FROM WPTV:
PHOENIX – “Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said the Jodi Arias case is “over” after watching her testimony on Thursday, as prosecutors poked holes in her story.
“Before, she said she doesn’t remember the stabbing,” said Woods. “Today, she admitted that, obviously, she’s the one who did it.”
Woods said when the trial started he thought it was “questionable” if the jury would recommend a death sentence for Arias. Now, after hearing the suspected murderer on the stand, he’s changed his mind.
“I think she may have succeeded in talking herself into the death penalty,” he said. “Her story makes no sense. It doesn’t match forensics. It doesn’t match common sense. It’s a preposterous story.”
California criminal defense attorney Michael Cardoza, who has been following the case, said that Prosecutor Juan Martinez’s approach may have been aggressive by design to wear down her preparedness and catch her off-guard.
“When the defendant gets in trouble is when they get comfortable, and that’s when you know you’ve got them, that’s when you start peppering them,” he said. “They think they’re smarter than you.”
As defense attorneys question Arias again on Monday, Cardoza said their main goal will be to “blunt the sting” of the cross-examination, during which she admitted to lying repeatedly trying not to get caught.
As she described her efforts to avoid suspicion, Arias buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Martinez continued to press her. He later turned to the judge and simply said “I don’t have anything else,” then unassumingly returned to his chair.”
NOTE: SH reader “MadePiley” made a very astute observation re Travis Alexander’s last photos. MP theorized that Jodi had that gun pointed at… or had the gun right next to her and aimed at… Travis while she was taking those photos. If you look closely at Travis’ very last photos, he has a look of puzzlement and fright. We’re goin’ along with MP’s theory…
From NancyGrace:
“Today, defense attorney Kirk Nurmi will get his chance to try to repair the damage caused by prosecutor Juan Martinez’s intense cross-examination Thursday. Nurmi will ask Arias questions during his redirect examination in an attempt to re-establish her credibility with the jury.
Last week, Martinez bombarded her with questions about the day she killed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias said she killed Alexander in self-defense after he attacked her.
Nurmi’s redirect examination will be another opportunity for Arias to explain her memory lapses, and to talk about evidence that could point to premeditation. NOTE: Check out HLN/NancyGrace for all the details… photos, videos, re-enactments… re the JodiArias case.
After Nurmi finishes his redirect examination, the jurors will get a chance to ask questions of Arias directly before she exits the witness stand.”
NOTE: Arizona is one of only three states which the jury can ask the defendant questions. Indiana and Kentucky are the additional states which permit jury questions in their high courts. Please see Courts.legal.us for more detailed information re jury questioning the defendant. IMO, every state in the US should permit the jury to ask questions… the jury of your peers are the same peers who can decide your fate!
You can watch commercial-free live streaming of the JodiAriasTrial on…
and follow @VinniePolitan and @NancyGraceHLN on twitter…
“Jodi Arias is charged in the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. Arias claims self-defense, while authorities say she planned the attack on Travis Alexander in a jealous rage. Testimony has been ongoing since early January.
Arias, 32, lost a bid last week aimed at getting a reprieve from a potential death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder after the Arizona Supreme Court swiftly denied her motion that claimed a detective committed perjury in the case. Her attorneys have filed multiple motions for mistrials, all of which have been denied.
Last week, prosecutor Juan Martinez hammered Arias with intense questioning about her inability to recall crucial details in the case, yet noted it was puzzling that she can remember “what kind of coffee you bought at Starbucks sometime back in 2008.”
Arias first told authorities she knew nothing about Alexander’s death, then later blamed it on masked intruders before eventually settling on self-defense.
She said she was scared of being arrested, had been contemplating suicide and didn’t want to sully Alexander’s name with accounts of his violent behavior and lurid details of their sexual relationship, given his public persona as a devout Mormon who was saving himself for marriage.
Of the day she killed Alexander, Arias says she remembers him in a rage, body slamming her and chasing her around his home.
She said she grabbed a gun from his closet, and fired it as they tussled, but didn’t know if she hit him. She had no explanation for the 27 stab and slash wounds he suffered, or his slit throat, or how he ended up stuffed in his shower.
According to court records, however, she previously told police before her trial began that Alexander was unconscious after she shot him, but then “crawled around and was stabbed.”
She says she remembers putting a knife in the dishwasher and disposing of the gun in the desert as she drove from Arizona on her way to Utah. And she immediately began planning an alibi.
Arias’ grandparents reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California house about a week before the killing – the same caliber used to shoot Alexander – but Arias claims to know nothing about the burglary. She says she brought no weapons to Alexander’s home on the day she killed him, undercutting the prosecution’s theory of premeditation.”
What is so disturbing is how absolutely cold and calm Jodi Arias is when answering questions on the stand! How does Jodi smirk and smile when talking about a person who was killed.. and Jodi killed Travis!
I agree with Made’s theory. Also, if you look at the photo of his back in the shower, it almost looks like he has little bruises or broken blood vessels all over. It looks like he’d been tied up or something and he was struggling.
Ditto.
I is goin along w MPs theory as well, ms SH can you post that last foto of Travis with the look of fear on his face if possible
GF: Done. TFC!!! SH
Now that I’m lookin at the foto, his eyes look completely welled up too, very sad
@ Girlfriend It’s almost a mixture of pleading (please stop) and resolve ( I am doomed with no way out). Poor, poor man.
I agree 100% with MP’s assessment too. The one thing which has haunted me from the begining is the closeup photo of Travis face. The look in his eyes spelled shock, fear and disbelief to me. Arias either had the gun pointed at him or the knife was in her other hand. It just wasn’t a normal look in his eyes.
At that time he may still have thought that she was just gonna use these pictures against him to destroy his standing in the church. She is an evil evil person. With all pathological liars they usually will put a nugget of a truth in their lies. In this case it was when she admitted that she had to coax him into posing……. at gun point. She just does NOT have time to go get her gun from the time the last “posed” picture was taken to the one that has him dead. She had PLENTY of time to stage the scene after she dispatched him.
Yes the nugget of truth is always how lucifer gets you, takes you down, and cons the gullible. ALWAYS.
Me too. The look on his face is bone chilling. To see such fear, such helplessness is just heart breaking. It’s such a sad and frightening photograph – seeing the eyes of someone staring into the face of evil.
Anyone who has ever felt completely helpless in a terrifying situation can’t help but to be moved to tears over this photo. Makes me very sad…..
What are those abrasions around his neck?! Never noticed before…
now that I saw that- it looks like he might be clutching his throat- anyone else see this in the photo?
I wonder if he was the one tied up, not her…
Maybe after she slit his throat she made him walk back into the shower at gunpoint where she finished him off…
Great minds think alike. I have thought the exact same thing. When you look at him in all the other pictures you see a lightness in his eyes, then you see his photo and its a whole different look.
I never knew some states allowed jurors to question a defendant on the stand. Is it only the defendant(s)?
Hoping for justice for his family.
No its been other witnesses as well. Its pretty neat to hear the questions they are asking. I hope they keep the camera trained on Jodi’s face the entire time the jury questions are fired at her. The judge will read them to her.
I wish they did that in nyc
I was so disappointed in the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial. I wish that jury had been allowed to question her or at least her parents. At least if they asked questions it would have been a sign that the dirty 12 at least had a pulse and paid a scintilla of attention at trial instead of concerning themselves with when the snack lady was coming and where they were dining that night. It’s reassuring that in some states it can be a participatory process rather than only deliberations.
Remember when Jodi was “crying” on the stand? Martinez did an excellent job of pointing out her act when he ever so softly said “Thank you for correcting me.” The take away? She aint so broken up that she will miss an opportunity to argue silly points with the procecutor. In that case it was if she said Travis was horrible or that he had a horrible look on his face….. remember this is the face she caims to not have looked at when she shot him in the face.
Something I’ve missed here. Why take pics if she knows he’s not going to be around any longer? Seems sadistic. Again I haven’t see alot of the trial but did they ever explain why she took pictures before the crime??
Just like with the pedophile thing,… she wanted to kill every piece of him. His standing in the church.. his honor… She aimed to destroy him completely.
It could be that she just wanted to get the pictures for blackmail (I think that was the point of the phone sex calls- cause face it women dont really re-listen to that kind of stuff for their jollies-the female mind being what it is, we dont NEED stuff like that for recall ifn ya catch my drift)) and she dropped the camera giving him an opportunity to lunge for the gun and she killed him then and unleashed her rage fully.
Finally a scenario that make sense. You must have been good at puzzles.
But consider this: They just dropped a doozie on the stand volunteering that the pictures she took of her cut right finger was a “trophy pic.” I expect Nancy Grace to be all over that one. She might be waaaaay more than just a jealous psychopath ex girlfriend. She could very well could have serial killer tendencies. Like the ones that keep trophies of their victims so,they claim, to always keep them close to them. Arizona has a killer supreme on their hands.
Yep. Creepy as hell as she goes on and on with her sweet soft voice relating lots of BS in response to Squimy Nurmi’s prompting. I’m sure he loves all the sex talk with his career as a sex offender defender.
Is he really a sex defender lawyer? If so, I am sure he gets off with this kinky sex talk… Sick bastard..
shelagh: Nurmi sure is! Here’s his site: http://maricopasexcrimes.com TFC!! SH
Oh Ms SH, he is lower then I thought, I didn’t think I could think less of him… Thanks for the link..
He actually defends sex offenders?
Yes read the feed SH put up for me to read… He really is as nasty as he looks… Now I know why he is defending her, I’m sure he loves all this sex crap.. He’s getting off on it…
Nice catch!!
To me the jodis of the world are an extreme case of sociopathic behavior, but so many ppl are ILL and get away with tremendously bad behavior everyday and cause havoc everywhere they go. I know plenty, and the ” nugget of truth” mixed w jealousy and competition is extremely destructive. What do you think sick silly HWs do in real life, think about it……..petty desperate women just like kyle, PT and LULU will do anything short of going to jail of course.
so true.
I can’t stomach watching this trial today. I’ve been channel surfing and only catching a few minutes here and there of the dumbass defense council. I was just too frustrated listening to him attempt to undo the MAJOR damage the DA did last week. If the jury falls for it, they should all be strung up from the nearest tree.
I’m with you @sherry..I’d had enough. too dark…too creepy…that side of human nature just scares me senseless. I turned it on once today and then immediately back off. I just hope the jury does the right thing.
So then that means you’ve had it w the HWs then too, right cherry? Dark and creepy………..Hehehe
you know it gf…I’m sure which is the darker and creepier
I am bored with it… He is a slow talker, she with her little girl voice, I am waiting for the closing arguments… Enough of dancing around the courtroom. No respect… And one more thing, I am not crazy about the judge now… She is losing control of this courtroom, kind of like Ito did in the oj trial..
I’m waiting for the jury questions. Hoping they might ask what I wish that the Juan had asked.
Like: Were you shaking like a chiuaua when you broke the glass in Travis’ kitchen?
Did Travis body slam you for breaking the water glass the morning of the murder?
Did the prosecutors demeanor and tone cause you to shake like a chiuaua when you claimed you were having a problem answering the questions?
How were you able to hold the gun steady and aim so precisely while shaking like a chiuaua??
So, I’m a little hung up on the fact that nothing seems to scare her or make her shake like a damn chiuaua (I have no idea how spell it). shes one stone cold witch
Yes the jury questions too.. The way this sex defending lawyer is talking, it’s going to be a while.. It’s his voice, and hers.. Low and slow… I don’t want to see the experienced people saying she has low esteem, or she was battered… That is a lie.. I think she tried to control him, with her body… He took it for awhile, and realized, he don’t want it anymore… A stiffy, does what it has to do.. I haven’t see her shake like a chihuahua, ( I had one) that’s why I can spell it…
I pray for the guilty verdict…her eyes are empty… She has no soul…
CBS This Morning was doing a small piece on the Arias trail. The female analyst said she had witnessed years of crime scene photos but these were the worst she had ever seen in her career.
She said the scene was a bloodbath. Horrific. Jody did not just murder this young man she mutilated him. Arizona may be putting a serial killer whose career didn’t quite get off the ground away for good.
Gotta take a break from this. Facials on the porch and butt sex. Nurmi’s gonna sport a tent pole.
LOL MaRiley…exactly. He’s a perv!
nurmi is such a contemptible pig.
Jodi “The Butcher ” Arias.
She is crazy, my theory is that she went back to his house and asked him to take her back. He said no and she’d rather have him dead than not to have him at all. That is why she smirks, she doesn’t mind being in prison as long as no one has him, I do not believe in the death penalty but in this case I do, his family is suffering as she , her aunt and mom get a laugh out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a sad picture and his family had to see this!!!!
So sad. I agree that this was premeditated, and that the shower pic seems to show his fear. I am really creeped out by how she did it, the pics and the gun and all the stabs..I almost think this girl is possessed. If ever I believed in demonic possession, it would be in this case. She has no true remorse and truly believes what she did was necessary and justified. I also wonder, could there be any others? She may very well have done this before, to men who didn’t have friends or family that went lookin for them, and if no one found a body..
After watching some YouTube jodi trial I learned that she bought a gun after the murder. Was she on the way to becoming a serial killer? Or was she going to kill all the witnesses, or Travis’s friends? Shame we will never know. I think she was on her way to kill all who have scorned her. Why else would one buy a gun?
Exactly. I wonder if she wasn’t thinking that now she knew her own strength she needed a gun for future use. Someone who killed in self defense would be so traumatized they would never want to touch a gun again so soon. Or maybe she was in fact paranoid that his friends or someone would come after her?
I don’t believe Jodi and Travis had sex the day she killed him or had the sexual relationship she claims. I don’t believe expected her the day she showed up and killed him. Who cleans house at 4 a.m.? He told friends he was in over his head. He was trying to get away for good without setting her off. He must’ve felt safe hundreds of miles away. I can’t imagine what went through his mind when she showed up as a brunette.
I’m with Made on the pictures. She held him at gunpoint and told him what to do. The man in that picture wasn’t chilling in the shower after a day of sex or going off because a “stupid idiot” dropped his camera. He looked scared, sad, shocked and who knows what else.
If I wasn’t keeping up I’d think a pedophile/rapist was on trial. JA’s attorney is a perv-like his client-and enjoys graphic questions too much. He speaks as if she has a learning disability. Hopefully the jury is over hearing about her-how she felt about sex-what she liked-vaginal or anal, when she felt dirty-vaginal or anal. I hope they haven’t forgotten she mutilated a man just because he didn’t like her anymore. I bet she killed cats and dogs when she was little.
I can’t wait for Juan’s closing. That will be epic.
I’m with Made also. And you’ve brought up some very cogent thoughts…..that Travis would feel safe that Jodi was so far away. And how awful it would be to have her show up out of the blue as a brunette. I’ve heard testimony that they rarely locked the front door and it seems everybody knew the security codes to enter the attached garage. He looks terrified in the shower pics. She must have sneaked up on him, not the tale she tells of sex, then he takes a shower. If I recall correctly, there’s a photo of Travis facing the shower wall, in which he seems (to me) to have his arms up, like he’s under her command (with a gun).
Because of the nude photos taken on the day of the murder (of both Travis and Jodi), I’d say there’s a high likelihood that they did have a sexual encounter of some type, but I’m guessing there was no bondage like she claimed. She just threw that in the mix so that she could have a reason for having the knife within easy reach.