Jodi Ann Arias shot and stabbed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander to death (Part II)

[Ruthven]

Here he comes to save the day

Goddamn he looked especially fine today in white.

[zeebee]

Yeah, I like people who aren't afraid to wear what they want and I felt she was alright before I heard from Ian and DC that she was bossy and an annoying sort of gatekeeper. I seriously would've told her to kindy stfu.

I'm all for people wearing whatever they want, but you know... it can also be seen as a sort of freak flag warning signal.

[denn]

I love this jury too.

Common sense, dutiful attention, intelligent questions - they sought the truth in mountains of lies. And Arias won't be able to conduct media interviews tonight. That will annoy her more than the verdict.

They are incredible. I wonder if we will get to see any of them.

[I doubt it]

Yeah, I like people who aren't afraid to wear what they want and I felt she was alright before I heard from Ian and DC that she was bossy and an annoying sort of gatekeeper. I seriously would've told her to kindy stfu.

She's been there since the trial began. acting the same bossy and annoying way. Before she showed up in the leopard suit, she was known as Gypsy Woman by the trial-goers. Always dresses on the wild side.

[denn]

I'm all for people wearing whatever they want, but you know... it can also be seen as a sort of freak flag warning signal.

I wonder is she has any real leopards hidden at home.

[Ruthven]

Is this the person who alot of the people were upset with today for bossing them around? Apparently there was some sort of disagreement and people were telling someone off.

Yeah I think so.

[DenverClipper]

Thanks for all the kind comments about Ian and me.

[AnnieBelle]

So, either way, she is going down. Do you know what is the next step for her defense team? I wonder if she is going to fire them and hire new attorneys to handle the appeal. I would think that is her game plan. She can blame this defense team for not going in with an insanity defense. Can't very well blame the defense representation if they are going to represent on appeal.

Yes....either way, she will never walk free, again. That is why I so wanted them to find the aggravating factors in existence. Now, I really don't care what they decide....but I would have been heart sick if she ever got the chance to be a freed woman, because she so ruthlessly took his life away. I have a feeling she won't go off, quietly, into the sunset. She loves the spotlight too much. She will try and find every reason to appeal. Doesn't mean that any of them will get off the ground.

[Ruthven]

I'm all for people wearing whatever they want, but you know... it can also be seen as a sort of freak flag warning signal.

I don't think that's fair. Cause even the most typical non-assuming dresser can be an absolute psycho.

[AnnieBelle]

Goddamn he looked especially fine today in white.

He is one gorgeous man. Seriously gorgeous. WOW!

[*crickets*]

I have always thought the mitigation specialist looks and acts very unprofessional. When I first started watching the trial, I thought she was a friend who had somehow gotten permission to be near Jodi, for whatever reason. When I found out what her job is, I was stunned. Her look is inappropriate for the courtroom, and her behavior is disgusting.

DC said she reminded him of a hooker. I always got a middle-aged hooker vibe from her too...I posted that a few days ago and got smited for "a dumb post" (NOT COMPLAINING! just saying...)

[zeebee]

I don't think that's fair. Cause even the most typical non-assuming dresser can be an absolute psycho.

True. At least a lady dressed all in leopard print sends out a warning signal.

[Cocopop]

Long time lurker...at least as long ago as my first MySpace, first time commenter. Wonderful insight here on this case.

I'm going to be a Debbie Downer for a sec.

DP...it's too good for her, and the "faith" that I have in the CJ system is so very conflicting. With opportunity to appeal, the slowness of this process...golly, evidenced by how long this whole process has taken! I have had a loved one murdered. Her POS murders sit on death row. 25 years ago she was murdered. Appeals that judge was drunk, judge can't sentence to death ("we want a jury"), drug problems, "we confessed...were promised a deal", and the kicker? The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. Yup. Why a lot of DP cases have been put on hold? Our case is a result of that.

This lady needs to rot. All by herself. In the hole. We need to make her persona non grata and FORGET this bitch. Her Narcissistic Personality Disorder will go into overdrive, and maybe she'll find a way to do herself in.

Rest in Peace Travis Alexander. To the Alexander family, I am sorry...you may have a long road still ahead; I am so sorry for your pain. I'm so sorry you have to be revictimized.

Welcome Sarahric13
Lotta Newbies Today... me likey

Goddamn he looked especially fine today in white.

The friggin Mods are gonna kill us, but I must chime in
"Uhm,... he would look great even if rolled in a pig sty & doused in feathers"


*** Ian & Denver IOU -- out of Reps today, will pay up tomorrow ***

[Ruthven]

True. At least a lady dressed all in leopard print sends out a warning signal.

lol guess you're right.

[AnnieBelle]

Guys! Well, I'm back sitting by the pool, reading all of your great posts. I thought I might put off reporting back to you until tomorrow, but after reading all that, my conscience wouldn't let me. Let's start at the end and then jump back to the beginning.

The interviews! Please! Stop with the praise. I plan on going back to court tomorrow a.m. and if you keep it up my head will be so swollen that I won't be able to get it through the courthouse door. The interview happened after lunch, while we were all waiting for the jury verdict on the cruelty. Denver and I went back up to the fifth floor and Tiger Lady, who fancies herself some sort of gatekeeper, kept coming up to us and warning us that she was going to report us to the bailiff's, or some such, 'cause we were in the press/family area. There are no rules against that, but she was making her own just to, I suppose, assert her status. I think she thought that we were trying to position ourselves to jump the line, (impossible to do) for the afternoon session, which in itself, if it happened, would only be a reading of the Jury Verdict on the Cruelty since they were in the process of deliberating. I invited her to come talk to the press with us as they had previously invited me to and she retreated. She was so aggravating, that we decided to just get away from her and go downstairs and wait it out in front of the building. Both Denver and I were of the opinion that it wouldn't be long. As soon as we came out of the front doors JVM was standing there. She approached us; asked us where we were from; how we got interested in the trial, etc. We told her that we met through a blog and that our meeting was arranged by another person who participated. JVM asked the name of the site and Denver told her it was MDS. JVM then asked us if we would do an interview, but that she couldn't mention the name of the blog. She also told us that she had lots of interviews in the can but that people were saying mostly the same things and she appreciated our different perspective from the few things we had said to her by way of introduction. Then she asked us to not say anything more 'till she got the cameras rolling 'cause she found that people never said things as well the second time and she wanted our fresh viewpoints on tape. We weren't all that enthusiastic about participating but I, for one, and I think Denver as well, thought of all you guys and thought we owed you one. So, we did that first clip and you saw it. Looks like we didn't bomb totally. When that was done, JVM asked us to stick around for a further interview closer to verdict time. So, a little while later, just before the verdict, we did the second. Our star turn was over. That was our star turn. We hung around on the steps for a little while longer and saw the Alexander family leave, in procession with a sheriff's deputy, followed by some other trial watchers. Wait for it! Tiger Lady was amongst the followers. I have to confess that I am a little apprehensive about what waits in store for them with their new 'close' friends but I suspect that when this is all over and they are able to return to their normal lives, (to the extent that even that's possible), they'll cull the herd or the herd will move on to other grazing sites.

Can I tell you the rest tomorrow? I mean from the beginning of the day up to the JVM interviews? I'm whacked and a good part of that is as a result of the release of the tension and excitement we experienced throughout the day. It was a good day. Truth won! Our truth won! Watching Justice at work, when it works, gives us that lump in our throats.

Better quit now!

You guys were involved in the kerfluffling with Tiger Lady??!!! Now, why didn't they catch THAT on HLN!?? Watching her get rolled around in the dirt would have been pure fun!

[denn]

Yes....either way, she will never walk free, again. That is why I so wanted them to find the aggravating factors in existence. Now, I really don't care what they decide....but I would have been heart sick if she ever got the chance to be a freed woman, because she so ruthlessly took his life away. I have a feeling she won't go off, quietly, into the sunset. She loves the spotlight too much. She will try and find every reason to appeal. Doesn't mean that any of them will get off the ground.

Yes. I think after all of her lies, manipulations, comments via tweeter, she deserves the DP. She cannot feel what normal humans feel. She is incapable of it. I know it would be cheaper to keep her in prison for life. But, no one wants to die. And for her to face death, I do believe she would feel absolute terror. And then, maybe she will realize how evil she was to kill Travis.

[Ian 1]

This is not going to be well-written narrative, but here goes from the beginning of the day, "The Aggravation Day," of the Jodi Arias Trial.

I got to the courthouse at about 8 a.m., in time to occupy seat No. 22, in the spectator waiting area. Our friend Denver had arrived earlier and he had scored seat 20. Shortly before court, convened, a bailiff came out of the courtroom and announced that there were more seats than usual available in the public gallery. He then invited the first sixteen people to accompany him into the courtroom. I thought that was it. However, we all held our places and the bailiff soon returned and said there was room for seven more people. Denver and I were in. Lesson No. 1! Never push yourself to the front. It turned out that when the bailiffs seat the spectators in the public gallery, they begin by filling the last rows first. People who were last in line in the waiting area, end up in the seats closest to the front in the courtroom. Denver and I got places in the second row; Denver behind Jodi's Aunt, (Mrs. Arias twin sister), and I behind the male accompanying them. Besides Mrs. Arias, her sister and their male escort, two more front row seats were occupied by Jodi's jailhouse friend Donovan and another person who appeared to be Donovan's friend. The tattoos on Donovan's forearms looked suspiciously like the jailhouse variety and the ones on her legs did not appear to be of a much higher quality. I didn't attempt to bend down to get a better look. Understandable!

Things progressed rapidly. People watching on TV or online probably have a better view of the principals and heard them better than those of us in the courtroom. It is a cavernous place with lots more open space than appears on television. Once Order is called by a Bailiff--Please Rise for the Jury--the Jurors enter in single-file procession through a door in the wall a short distance from the Jury Box and quickly take their places. Their dress is casual, even to shorts and flip-flops but the gravity of the moment is impressive. This is a serious life and death business and you can tell from the jurors' expressions and demeanor that they know it, no matter what they're wearing. There are fifteen Jurors; twelve who deliberate plus alternates, and they maintain that serious demeanor throughout the subsequent proceedings. The dynamics in that courtroom is what doesn't come across on television. The Principals, the Lawyers and the Defendant, play to the Jury. On television, it appears that they and the Judge are the focus of attention but, inside that courtroom, the presence of the Jury, never shown on television, is equally felt. The Jurors upstage everybody even though they don't do anything but sit there, looking impassively at whoever is presenting, and jotting down the occasional note. The members take their duties very seriously, and the results bear that out. It's simple yet quite majestic when one considers the impact their reactions and decisions will have on the outcome. Truly a life or death situation!

When it was time to hear from Dr. Horne, the Medical Examiner, the prosecutor, Juan Martinez, walked to the back of the courtroom, to another door just past the jury door, retrieved the Dr. and led him to his place on the witness stand. The Dr. was the only witness for the day and the Prosecutor was forcefully demonstrating that Dr. Horne was his witness. The Doctor's testimony was a repeat of what he said during the Guilt Phase with the emphasis, this time, on the pain and terror Travis Alexander endured during Arias's lethal attack--and on how much focused energy she had to summon to carry it off. When the graphic autopsy pictures were projected onto the four screens in the courtroom, (including the very large one on the right-hand side), the Alexander siblings could not look. They all bent forward and fixed their gaze on the floor at their feet. They maintained that posture for a good part of the hearing as the pictures remained on the screens for an extended period of time. The sequence of the Dr's. testimony introduced Martinez' narrative of the crime sequence. First, a knife to the chest while Travis was sitting in the shower; then cuts to the hands while struggling to get up; a knife to the back and head while holding onto the sink; more stabs to the back while Travis struggled to escape; then the sawing/cutting of his throat when he weakened and collapsed onto his back at the end of the hallway leading to his bedroom; and, finally, Arias dragging him back to the bathroom, shooting him in the forehead and dumping his body back into the shower stall where the attack started minutes before.

It was chilling to hear it put that way. The narrative had a beginning, a middle and an end--and when Martinez was finished, it was obvious to anyone in that courtroom with any sense whatsoever, that it was logical and true.

Jodi Arias's mother spent much of the time intermittently scribbling in her wire-bound notebook. I sat behind and to the right of her, but it was impossible to see what she was writing down. She flipped the same page back and forth five or six times as though referencing previous jottings but she actually wrote very little on a fresh page. I think it was just a prop brought out to make herself appear seriously involved. Maybe she'll offer it for publication, then we'll all know. I can't imagine what of any value she would be recording while sitting there watching her daughter on the way to the death house.

The Defense Attorneys, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Wilmott might as well have not been there. Except for a few futile objections, and that desultory cross of Dr. Horn by Wilmott, about the possibility of an adrenalin rush alleviating pain and fear, their presence in the courtroom was hardly felt. They haven't got anything new to tell the Jury besides what they offered during the Guilt Phase of the Trial. For all they had to offer in this Phase, they could have mailed it in.

At one point, during the ten-minute break, Jodi swiveled around and surveyed the courtroom. Denver was sitting behind her mother so Jodi caught his eye and locked on. I'll let him tell it. Bye the way, the garment Arias wore was not a yellow cotton blouse. To me, it looked like shiny gold lame. I spotted it as soon as I entered the courtroom and noted that it seemed unusually festive for the occasion. Maybe it's the best thing she owns.

The day really belonged to Martinez and the Jury. Juan controlled the narrative and the Jury accepted what he said as Truth. They are not going to change.

See what happens tomorrow. If anybody has any questions about anything--how it felt in there; what was said-- that I may have missed, ask away.

Thanks for all the compliments. I'll try to be more detailed in future. It's a long day.

[poppym]

@maryellenabc15 33m

#jodiarias Defense listed Kim Ross - Fellow inmate & Patricia Womack as sentencing witnesses + Daniel Freeman (confirmed he was notified)

@maryellenabc15 32m

Daniel Freeman told #abc15 he emailed defense back that he's not against #jodiarias getting DP for killing close friend #travisalexander

Patricia Womack is known as Patti, she was in court when the sex tape was played, has appeared on NG and 20/20

Wow! It's more than clear that Daniel Freeman would NOT want to do this! Hope he gets to say "Yeah! She duped my family for emotional support because Travis hated that she moved to Mesa! Oh yeah, and two years after she brutally murdered my friend, she used something I shared with her about my brother, while visiting her in Jail, and fraudulently used it as a false accusation against said friend, in an attempt to save her own ass"! I hope!

The photos were horrible and JM was very precise in their presentation. It was very effective when he left the throat slash pic up during a recess. Flores eventually got up and covered the pic cause the Alexander family was sobbing.

BTW I can't hear all that well and I could hear the sisters sobbing.

Nurmi objected constantly and was shot down routinely. The judge looked exasperated.

Oh that two minutes. Brilliant JM. The jury was riveted. It was to me the most effective moment in the trial.

It ended right at noon. Time flies. Ian and I hung out in courtroom until judge emptied room. We went outside and got ambushed by JVM. You all know the rest. I'll post more as I remember missed details.

I will be back tomorrow and hopefully faq can join us. We will do our best to represent all the fine folks here at MDS

BTW - we plugged MDS to JVM but she said we couldn't mention specifically on live tv

Hope you both get in tomorrow! I think it may be heart wrenching!

Here he comes to save the day

And again I say, a massive WOOF!

[denn]

I just heard that the jury decides life or death, then the judge will decide if she has life without parole or with parole. Is this correct?

[MadameX]

Who can forget Patti? Another stellar cast assembled by the DT.

Yeah... Patti better lay off whatever drugs she was using before she was on the Nancy Grace show the last time, or she won't be helping Jodi's cause much.

[denn]

Ugh I hate when Wurmi says "May we approach Judge?" and is already out of his seat and walking up before she even responds. I guess its probably because she never refuses but still it seems so disrespectful.

And JM always seems to slump his shoulders like..shit, here we go again! and slowly walk up there.

[Ian 1]

You guys were involved in the kerfluffling with Tiger Lady??!!! Now, why didn't they catch THAT on HLN!?? Watching her get rolled around in the dirt would have been pure fun!

Difficult to explain. Self-appointed gatekeeper, self-deprecating fashionista, status-seeker, who, just the other day, regaled the group with her story of her former successful career as a 'respiratory therapist' and then, in the next breath, went on to speak of her equally successful daughter, (a medical practitioner), who "I currently have in rehab for the third time because she just can't stay away from the booze, blah, blah, blah." That waiting area is kind of a platform for some who want to attract a wider audience. It takes all kinds. But, it's the People and they have an absolute right to be there despite the fact that some of them would prefer that others stay away. Considering everything, the system works.

[denn]

LOL N. Grace may be loud and obnoxious but she is informed on legal matters. She tried almost 100 cases and didn't lose one... I think a couple have been overturned and retried since but still she knows her facts. I seriously think she suffers from adult ADD... either way her I'm a victim mantra is on my last nerve. I'm sorry the dude was killed but we don't need to hear it multiple times every day. Back to this trial, they already held a hearing for mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct a couple weeks ago and judge ruled against the defense.

Do you think she was able to talk to JM during this trial and give her opinions or advice?

[Missmandy9]

Just stopping in to post this. Have you guys seen it? Its gotta' be Ian and Denver. Very cool!

[denn]

Can anyone post Arias images side by side when the jury is in the room and when they are out? She has a totally different demeanor.