Jodi Arias Trial: Day 21

Some random thoughts as the cross-examination of defendant Jodi Arias progresses:

It has started on time for a change. I expect Martinez to be brutal, but Jodi has to keep her composure. After all, the prosecution simply can't prove the killing was premeditated.

He's being a complete jerk because he doesn't have any case for premeditation.

He's trying to hammer her testimony regarding the bent ring finger by using a picture of her hand to disprove her account. However, it kind of blew up in his face because all of her fingers were bent in the picture. Fail there.

Martinez is grasping at straws. He can't prove premeditation.

With all of the sidebars, it may be April of next year before the trial ends.

He's trying to use her diary to point out inconsistencies; unfortunately, he isn't scoring any points. Jodi Arias is smarter than average; what a shame she had so much going for her that she threw it all away for a toxic relationship. Same is true with Travis Alexander.

What Martinez should have done was talk to Travis's family and say there is no way this is murder one and work out a plea deal with the defense. I know the family is very vengeful, but there is simply no case for premeditation despite all of Juan's yelling and theatrics.

The jury would have to be completely brain dead to give her murder one and death.

Update: If this were a boxing match, it would be stopped in the first round. Jodi is holding up extremely well against the fishing expedition antics of prosecutor Martinez. She even had a comeback on him for yelling at her, and his voice lowered quite a bit for awhile, but it is rising up again. She will have to be careful not to look like she is smirking or watch what she says to the prosecutor; after all, it's her lawyers' job to make sure Martinez doesn't get too carried away.

What Martinez is trying to do is to show inconsistencies in her testimony to make it look like she is a liar. Even if she were lying every step of the way, it doesn't prove she premeditated the murder of Travis Alexander.

Update 2: Martinez is going on a fishing expedition trying to show a pattern of stalking behavior by Jodi with other men as a motive to kill Travis. The problem with this fishing expedition is the sex tape made just three weeks before Travis died completely and totally debunks Travis's friends' nonsense she was a stalker. He was always trash talking about ex-girlfriends.

Epic fail. Score: Jodi 100, Juan 0

Update 3: Court is adjourned until 10:30 a.m. Monday. He will probably get to the day of the murder, showing autopsy pictures, crime scene pictures, and so forth to unnerve her. He was leapfrogging all over the place having her talk about a previous ex-boyfriend, and now he has her on the road leading up to the day of the murder.

He was also talking about magazines with notes in them. I don't know if a jailhouse snitch is being called as a rebuttal witness or somebody who isn't who she perhaps was trying to influence. He is going to the murder, then the aftermath, and then he will come back to the magazines. Jodi had better tell the truth about those magazine notes; it could be a game changer. I am thinking this rebuttal witness is either a jailhouse snitch or somebody on the outside and Martinez may be implying that she tried to influence a witness to lie for her. That could be a game changer if it can be proved she premeditated the murder. A lot of people have gone to death row over a snitch or being recorded on the phone making some impeaching statement. I don't see it, frankly, but what it can do is impeach her honesty.

Jodi didn't look all that concerned about the magazines and transcripts.
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Trial resumes at 10:30 MST.


Direct testimony ended yesterday. The prosecution will cross-examine today. I just don't know what prosecutor Martinez will be able to do because there is simply no evidence whatsoever of premeditation in the murder of Travis Alexander. There never was, but Jodi Arias's testimony and the documentary evidence backing it up (text messages, phone calls) simply rule it out. There was simply no evidence of any other motive than self-preservation. While a few cynics might say she concocted not being able to remember the fatal stabbing(s) of Travis for reasons of convenience, it does sound believable because she remembered she shot Travis. She didn't pretend that she didn't kill him; she simply couldn't remember.

This is common in people with PTSD, a way for the body to cope with extreme trauma as killing a person would be.

Martinez will do his best to poke holes in her account, but it will be all for naught, as the gun she used wouldn't have killed Travis anyway. He only got madder, and she resorted to using the knife at some point.

There is reasonable doubt everywhere in this case.

Apparently what set off the final confrontation was Jodi dropping the camera--which often damages or breaks it, as I know too well from personal experience--and he just went all pissy on her. He was already in a crappy mood from earlier in the day over those CDs Jodi had given him, and he went all ballistic on her. Granted, there are no witnesses to this final confrontation, but in domestic abuse situations, there often aren't others around to see and hear it.

I could change my opinion, but I don't see my opinion changing that this was never a murder one case to begin with. I always felt that way from the time I first heard about it from 48 Hours.

The problem with this whole case is these zombie friends of Travis got control of the narrative to begin with, starting with 48 Hours, and promoting the absurd idea Jodi was this “evil" stalker who killed their beloved Travis because of jealousy. This despite the fact they never really knew him at all. They got control of the narrative with the HLN lynch mob and they’ve never let go, despite the fact there simply is NO evidence whatsoever of premeditation, and despite the fact Travis continually contacted Jodi up until his death. There is also no evidence whatsoever anybody other than Jodi killed him, so while many speculate other alternatives, the defense wasn’t that silly to try and pin the murder onto somebody else. It's almost like the friends and business associates are protecting the reputation of the Mormon church (Travis was an elder despite being young) as much as they are protecting Travis's reputation.

What is truly scary for anybody who cares about justice in this country is we have a media that is willing to whip up a lynch mob mentality, all for ratings. It’s scandalous.

I don’t expect Shanna Hogan, in her upcoming book about the case, to divert from the ridiculous narrative the Mormon crowd has created despite all of the facts not supporting it.



Trial can be viewed at the Arizona Republic website, among live streams or can be viewed here on the blog: