Originally Posted by
AgathaAppleswine
No it hasn't. It's been spoken of, and brought up by the defense. The prosecutor is trying to steer clear of the stalker issue, since it's not able to be proven. It's too prejudicial to bring up, and could become an issue on appeals if he pursues it. So he doesn't.
Travis was not just being stalked, but I believe he was being abused. This changes things, and makes the situation more complex. To add to that, Travis was a man being stalked and/or abused by a woman, which meant fewer resources, and a less likely chance of being taken seriously.
Says Jodi Arias, his abuser and stalker. You say "chose" like he had a perfectly normal relationship with her. You are not taking into consideration how manipulated in that relationship he might have been. He may have told her "No, I don't want sex", and then been convinced to give it to her anyway. He may have been guilted into making a sex tape (and a bad one at that) to make her happy, or to placate her. He may have been too frightened of her to say "no", but didn't tell anyone because he didn't think he should be afraid of her.
I can give you a dozen more scenarios where Travis would not be the totally willing participant you want him to be. There are many ways to coerce and manipulate people, and Travis was vulnerable. He grew up in a toxic home, he was struggling with his faith and his sex drive, he was struggling to find his identity. Abusers and stalkers can key into that vulnerability, and they quickly learn what it takes to manipulate their victims.
Haven't you ever wondered why Travis had so many injuries, and Jodi really had none? Abuse victims, even when they are being physically assaulted, often times don't fight back as hard as they should or can, because they don't want to inflict damage on their abusers.
Yes, I have been stalked. My abusive ex who raped me? Yeah, that ended in a stalking scenario. Every now and then he still shows up, or calls, or sends an email.
Guess what? I never called the police. I never moved. I still engaged with him for many years, and there were times when I thought that he was going to cross the line.
And lookie here! I'm alive and arguing with you.
The woman I know who was stalked? She did all the right things. Called police. Took notes on things. Used the buddy system when she went to work, didn't go anywhere alone, etc. She got a restraining order and changed her phone number. He showed up at her house with a knife, kidnapped her, raped her, and then locked her in the trunk and tried to set the car on fire.
So again, I say bullshit that doing things right will make a stalker less dangerous. It doesn't work that way, because there are different levels of crazy, and police can't do jack until the stalker actually causes you harm.
No, I'm not saying I know about Travis and Jodi. I am making suppositions that are supported by factors such as known reactions of abuse and stalking victims. I discount most of what Jodi says simply because she lies about everything, and has twisted it all up to avoid taking responsibility for her crime. YOU keep saying that it is a FACT that Travis was blase about Jodi. You are saying that it is FACT that he did nothing. You are saying that it is FACT that he wasn't worried. You are saying that it is FACT that Travis didn't do the right things.
You don't know that. It sounds like he was attempting to cut her out of his life. We don't know how she got into his house. We don't know how she got him naked. YOU claim that you KNOW ABSOLUTELY that Travis was just addicted by the sex, and therefore blind to any dangers. There is no evidence to support that. There is plenty of fact, however, to support the theory that Travis was manipulated and abused by Jodi, and therefore, his reactions to her on June 4th are different than someone who is not an abuse victim.
Do you understand this? There is a difference between fact and opinion. What you have stated is an opinion, but you are trying to make it a fact. You have nothing to support your opinion, except for Jodi's testimony and your encounter with a stalker. Again, this does give you some insight, but it doesn't mean that your insight disproves mountains of data that explain how victims of abuse respond to their abusers.
Yes, they had a secret relationship. Yes, they had nekkid pictures. Now, if you take Jodi's first version of events seriously, she says that she has to convince Travis to have his picture taken in the shower. Based on what I know of Jodi, she probably begged, nagged, and annoyed him until he gave into whatever her demands were. So I'm assuming the sex and the photos were his way of appeasing her.
You don't know that he consented in the sense that he wanted the sex. He may have been trying to appease her. He may have been manipulated into letting her into his home. You assume too much with no evidence to support this.
No, what you do is conveniently forget certain things, ignore others, and twist the details to suit your own belief. You are too determined to make sure that Travis take some responsibility for his death, and I find that insulting.
Nothing of Jodi's stalking has been proven in court. Read the top of this post if you need a refresher on that. The bolded part points to your BS and how you contradict yourself. Do you understand that "his choices led him to this and if he'd done it differently, he'd still be alive" is blame?
The definition of blame means to "hold responsible, censure, find fault with". Which is exactly what you have done. You fault Travis on his choices, you assume that he was a totally consenting person who should have seen the danger and that he did nothing to prevent said danger. That is fault, ergo that is blame.
Maybe she apologized to him. As an abuse victim, or simply because he's a forgiving guy, Travis let her into his house. Perhaps it was ill-advised, but this does not make him in any way responsible for his death. If he hadn't allowed her into his home, she would have broken in. Perhaps he shouldn't have had sex with her? Well, maybe she demanded it, and threatened him with that phone sex tape. In exchange for her silence, he screwed her. That doesn't mean he consented to sex. Maybe she suggested break-up sex, and he agreed, because he really did care for her, and he enjoyed spending time with her when she wasn't being weird.
I don't know. You don't know either. You cannot claim he consented when there is nothing that tells us whether or not he did.
Whew. Long post is long.
Violet, I recommend that you do a little more research on male victims of abuse before you continue the discussion. This case is not about sex or stalking (although both those things are a big part of the discussion).
Reply With Quote
