She’s (more or less) admitted to being the person who ended Travis Alexander’s life, but she’s claiming a convenient loss of memory about the killing and what she did immediately afterward.
I know that quite a bit of the trial has been televised, although I’ve not seen any of it; I’ve just read about it in the newspapers and online.
Any Dopers following this besides me?
What do you think of her defense strategy/claims?
Any other thoughts on any legal aspects of the trial?
I think she should go to jail, but it’s starting to look as though she’ll get away with it.
Really? I’ve only read a few articles about it but that surprises me. It looks to me like a graphic example of the dangers of testifying on your own behalf. 12 days of testimony and a lot of being tripped up.
No friggin’ way she’ll get away with it. At this point, the best she and her defense team can possibly hope for is to avoid the death penalty. The only thing she has even a remote chance of “getting away with” is her life.
ETA: Take it from me, I was one of the few to call the Casey Anthony verdict correctly.
I did too. None of the detectives I work with were shocked either. I thought it was a long shot at best but the evidence was not going to get any better.
I haven’t followed this too closely, but I’ve seen the clips from the last couple of days of the trial, and she appears to have hoisted herself on her own petard. I think the jurors will disregard everything she says, and there’s no question that she killed the guy. I can’t even tell what her claim to be found not guilty is based on, but she’s not getting any sympathy from the jury.
I guess the claim is that he turned her into some sort of sex slave. Battered woman defense. But the texts, video and pictures paint a different picture. There is no evidence of abuse. And the prosecutor seems to be doing a good job of picking her story apart. Here is an example of testimony that seems horribly bad for her. This is why the defendant testifies only when there is no other choice.
Her story makes no sense and she’s making it worse as she testifies. Maybe she would have had some shot claiming temporary insanity and maybe getting spared the death penalty or life, but the jury will probably go for the max no matter what the evidence is after listening to her. She’s just too calculating in everything she does, the jury won’t believe she snapped and killed him, she’s the premeditating type, a good closing by the prosecutor will make the send a chill down the juror’s spines. I doubt they’ll hesitate on the death penalty.
She will be able to pass time in prison by teaching acting lessons to the other inmates, if anything, to show how bad acting does not result in good reviews (or staying out of prison).
I expect the jury to return with the death penalty.
Her eventual 60 Minutes interview while on death row should prove interesting. I don’t expect a pity me, sweetness attitude.
I can only assume that because there was no evidence of abuse (that I could see, I haven’t seen or heard all the testimony) the only way the jury could here about anything that supports the defense was to hear her testimony. It looks to me like it backfired. Having the prosecutor ask your client “How about when you cut his throat, were you crying then?” can not be good for your defense.
Well, what is her motive according to the prosecution?
I don’t think I believe the story about she dropped the camera and he attacked her for it, so what is her motive, if her story isn’t true?
Motive is nice to have but it is not anything the prosecution has to present or prove. I believe they are going with just plain old jealousy but I didn’t see that part.
Prosecution does not have to prove motive.
For those of you who have not watched the trial, get down on your hands and knees and kiss the ground and thank whatever deity you believe in. If you don’t believe in one, GET ONE, just for this purpose.
My husband has been GLUED to the goddamned TV throughout this dreck. The testimony and the evidence (pictures and text messages) have degenerated into the depths of Perdition: TruTV has to give disclaimers about the “explicit” nature of the trial and asks for discretion.
Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander were two young people who were hotblooded and horny, and couldn’t stay away from each other. It seems every little dribble between the two of them was immortalized in some way. Unfortunately.
The trial has been the biggest diarrhea of smut I’ve ever seen on TV.
A copy should be kept in every household medicine chest, for whenever Poison Control directs you to “induce vomiting.”
~VOW
The self defense theory is laughable, considering she stabbed him 27 times (many stab wounds were to the back), shot him in the head, and slit his throat from ear to ear. If she shot him first (her version of the events), then he would have been immediately incapacitated and she could have run. After all, he was naked and she was dressed, so it’s not like he would have chased her out of the house, especially with a bullet in his forehead. And there would be no need to stab him 27 times and slit his throat afterwards.
But I believe the prosecution’s theory, that she lured him into the shower for a “photo shoot” and had him kneel down to mimic a Calvin Klein ad. That way, he is totally vulnerable–naked and crouched down (she was dressed and standing over him). Then immediately after the photo, she stabbed him in the chest. They believe he came out of the shower to the sink where he coughed up blood and saliva, then she continued to stab him and he ran down the hall where she caught up with him and shot him in the head, then slit his throat from ear to ear. All within a 2 minute period, which we know due to the time stamps on the pictures that she tried to delete.
I actually find her fascinating because I think the a psychopath, which is rare for a female.
I’ve been watching the trial and think she should be executed. This was a premeditated, calculated, and brutal murder. If a man had done this to a woman, he’d be sentenced to death and I’m all for equal rights. That said, I don’t have much confidence in American juries to sentence a pretty girl to death. I certainly hope they are not foolish enough to buy her story, but then I think of OJ.
She was obsessed with him and he was going on vacation later that day with another girl. He had broken up with her, but they still got together for kinky sex. She was stalking him (hacked his my space, facebook etc). He had sent her some pretty mean texts saying she was not marriage material and her family would be ashamed of her, but still continued to hook up with her for sex. Her motive was jealousy and rage that he rejected her.
Don’t forget the gun. She claims when defending herself she grabbed his .25 pistol off a shelf and shot him. There is no record of him having a gun and no one who knew him ever saw him with a gun. Coincidentally Arias’ grandparents report a gun stolen. A .25 of course. The gun was never found because she dumped it in the desert while on the way to bang another dude.
Pretty much “stalkery” jealousy and anger over being considered nothing more than a fuck-buddy.
He was getting ready to go on a trip to Cancun immediately before the murder, and I believe he had invited another female friend (supposedly, only a friend) to go with him, when previously Arias had accompanied him on many such trips.
Note: I do not give a shit what the prosecution’s responsibility is wrt proving motive.
I just wondered what it was, because I am not following this case and I can’t see any reason (from the very few details I’ve picked up on) for this woman to have wanted to stabbed the guy eleventy times.
So, to those of you who answered my question, thank you.
She must be batshit. My bet is she’ll be convicted and spend a bunch of time in prison.
If I had to guess, I say she will be convicted. But her best chance is that being badgered by the prosecutor will make her appear sympathetic to the jury. Helpless Young Woman versus Aggresive Powerful Man etc.
OTOH, her responses to the cross-examination have been pretty testy too, and this may undercut her. She might have been better served to just cry in reponse.
In any event, my money says she sits, as above. Just too much of a slam dunk case to overcome.
I haven’t followed the case particularly closely, but I don’t think she qualifies for Capital Murder. In AZ, there needs to be some extra factor beyond simple pre-meditated murder to get the death penalty (multiple victims, underage victim, prior conviction for serious crime, etc)