some examples, from 2008:
Excerpt from Jodi’s writings: “I cannot ignore that there is an ever-present yearning and desire that pulses within me. It throbs for gratification and fulfillment. It makes me want to wander this entire globe in search of this indefinitive “something,” that I might suddenly experience it, discover it, or some other sort of quickening to quench this thirst I’ve had since childhood. I want to search it out in evergreen forests, fields of tall, golden grass, desert sands, moonlit nights, in the eyes of other children of God, in the eyes of every living creature. It is in all of these things, yet it is fleeting. It has the power and potential to move me to tears in a matter of seconds. It gives life a meaning often realized only in night time dreams; that elusive, intangible fulfillment that permeates the the images played out by one’s subconscious right before it fades into oblivion, as full consciousness begins to settle in.”
Excerpt from Travis’ writings: “The difference between a Stumbling Block and Stepping Stone is the Character of the individual walking the path. To me this is a lesson learned that any of us no matter what lot we have been given in life, can, like the Phoenix rise from out of the ash and accomplish absolutely anything that we choose to. All that is required is that we acknowledge what we have and the source of where it comes. Once we have done that our own limbs become unbound and we become free to do and have anything.”
If you read Jodi’s writings, and read her courteous and thoughtful responses, to her blog readers, there seems to be no indication – at least in her blogs – of what would soon transpire. Is it possible that Travis’ last blog titled “Why I Want to Marry a Gold Digger” produced the straw that broke the camels back? In it, Travis states:
“I realized the reason I wasn’t married wasn’t because the type of person I was looking for doesn’t exist but that the type of person I wanted wouldn’t be interested in me.”
Is it possible that Jodi – using the same blog host as Travis – read this, and felt like a big zero? What kind of woman did Travis want? He wanted one kind for sex, and another kind for marriage.
This is a very tragic story, full of many “wrong turns”. There are no winners – only losers. I hope that everyone can learn something from it, in order to make the world we live in a better place.
Very well said Ben. I read both blogs as well and saw the post by Travis. I imagine it must have been the insult of all insults to Jodi.
I think you said this very well below: (This is what I’ve been trying to articulate.)
“Is it possible that Jodi – using the same blog host as Travis – read this, and felt like a big zero? What kind of woman did Travis want? He wanted one kind for sex, and another kind for marriage.”
cj…
“You said you hadn’t read most of the content of the comments here. If you had, you would know that nobody views this case THAT simplistically”…
yes, exactly why i first admitted that i hadn’t read the comments and that i wasn’t sure what all the opinions were, so thank you for letting me know…if i don’t read everything, i will not comment pretending to have read everything, so i want to be fair in stating i’m not aware of all the opinions, (but if i had to guess, given the name of the website, it would be pro-jodi)
“A lot of women have suffered abuse without killing their partners including me, so your experience and my experience is the more common outcome. Just means that Jodi and others who have claimed abuse and self defense may be justified in doing so.”
agreed, as i stated in my first comment that we would all react differently to abuse, my point was and still is that unfortunately, its still not a legal claim of self defence…self defence would be, as stated before, a genuine fear for your life…
“So what in the evidence made up your mind so quickly? Do you need to see bruises to believe she had to be in fear for her life before she tells us about that day?”
no, but i need some evidence, unfortunately, as do the jurors…
“That is an opinion. What about the evidence says that to you? I read the police report and many of those stabs wounds were puncture and defense wounds. That leads me to believe there could have been a fight therefore Jodi may have been fighting for her life”
well, i don’t think so really…i’m not saying you have had more experience with true crime stories or police reports than i have, and i don’t know how many you’ve had, but i know i’ve had quite a bit for quite some time, and in all that time, i have to say i’ve never read of a situation where someone was involved in a genuine self defense situation where they inflicted so many wounds, three of them being fatal, mind you…my point was that the nature and brutality of the wounds suggests overkill…afterall, the gun shot wound to the head was the last wound she inflicted after he was dead…the forensic evidence and blood splatter evidence shows this…therefore, she didn’t have to shoot him through the head, or drag him from one room to another…usually when you’re in a situation of extreme fear, you fight just enough to subdue your attacker and then flee…my opinion is based on many years of reading similar crime scenes/stories…
it is also my opinion that the wound jodi inflicted on travis almost de capitating him given her body weight and size compared to his, would indicate travis would have almost had to be extremely subdued (therefore no longer a threat), and again, would indicate a wound of hatred, not self defense…when have you ever seen a self defense wound of near decapitation? i mean, the wound of holding a person’s head back and slicing from ear to ear is not a self defense flee for your life type of wound…self defense wounds are usually face to face wounds, you can argue she sliced his neck while facing him, but that’s very unlikely without him trying to defend himself and pull away (which, by the way, travis also had many defensive wounds that indicated he was being attacked, she reportedly only had a few scratches)…
now, if any of the facts i stated above about the evidence are wrong, please let me know, but based on those facts, assuming they’re correct as i’ve understood them to be, leads me to my opinions just like everyone else…
i hope i wasn’t being called CLOSEDMINDED in an earlier comment, because i’m very open minded, but we all have our opinions and they’re all going to differ, doesn’t make one person smarter than the other…
the fact of the matter is, based on the evidence or LACK of evidence, we can come to many different scenarios here…but unfortunately, in a court of law, if you’re trying to PROVE self defense, then you have to PROVE self defence… with evidence, and not with a lack of…granted, the trial isn’t over yet, but so far, as i said before, the defense has not put out any evidence that there was ever any physical abuse unfortunately, mental and emotional don’t count!)…sure, you can have physical abuse that’s well hidden, but in order to prove it was there, you need to prove it was there…
i am not a jodi hater, i am not closed minded, i don’t look at her and wish her away to rot in a prison cell, or yell obscenities and call her a liar, tramp, etc…in jodi’s mind, she obviously felt justified in killing travis but i hope she can prove it at the end of the day that it was for true self defense…
“Omg thank you CJ and Debbie….. I didn’t feel like “arguing” these same facts over n over again. It is nice to have others point of views but it gets a little tiring when you have to argue the same things like the level of abuse n what it does to someone doesnt necessarily mean it didnt effect someone else differently. Especially because they haven’t read most of our comments. 20??? Really? Lol AND the pictures??? And the wounds? How can someone really say they werent SD, if they werent there??!! What about if you were fighting for YOUR life, at that moment in time, is that what youll be thinking about, “overkilling” the person thats about to kill you n you can’t get away? What then??? This is why alot of us get frustrated, CLOSEDMINDED PEOPLE”
hmmm, yes, indeed it does sound like you’re calling me closedminded…if you re read my post you will understand my point and you will see that i did agree that we would all react differently to different levels of abuse, and i do believe that travis may have mentally or emotionally abused her…but she needs to show evidence she was physically abused…and don’t know if a few incidences of heresay will cut it…and lc…you weren’t there either
I found this online….info about the closed door hearing on Thursday.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20130208arias-jury-hear-sordid-evidence-photographs-young-males.html?nclick_check=1
OMG Trixels!!!
I feel so badly for his family now. When they hear this stuff it will destroy them and I am sure all his friends will be saying it is not true.
Holy shit… not surprised but… holy shit.
You *know* the media and the Travistown cult are going to crucify her for coming forward with that. They will accuse her of lying, smearing the victim, second verse same as the first, blah blah blah.
It will be another fact of Travis that gets swept under the rug because of lack of “proof” and the refusal to take Jodi’s word on anything.
Someone other than Jodi could have removed the pedophilia photos after his death and that is why they are gone.
This would totally explain why he started getting violent with her, she knew his WAY BIGGER SECRET.
Im not surprised eithet… lets see what the media, NG n all these haters have to say know!!
Defense is spending a lot of time on her understanding of the law of chastity. And how its defined by her new found morman faith (by the wonder-Mormon, TA). I wonder how much she learned about the faith through the 1yr 7mos before the crime? My guess would be a great deal since she’d been seeking a spiritual answer for many years pre-TA. So she probably encouraged conversation with fellow lds’ers (like Dan freeman) & read, as well. We know her travels were often centered around church history.
So although the church made an official denouncement of blood atonement in 1990, it seems very plausible that Jodi would be quite aware of its place in the lds theology. Therefore, the slitting of TAs throat was an act done post-struggle & after or near death, but in her twisted mind (like her thoughts on being chaste), was done as a merciful act….not crazed overkill. Due to the things she knew about him (even if only counting the vaginal sex with her), this was the ONLY way for TA to get to the celestial kingdom.
I know some of us have played around with all extremes of this blood atonement theory. But this is the first time I’ve thought of it like this. So not that she vengefully went there with the attention of TAs blood atonement, but that the attack happened, struggle ensued, and JA got the upper hand causing fatal/near-fatal injury. Upon this realization, blood atonement was the good morman thing to do (just like anal sex) so she got him back to the shower and delivered TA to the celestial kingdom.
That is a plausible theory G and one that I had thought of except in that moment that she thought it was the good mormon thing to do would it not be considered as premeditation?
I’m suggesting that the damage was already done when she decided to slit his throat. So it went down just as the defense is suggesting. Travis attacks, Jodi defends. Upon realizing that he is at or near death, she panics b/c TA has not repented or righted himself for eternal life. So she takes an extra step to slit his throat ear to ear & let the smoke from his blood/body blah blah blah(trying to recite some of brigham youngs materials that I’ve read about it).
It’s really the explanation for the overkill.
Interesting! Definitely something to think about. I’m not very well versed in Mormon beliefs but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was thinking like that. Her thoughts were probably not very rational in the moment, but she tried to make it right in her mind.
Very interesting!
Good theory! And people in the mormon community have been known for continuing practices that the official church has denounced (like polygamy). I don’t think blood atonement would just go away because the head church says so.
Very plausible theory.
I am a “windows are the eyes of the soul” kinda person. I believe Jodi when she says she was going to kill herself. In the interview, a cloud passed over her eyes when she said no jury would convict her. I always wondered what that was, and I believe the explanation she gave. She got choked up when she said it, too.
Nancy Grace made a huge deal about her packing her car, along with having a 9mm pistol or something. The first thing I came to was that she felt so awful she wanted to destroy herself.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in her shoes. I hope nobody ever has to be in that situation ever again.
I just needed to get something off my chest.
I think it’s really shitty that anyone – here or anywhere – would say that because Jodi “lied” to the police, that means she loses any and all credibility taking the stand in her own defense. When I say “lied” in quotes, it’s to indicate that we haven’t heard her testimony for the reason she gave Insp. Flores two different stories; and also because none of us know if her mind snapped, and if it did how far or badly it broke. There’s the possibility that she couldn’t remember properly or process everything that happened – there are abuse survivors right here on the site that attest to that phenomena.
If she did intentionally lie, it was probably for the same reason anyone else would lie – fear, shame, and denial. When I say denial it is because when a person lies, they don’t just lie to others they lie to themselves. It can become a coping mechanism, and it’s not too hard to see why Jodi would need to a way to cope in the aftermath of what happened the night Travis attacked her.
Also, EVERYONE has lied at some point in their lives. And if anyone comes here to tell me that they have never lied, well that is the biggest lie of them all.
But back to Jodi. I don’t see how her lying to police should automatically shatter any and all benefit of the doubt. As if taking the stand and oathbound, spilling your guts to the world about things in your life you couldn’t tell your own mother in private means absolutely nothing. If someone came up to me and said “well I support you but I can’t believe a damn word you say” I would tell them they are full of shit and to get lost.
Then there is always the question about the miranda rights and why Jodi didn’t invoke them. I’ve already addressed this elsewhere but it looks like I have to repeat myself yet again – I don’t understand why people expect abuse survivors to make stellar choices for themselves and their future; especially when newly exiting a terrible relationship. When someone doesn’t believe they are a human being with rights, it’s not going to matter if someone tells them they have rights. The reverse is also true – if someone does not believe you have rights, there is no way to convince them otherwise. It’s a very sad, screwed up situation indeed. And if a person has been abused long enough to feel that they don’t deserve protection – legal or otherwise – it makes sense why they would not be self preserving enough to ask for a lawyer right away. So rather than asking why Jodi didn’t ask for a lawyer, why not ask why Travis didn’t stop shitting on her long enough for her to foster that same self respect you demand from her.
For the life of me, I don’t understand why any of this immediately obvious. I think even if most people haven’t sat down to think it out and articulate it, they *get it* at the most basic human level that even though Jodi’s decisions were not good, there was a reason for that and she deserves at the very least to have her testimony considered with an open mind.
Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough but I felt I had to say all this because Jodi deserves better than some of the comments I’ve seen the past few days. And she is going to need all the support she can get in the days of testimony ahead when another court revelation comes out (see Trixel’s post above). I know I am going to give it to her, I hope other people do too.
I never said that. I am saying this is one of the key arguments the prosecution makes. There is no getting around this. The credibility of a defendant is ALWAYS an issue in these cases.
BTW, the fact she didn’t exercise her Miranda rights is WHY her credibility has been trashed. You do understand that in Miranda, you have a right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer. I haven’t read every single post on this site, so I never saw your explanation. In any case, Jodi clearly wasn’t thinking and she may pay dearly for it.
BTW, I do not appreciate you putting words in my mouth that I did NOT say, so you have spent some 500 words trashing me over something I never once said.
MB , the day after Jodi was arrested, Detective Flores went to see her. It was all video taped. He offered her a lawyer and she said she was okay. She was not okay and that was very apparent. At one point, when asked a question, she pulled her legs up on the chair, had her arms around them and started rocking. Detective Flores seemed to be talking to her quietly but he kept telling her she was not telling the truth. This was during the story she was telling of the two people coming into the house and killing Travis. Other things show she was not okay as well, her calling and leaving Travis messages on his phone after he died. I don’t think she was able to live in the reality that he was dead at the time and that she was the one that had killed him. Her brain would not accept that from her.
Dave Hall. a friend of TA’s had stated that the next day she was in Utah at a convention and was sitting eating with everyone acting like nothing had taken place. She had cuts on her fingers but explained it away by saying she cut them on a glass she broke at work. He noticed she was wearing a long sleeved shirt and found that odd given that it was summer in the desert and very hot. It seems to me that Ryan Burns had described her top as a turtleneck also, and found it strange that she was wearing such a shirt in the heat.