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Jodi Arias Is Innocent - Page 44

New motion filed + Dr. Robert Geffner listed as surrebuttal witness

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Kirk Nurmi filed a request on Sunday to add “Manslaughter by Sudden Quarrel” or “Heat of Passion” charges to the jury instructions.

The defense is also requesting they be allowed to call another witness to impeach and/or discredit the prosecution’s “expert witness”. In court documents, Kirk Nurmi writes it is “necessary and critical to Ms. Arias’ defense after this court allowed the state to present new evidence during rebuttal via its witness Dr. Janeen DeMarte.”

Based on this new information – and their right to call another witness – Dr. Robert Geffner was therefore listed in the motion as a surrebuttal witness.

Dr Geffner is a psychologist with 28 years of experience. He’s also the founder and president of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute in San Diego and often speaks out against domestic violence.

Here’s coverage & commentary from MyFoxPhilly.com:

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“The Jodi Arias trial has been going on for nearly 4 months. The defense finally finished its case last week. Or did it?

Defense attorneys may not be done after all — and they make a move that could get their client minimal jail time even if she is convicted.

There were no trial proceedings Monday, but there was plenty of legal wrangling in the case.

The defense wants to call a psychologist to the stand to contradict the prosecution’s expert witness, Dr. Janeen DeMarte.

DeMarte testified she did not believe Arias was an abused by Travis Alexander and did not suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Instead she feels Arias has a borderline personality disorder.

Arias claims she killed Alexander in self-defense and cannot remember most of what happened

However, the defense Monday asked the court to add “crime of passion” to jury instructions. That would give the jury the choice of acquitting Arias on self-defense or convicting her of first degree murder, second degree murder or manslaughter, due to heat of passion.

If convicted of manslaughter, Arias would serve 7 to 21 years in prison with credit for the 4 and a half years she’s been in jail awaiting trial. The judge has not ruled on either motion.

The trial resumes Tuesday with the prosecution expected to call either two of Alexander’s former co-workers or a Wal-Mart employee.”

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Leave your comments below. The trial kicks off again today @ 9.30 am JT.

SJ
Team Jodi

 

Dissecting the photographs [RE-POST]

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Here’s a re-post of my “Dissecting the Photographs” post from Jan 27th. The only addition is Pic #6, where I added the knife & dishwasher pics that were apparently never shown during the trial.

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Check out the pictures below – all produced as evidence in the trial:

With regards to the camera strap and its suggested usage, Heather Conner testified (on Day 4) that the camera strap was found still unwrapped and in the camera bag (exhibit #213). Kirk Nurmi also deliberately highlighted this on cross examination. Excluding the use of a secondary strap, this therefore confirms there was no strap used while any of the pictures were being taken with the Sony camera.

Here are the pics:

Pic # 1: One of the hallway pics, where the body is allegedly being dragged and photographed at the same time – also featuring “the foot” and “the pants with the blue vertical stripe”. I’m not convinced this picture was taken while the camera was on the ground. Pictured timed at 5:32:16 PM.

Pic #2: A second picture where TA is allegedly being “dragged”. Very hard to make out what’s actually shown in the picture, but it could easily be a shoe as it could be anything else. If it was TA’s body being dragged on a “sheet” (as some pundits have stated), then how would it be possible to be dragging the body and taking the picture at the same time? Pictured timed at 5:33:32 PM.

Pic #3: A picture of the ceiling “accidentally” taken during the struggle in the bathroom while Jodi was defending herself from TA’s attack. Pictured timed at 5:31:14 PM.

Pic #4: The piece of duct tape (retrieved from the bathroom floor) as seen on TA’s right arm in the “bedroom pics”…

Pic #5: The Sony camera as retrieved from the washing machine. The button is on the right of the camera. Jodi is left handed…


Pic #6: This crime scene composite picture shows the knife block (#67) with 2 knives missing… and the dishwasher (#68) with the 2 missing knives in it.

crime scene 67-68 knife block-dishwasher

Leave your comments below…

SJ
Team Jodi

We Are Team Jodi and We Will Be Victorious. Here’s why…

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In the midst of a 4 day break before the trial circus resumes again, let’s take a closer look at exactly why we’re gonna be celebrating our victory a couple of weeks from now.

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To start things off, let’s look at a few basic legal facts:

In any court proceeding, the highest burden of proof  is proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.” When a person stands trial, the jury must therefore begin with the assumption that the accusations against the defendant are false.

The constitution requires the State to prove its accusations against the defendant. It is not necessary for the defendant to disprove anything. Nor is the defendant required to prove his or her innocence. It is up to the State to prove the defendant’s guilt by evidence.

A juror can only find in favor for the State at the end of the trial, providing the prosecution has erased all reasonable doubts about the defendant’s innocence from the juror’s mind.

So taking all that one step further… and putting the ridiculous burglary charge BS aside… it technically comes down to a charge of whether or not this was premeditated (i.e. pre-planned) 1st degree murder.

Contrary to the opinion of the clueless masses and non trial watchers, this is not a “Whodunit” trial – nor is it based on the color of Jodi’s hair… a Walmart receipt… a gas can… or on what someone might have said to someone else at some point. None of that matters.

In reality, it’s actually an overcharged self defense case, and a judicial farce to boot.

This is why there’ll be a Not Guilty verdict returned on the bullshit M1 charge.

You see, the jurors have to weigh up all the evidence – including the State’s LACK of evidence, and the obvious & accompanying lack of pre-meditation on Jodi’s part. And despite Martinez’ shambolic showboating escapades, the State has never even come close to proving their case beyond all reasonable doubt… not this week, not last week, not last month… and not at any other time either. Nor will they ever.

This quote (reproduced from an earlier post) sums it all up very well…

“As far as I am concerned, the only issue in the Jodi Arias trial is has the government proven premeditation. That of course, is important because if the government has not proven premeditation, they cannot convict her of murder in the first degree and thus the death penalty is off the table. And while the government has also alleged murder in the first degree by way of felony-murder, that allegation is so specious as not to even warrant a response.

The government has not proven premeditation, and in fact, could not do so under any circumstances. Without direct evidence, either a confession by Ms. Arias that she intended to kill Mr. Alexander, as in “I wanted to kill to him”, or an overt act such as hiring a hit man or waiting in wait in ambush, the government cannot prove premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt. Note that I am not saying she did not intend to kill him or that there is not very good reason to suspect that she intended to kill him, just that the government will not be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. And that has been clear since day one. Someone asked me on twitter a question along the lines of “she lied so she doesn’t get the death penalty?”. My answer, yes, exactly right. To paraphrase Lt. Kaffee from a “Few Good Men”, it doesn’t matter what we know; it only matters what we can prove.

Instead of proving premeditation with direct evidence, the government is trying to do so with circumstantial evidence. So far the attempt has been, with the most charitable interpretation possible, pathetic. While the law does not recognize a distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence, there is a jury instruction that says exactly that, the inference the government wishes the jury to draw from the circumstantial evidence is, dare I say, comically lacking.”

Yes, Martinez has his favorite autopsy pics which he’s put to good use so far, and will do in his closings… but none of those pictures prove pre-meditation either. All they prove is that the animal Jodi was defending herself against came off decidedly second best.

Jodi – the potential VICTIM – turned the tables on her attacker. Self defense. Plain & simple.

So based on all that…. the fact still remains that some of the jurors, for reasons best known to themselves, will still believe it was pre-meditated. But some of the jurors will not — meaning a hung jury.

As Jose Baez said on HLN “bathroom re-enactment” show the other week…

“The physical evidence does not lie”

Ain’t that the truth…

Here’s the clip featuring Jose with his view on the order of events:

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And here’s a secondary clip of Jose from the end of the program:

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And just for good measure – check out the chart below.

It’s the same chart Cheney Mason used (during Jose Baez’s closing arguments) for the defense in Casey’s trial… which clearly explained the concept of reasonable doubt to the jury…

Burden of Proof - chart - Jodi Arias Not Guilty

Fair enough, some jurors may strongly believe it was pre-meditated…

Some may think it very likely…

Some may think Jodi is probably guilty or possibly guilty…

… while others will suspect that perhaps it was planned.

That’s great… because they’ll be the bunch of jurors that’ll save Jodi’s life… uphold the constitution… and ultimately deliver a positive verdict. And I, for one, cannot wait for the Taliban reaction when that happens.

So like I be saying for the past few months now… let’s not stress too much over the verdict. Why? Because it’s already been decided. It’s just gonna be another couple of weeks before it’s “officially” announced.

Remember folks…

Victory is in sight.

Just like the title of today’s post says…

WE ARE TEAM JODI – AND WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS.

Never question it.

Never doubt it.

You can mark my words on that.

Have a great weekend!

SJ
Team Jodi

If you would like to help Jodi directly by way of a financial donation via check or PayPal, click here (or click the Team Jodi link below) for further details.

 

Janeen DeMarte – Jurors Questions (from Day 50)

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Following on from another very successful day for Team Jodi, here’s a list of the 19 jurors questions asked & answered by Janeen DeMarte from trial day 50:

Q1: How many forensic cases have you worked on?

Q2: How many times have you testified based on your evaluations?

Q3: How many cases involved abuse?

Q4: Hypothetically, if a person suffered PTSD because of a bear attack while hiking, would you throw out their PDS test if they lied and said it was a tiger?

Q5: Would the person be answering the questions the same, regardless of whether they called the animal a bear or a tiger?

Q6: Do you believe absolutely that it is possible to remain purely unbiased in an evaluation once compassion creeps in?

Q7: What types of people are at risk for developing or having Borderline Personality Disorder?

Q8: In the interview Jodi gave, where she stated – “Mark my words, no jury will ever convict me” – do you feel that is part of a Borderline Personality Disorder, especially since she is smiling  when she said it?

Q9: Wouldn’t taking the camera, rather than leaving it, show more organizational thinking capabilities?

Q10: When asked by the defense about efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, you stated you had other examples for this category that did not involve TA. Can you share those examples?

Janeen DeMarte - Jodi Arias - Team Jodi 4-18

Q11: Do you think deleting pictures from a camera, and then washing that camera is an attempt to remove or destroy evidence?

Q12: If you had not seen pictures proving that the evidence (photos) was recovered, given your knowledge of cameras, would you have viewed this as an effective attempt to destroy evidence?

Q13: In your opinion, is it normal for a person who is incarcerated to be depressed and have anxiety?

Q14: Do you consider Jodi stabbing, shooting & slitting TA’s throat to be a traumatic event?

Q15: You said you administered the TSI to Jodi because Dr Karp had done the same… but you did not re-administer other tests that Dr Karp or Dr Samuels had given. Can you explain why?

Q16: Do you know what the differences are between the TSI 1 versus the TSI 2?

Q17: Regarding the PDS answer sheet – exhibit #555 – do you know who’s handwriting is on the PDS answer sheet?

Q18: Do you see any issues with Dr Samuels filling out the answer sheet and possibly summarizing the written answers on section #2?

Q19: Does it cause any concern for you regarding the validity of the test, that the written answers appear to be answered by someone who is familiar with psychological verbiage and not in layman’s verbiage?

And here’s the video covering all the questions & answers, together with the state & defense follow-ups:

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Leave your comments below…

SJ
Team Jodi

Jodi Arias Trial – Day 50

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CLICK HERE FOR DAY 50 VIDEO RECORDING

UPDATE: There’s no trial tomorrow (Friday) or Monday.
The trial will resume again next Tuesday 4/23 and run thru Thursday 4/25.

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After the half-day trial yesterday – we’ve now reached a mini-landmark with Day 50 of Jodi’s grossly overcharged self defense trial & judicial farce.

Barring any overnight shenanigans, Jennifer Willmott will be picking up where she left off yesterday – and she’ll carry on ripping “expert witness” Janeen DeMarte a new one.

As you can see by the picture below, she’s not too impressed so far :mrgreen:

Janeen DeMarte - Jennifer Willmott - Cross Examination Master Class 4-17

Leave your comments below on trial day 50, as Jodi takes one step closer to victory…

SJ
Team Jodi

If you would like to help Jodi directly by way of a financial donation via check or PayPal, click here (or click the Team Jodi link below) for further details.

 

Jodi Arias Trial – Day 49

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CLICK HERE FOR DAY 49 VIDEO RECORDING

I guess that when the state’s witness has basically been paid (and coached) to turn up and say the other 2 expert witnesses were talking total BS, then the direct testimony of Janeen DeMarte was always gonna be short & sweet. Even Heather Conner (the latent print examiner) spent 5 times longer testifying about a few fingerprints & TA’s undergarments – but I digress.

Juan Martinez & Janeen DeMarte 4-16

So following the start of the cross yesterday – which terse to say the least – Jennifer is already well on her way to accomplishing her initial Team Jodi mission of derailing DeMarte’s credibility – and with relative ease.

There was also a drastic difference in DeMarte’s replies to Jennifer. I guess that’s the difference between scripted & unscripted?

It’s not that DeMarte is clueless… far from it in fact. No doubt she’s awesome at arranging stuff and organizing people. It’s just that she has very limited knowledge & experience of PTSD, amnesia and battered woman’s syndrome. Yes or no?

And with reviewing disability claimants, coupled with her AZ state hospital gigs in 2009, her supervised evaluations, and a license to do stuff granted in mid-2010 — she’s trying to come across as an accomplished expert in an area where she isn’t. As far as I know, DeMarte was still in diapers when ALV got her masters degree – but I guess that has little to do with it really.

Strangely enough, it reminds me of Dr Richard Samuels famous one-liner to Martinez a few weeks ago, where he told him: “You have no knowledge in this area!”

Let’s see how it all unfolds today.

Remember the ammunition, and forget the stripper pole… for now at least.

Leave your comments below on trial day 49 of this judicial farce…

SJ
Team Jodi

If you would like to help Jodi directly by way of a financial donation via check or PayPal, click here (or click the Team Jodi link below) for further details.

Geraldo, Mark Geragos & Jodi’s tweeteringz

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This is an interesting clip from Fox last weekend, featuring Geraldo & defense attorney Mark Geragos – together with their respective thoughts on Jodi’s latest tweeting escapades and the trial itself…

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Jodi’s Official Twitter page: www.Twitter.com/JodiAnnArias

Leave your thoughts & observations below…

SJ
Team Jodi

If you would like to help Jodi directly by way of a financial donation via check or PayPal, click here (or click the Team Jodi link below) for further details. Thank you for your support!

Jodi Arias Trial – Day 48 (afternoon session)

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CLICK HERE FOR DAY 48 VIDEO RECORDING

With the defense now rested, the direct testimony of rebuttal witness Janeen DeMarte has started, and will no doubt take up the rest of the week at least.

Seems to me, so far, that DeMarte is way too concerned with Alyce LaViolettes’ & Dr Richard Samuels’ modus operandi than anything else… and her Vocal Fry-style answers have been well scripted and well rehearsed for sure. Reminds me of a bad salesperson that majors on knocking the competition, rather than extolling the benefits of their own “product”.

Bottom line: It’s just not viable for a newbie to knock the opinions of experts with well over 60 years combined experience. It ain’t gonna wash, and the jury will see it that way too. Worst case, the expert witnesses will simply cancel each other out.

Anyways… let’s not get ourselves too worked up over it all, and let’s also make sure that we don’t stoop to the haters’ very low level.

Just chill & observe. Jennifer will cancel her out when the time comes.

We are winning for sure. All is good.

Leave your comments below on the afternoon session of trial day 48…

SJ
Team Jodi

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