Read that again. I had to have a glass of wine to take that all in.

So, if Ms. Arias is not entitled to secret testimony in her penalty phase then the death penalty must be removed from consideration.

Wait, wait,  so the question before the court in this trial is: are there any mitigating factors that could balance the many aggravating factors so this jury could vote life (without parole) instead of death for this woman who has been convicted of the pre-mediated murder of Travis Alexander? That is the only question in this trial.

For the umpteenth time the defense is requesting to remove the death penalty.

Give em the ol double whammy

These are fascinating videos, Detective Flores does a great job of just letting her talk and talk and talk… the two police interrogations are immortalized on YouTube there are many more, go here.

We are passed “I wasn’t there, I didn’t do it” and onto:

“I was taking pictures and I don’t really know what happened…  I heard a loud ring, I think I got knocked out.”  This is the NINJA tale

Thank you David Lohr  for the video play list.

Of course by the time she went to trial, the third version is “I did it, it was self-defense and I don’t remember most of it”.   The jury didn’t buy it and Jodi was convicted of First Degree Murder. Followed by a hung jury on the penalty phase.  And here we are today, moving at snail’s pace through a penalty phase retrial. Court will be in session exactly two days this week.

Will it be life or death for Jodi Arias?

Now as the Penalty Phase retrial ambles along, the version she seems to be going with is “I did it, because I was abused and mistreated and I snapped.”  The current defense witness is a relationship expert of some sort and is painting Travis Alexander in the worst possible light as a horrible boyfriend. The cross-examination of this witness by prosecutor Juan Martinez is just getting underway and there will be high drama in Phoenix as the cross goes on.

Whatever the result of this trial, Jodi will never be free and will live out her life likely in maximum security if not the total isolation of death row. She is going to milk the last few moments in the public eye for all she can and then disappear from our view forever. Believe me, with Jodi locked up the world is a better place.

Travis Alexander is gone, taken from the world by his nutcase, stalker, former girlfriend. Travis’ family and friends are tortured by many more months of court room shenanigans six years and counting after Travis’ death in 2008.

Why do I follow? It is fascinating to watch the legal process work. Nothing like a high-profile murder case to spotlight the inner workings of our criminal justice system.

Along with the steamy testimony we’ve had drama, crocodile tears, and even some constitutional issues.

Already we’ve had the defense move (and the judge ordered) to close the trial to the public for a secret witness to testify because the witness felt intimidated. Oh, hello? Constitution, much?  The secret witness turned out to be Jodi Arias who cannot possibly have any secrets and she hasn’t been intimidated by anyone, ever.  And… the appellate court said not so fast! There will be no more secret testimony.

Then we had the big showdown over the computer…  did the police tamper with it? Did the prosecutor?  Whoops. No, didn’t happen.

So hold tight, looks like an interesting ride.

Links for catching up on the case:

The Gold Patrol

The Trial Diaries

Follow on twitter

@TrialDiariesJ
@jeffgoldesq