Yes Duluth - I was in withdrawal for a few days until I found it again!
And yes, Forseca IS a MF!
If you want a simple recap of last week this is good......
New post on The Trial Diaries
Jodi Arias Penalty Phase: An Ex-Girlfriend, Bishop and Clinical Psychologist Walk Into a Courtroom….
by The Trial Diaries
Last week was an explosive week for the State in the retrial penalty phase for Jodi Arias. It began with Abe Abdelhadi an employee of PPL, and love interest of Jodi Arias back when she was also involved with Travis Alexander. Abe testified on behalf of the State that Jodi Arias was very interested in him since the time they met at a convention with back and forth phone calls and finally a date. Abe stated that they had a nice time with Jodi telling him she “dabbles” in Mormonism followed by a 15 minute make out session in a parking structure. Abe admits he ran his hands down Jodi’s pants and felt her thong. What didn’t make it into the courtroom was that Jodi told Abe her thong had magic in them and Abe seemed willing to find out but I’m sure in hindsight is very glad he didn’t because black magic wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. Abe went onto say that Jodi bombarded him with phone calls and some emails asking advice on how to get Travis to commit to her. Abe told Jodi numerous times to move on and find a guy that wants to be with her. Juan also brought forth an email from Jodi Arias that she claims she sent to Abe stating they shouldn’t hug anymore as it makes her uncomfortable knowing it could hurt Travis. Abe testified to the fact he never got such an email, but Jodi did send it to Travis and told him she sent it to Abe. Juan points out to the jury this is yet another form of manipulation on Jodi’s part to make Travis jealous. Jodi told Abe she confessed to Travis about their date which made Abe upset and he said he basically wrote her off. The Defense was up to question Abe and all they really had was he has been routinely interviewed by national news media on his involvement with Arias and they suggested maybe he had more than 2 drinks on their date. Abe didn’t take issue with the fact he’s done some media but did say he only had the two drinks. Jen Willmott tried to make Abe look like an aggressor who was 17 years older than Jodi. Abe held his own stating they both enjoyed the date and what was happening during their make out session was consensual.
Next on the stand was Travis Alexander’s ex-girlfriend and close friend Deanna Reid. During the defense case they had an affidavit from Witness #1 claiming he saw Deanna Reid being abused by Travis. This detailed account of abuse was put in front of Deanna by Juan Martinez and she denied it ever happened. Deanna stated she didn’t even know Witness #1 and she was on a mission during the time period he noted on the affidavit. Deanna basically took that affidavit and shredded any creditability it had which was shaky anyway. Deanna also stated Travis who told her everything never mentioned to her he was sexually abused at the age of 12. Deanna talked lovingly about Travis and how he could never abuse her or anyone else. The defense attacked Deanna on statements that were made during an interview with her early on in the case. Deanna stated she didn’t know Travis was sleeping with Jodi and didn’t know who else he could have been having sexual relations with. The defense said Deanna lied during this interview because she didn’t admit to having her own sexual relationship with Travis back when they were dating. Deanna Reid did testify on the stand during the guilt phase of the trial that indeed they did sleep together. Deanna took issue with the fact the defense never came out and asked her if she had sex with Travis during these interviews therefore she didn’t lie as Willmott kept suggesting. The defenses needed to portray Deanna Reid as a liar as she blew abuse claims out of the water but Deanna Reid held her own coming across strong for the State. The defense stated to the court they plan on calling Deanna and Abe back to the stand during their surrebuttal….why? This won’t play well for defense and will make jury more sympathetic to Deanna and Abe. The doors keep opening and Juan Martinez will keep walking through them.
Juan Martinez called Bishop Vernon Parker from Riverside, California, Travis Alexander’s Bishop at one time. Juan planned on cleaning up a few things with his witness one being Witness #1’s statements, and the porn on the communal computer at the Bishops house. Witness #1 had in the affidavit that Travis was the one responsible for the pop ups on the computer and the child porn folder he found on the computer. Witness #1 also testified to the fact Travis told him he was sexually abused at the age of 12 and that Travis admitted the porn was his. The Bishop testified that the pop ups were from another boy living in his home by the name of Jake and no child porn folder was ever found. The Bishop said he had 3 sources that confirmed this to him and that Jake had admitted it. What the porn pop ups amounted to was scantily clad women that looked like they belonged in a catalog. The Bishop also claimed Deanna Reid was on a mission during the time Witness #1 said the abuse happened between the couple, and that Travis had moved out of the house during this alleged incident. Juan put up an email showing Witness #1 contacting the Bishop by fishing for who was the guy that lived down the hall from his room. The Bishop said that was Travis Alexander, the email then went from looking like a real communication to copy and pasting conversation without “To’s and Froms” from the sender and person relying. The whole thing is as fishy as it gets especially when Witness #1 has taken to social media since 2013 to rant about Travis supporters, witnesses, and seems to be on a quest to free Jodi. Kirk Nurmi began crossing the Bishop only to secure a lightening beam would strike him down later for the maltreatment of this older man of God. The aggressive technique of basically calling the Bishop a liar who screwed up on a timeline had me feeling sorry for him on the stand. I had to wonder if the jury felt the same. The Bishop did have different dates as to when Travis may have lived in his home but reinforced the fact he did more research prior to trial to lock down the dates and he knows for a fact Travis only lived with him for a month and a half. Not the 6-9 months he said he did when defense took a deposition from the Bishop in secret and without the prosecution present. Nurmi went on to suggest when one has a lawyer representing them as the Bishop did they must be perjurers and frauds…the Bishop stated the church gave him a lawyer to deal with this high profile situation and that seemed reasonable to me. Who doesn’t need a lawyer in this trial?? I’ve needed a lawyer over this trial!! LOL! We all gave an “amen” as the Bishop was released and we awaited Juan’s secret weapon to take the stand….Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Janeen DeMarte.
Dr. Janeen DeMarte is a very striking person; she’s very tall, young and pretty…not to mention extremely smart. Her demeanor is calm and cool and juror’s respect her, I’ve heard from juror’s that have served on cases she testified in and they all hold her in high regard. Her professional, no nonsense attitude transcends very well in a court of law. You won’t see DeMarte arguing with opposing counsel or name calling such as “slimy” or whatever else Fonseca engaged in while she was on cross in front of the jury. Juan’s direct with DeMarte was precision and one for the books. He would ask DeMarte a question and back it up with evidence over and over again for 2 days. There was no need to drag it out for weeks and rehash the same things over and over which ride a juror’s nerves when it’s all said and done. Juan had DeMarte testify to the fact Jodi had Borderline Personality Disorder which described Jodi to a tee. The over emotional behaviors combined with being angry on the inside and not showing it until triggered described many incidents Travis had with Jodi Arias. DeMarte told this jury when one does trigger with a Borderline Personality it’s seething and violent and the murder of Travis Alexander proves that point. Dr. DeMarte said Jodi also had an adjustment disorder which once again describes her very well. Jodi’s need to be with her boyfriend’s after breaking up and the lengths she went to let Dr. DeMarte pinpoint Jodi Arias’s issues very well. The stalking Dr. DeMarte and Juan brought forth to the jury will show her attachment to Travis Alexander wasn’t normal. Yes, Travis had sex with her and DeMarte explained that he liked it. He liked a lot of things about Jodi Arias but her intrusive nature was what made him want distance from her. The sex was a no brainer….they both enjoyed it, but that’s all it was to Travis and Jodi couldn’t live with that. Jodi stole a diamond ring that belonged to Travis, was in his home uninvited while he was with Lisa Andrews, allegedly slit his tires, and possibly sent threatening letters to women Travis was interested in. All this was expressed to a friend of Travis Alexander’s, Regan Housely , he told her Jodi was “crafty and scary.” He expressed his concern for her constantly breaking into his social media accounts, emails and texts, giving him no privacy. Travis went on to say Jodi cried over him like nothing he’d ever seen and he was concerned she would kill herself over their break up. The way the conversations went with Regan and Chatanya Lay, friends of Travis, he was concerned for Jodi and said she was a good person but just not right for him in the long run. His fear of fully cutting ties with Jodi Arias, and maybe the fear of his sexual transgressions being brought forth in a manner he couldn’t control left him connected to her even if he didn’t want to be. The complicated nature of Jodi Arias’ disorders left Travis Alexander unable to comprehend or handle many situations that left him vulnerable. Jodi’s manipulation that was brought forward to the jury by Dr. DeMarte’s analysis was a win for the State. With a direct examination that was pretty close to perfection the cross examination was bound to be interesting. How would they confront DeMarte? Would it be with the fact she’s young and fresh in her field which is complete opposite of what defense presented in their case? The analysis of Geffner and Fonseca felt outdated and biased to say the least…when shaving ones private regions or late night phone calls become a mitigating factors for them it falls short of the strong evidence DeMarte presented. DeMarte created a picture of a love sick ex girlfriend that refused to move on and murdered. The defense did get DeMarte to concede that Borderline Personality is a mental illness but Jodi is well aware of right and wrong. DeMarte testified that Jodi Arias has a high IQ and her manipulation skills were highly effective from what the evidence has shown. Jodi’s mental illness didn’t debilitate her as some other disorders do such as Schizophrenia...which is considered a brain disorder. The State will need to show the jury her mental illness didn’t cause her to stab, shoot and slit Travis Alexander’s throat….her unwillness to let him move on was the trigger and the fact Travis texted 12 women at the same time as a single man isn’t an excuse. The defense has quite the road ahead of them to fight for a life sentence for Jodi Arias as the State derails the theory Jodi Arias is a victim. With more testimony to come from more cross on Monday of Dr. DeMarte and also Detective Smith telling the jury all the porn on the hard drive of Travis Alexander was from a virus and not Travis the State will end strong. The defense is planning on recalling Geffner and Fonseca and it feels like an epic mistake in the making. The jury has heard what they have to say, but the defense’s best chance is Jodi herself. With Jodi refusing to take the stand her allocution will be huge for her case but if anything new is introduced Juan Martinez will get a shot at rebutting. The trial is slated to end at the end of this month and deliberations are expected to take a bit since so much has been thrown at this jury. The verdict will be one that is heard around the world and this trial will be discussed in law classes for years to come. One thing that’s for sure I don’t think when all is said and done it will be the last we hear from Jodi Arias.