Image courtesy Arias

Phoenix, AZ-  In the 4 month long trial of Jodi Ann Arias for the murder of her brief boyfriend Travis Victor Alexander, the jury deliberating since last Friday has arrived at a verdict in her case.   Arias was found guilty of the pre-meditated murder of  Travis Alexander on June 4th, 2008.

…” Something happens to ordinary citizens when they get into the jury box.  All of them become defenders of the Constitution. Every single time.  Very difficult…”

-Roy Hazelwood, Former FBI Behavior Analysis Unit Section Chief R current co-founder The Academy Group.

Hanged v Hung 

The death by hanging option is not a consideration in the event that the Jury in the Jodi Arias trial finds her guilty of murder in the first degree, or felony murder.   The jury cannot “hang” Jodi Arias.

However, they can hang themselves.  I am not referring to what they must have felt like to sit through four months of testimony in the heinous butchering trial in the murder of Travis Alexander.  No doubt 18 days on the stand – the poster child of the girl your mom told you about that guys will f*ck but not marry, Arias’s own words and convenient selective “fugue” state should be considered cruel and unusual for regular folk doing their civic duty.

I could not end my pre-verdict coverage without an editorial that lapses into first and third person.

Hung can be a good word.  Some examples:

1. Relating to a portion of male anatomy for those not buying of the indifference to size
2. He hung my new Mom’s Day necklace around my neck and it is super-sparkly.
3. I hung my child’s first abstract-impressionist masterpiece on the wall in my office.
4. We hung the ribbons for first place on the mantle.
5. When the jurors in the Aries trial could not reach a unanimous decision on the first degree premeditated-murder and felony charges Judge Sherry Stephens announced the jury had hung and declared a mistrial.

Consider the alternatives before hurling the maters my way, if you will.

The fact that the judge ordered a manslaughter or “heat of passion” instruction at the last minute should be telling that there is great concern that the state has not offered the slam dunk serve-up for these triers of fact.

The trial started with the State disputing its own theory of the sequence of events between the Medical Examiner and the lead detective.  It is followed by evidence that disputes the contention the victim was immediately incapacitated by having him standing over the sink after injury.   Waa?

Hell, let’s just say it. There are 2 separate and distinct areas of a clear and unambiguous attack closely resembling a slaughter house with a substantial absence of blood in others.

Not to mention a picture of a severely wounded but not yet with a fatal neck slit injury of Travis one minute and two seconds later.

One minute and two seconds.   Two hundred pound prime-fitness Travis and 115 lb. Jodi in a battle for life and limb and the State says she stabs him FATALLY first in the chest.    Again, this contradicts the ME testimony.   Travis Alexander was shot first, period.  Whether or not that will make a difference to this jury I have no idea.

Considering this fatal wound was to his chest and NONE of the wounds to his back were even life threatening and clearly inflicted upon an individual who was not in motion- this makes zero sense.  The whole macabre mess goes down in one minute and two seconds if the pictures are to be believed.

One minute and two seconds.

Whether someone believes Arias is guilty or not, as the state presented their alleged version of events, it is unlikely that all jurors are going to be able to conclude that the timestamps on the pictures and the state’s versions of events can both be true.

As an example- to my knowledge, socks do not leave what is called a footwear impression.  There is clearly a “footwear impression on the bathroom floor in blood.  There was a pair of Travis’s gray socks in the washer.  They are the same color as the ones seen what appears to be over a shoe in one of the pictures in evidence.   Doesn’t that mean she was there long enough to do 2 loads of wash?  Possibly.

There are more unexplained incongruences in the State’s case than there are journal entries of this defendant.   It gives me great pause.  Juan Martinez’s closing argument stated theory that is medically unsupported in this case and overall.  Pause layering.

In a murder case with more forensic evidence than any one of the eight seasons of Criminal Minds has featured in a one hour episode, it is unsettling to see how much of it presumably not tested nor introduced as evidence was.

I have never seen juror questions in a capital case following re-direct before but I paid very close attention.  There were many prospective deliberating jurors asking what I would consider questions indicative of folks with forensic knowledge.

… “How Do I love thee, let me count the lies…”  Juan Martinez

Juan Martinez alleged that Arias deleted only pictures that implicated her, however, Michael Melendez testified there were roughly 90 pictures remaining on the camera that WERE NEVER introduced into evidence.   It was a juror who asked that question among others regarding the highly prejudicial and for my taste, unverified camera card evidence.   This jury is paying attention to the details.

Which means they are paying attention to the painfully few details offered as well.

Add in the very embarrassing and contradictory testimony of Dr. Horn who while he “sees dead people” apparently is not so big on the reporting of same.   We now we have a prosecution relying almost entirely on the testimony of the medical examiner to support its theory and he shows up in rebuttal with a 3^rd version of errors he calls a typo.   Not helpful when the “immediately incapacitated “and non-ambulatory terms were used to discount a struggle between Travis and Jodi.

Dr. Horn may not know it yet but his testimony was downloaded to viral status by every reputable law school or criminal justice professor following the trial.   Not in a good way when the syllabus header is “What Your Witness Can Never do.” (more…)

Special Appearance Announcement: S. Christina Stoy, Editor In Chief,  www.blinkoncrime.com,  investigative journalist and criminal analyst will be a guest on this evenings THE DANA PRETZER SHOW- Host Dana Pretzer, discussing the Arias case LIVE.  Click Here To Listen To The Podcast

  ...” Why does most human violence occur between those who are emotionally involved, or more technically, within an attachment paradigm?

Dr. J. Reid Meloy from Violent Attachments

Phoenix,  AZ- Arguably the best psychological witness presented at trial, Dr. Janeen DeMarte, clinical psychologist, took the stand last week as the first witness in the State of Arizona’s rebuttal case in the trial of Jodi Arias for the murder of Travis Alexander.

In stark contrast to her previous behavior in court, Jodi Arias refused to look at Dr. DeMarte on the stand, and feverishly took notes or whispered to her attorney Jennifer Wilmott through the State’s direct examination of their witness.

With one exception.  When Dr. DeMarte was asked by Prosecutor Juan Martinez if Jodi Arias was a victim of domestic violence resulting in battered woman syndrome,  Ms. Arias looked up for DeMarte’s answer.  “No.”

After a battery of psychological tests were completed and scored, and approximately  12 hours of clinical interview with defendant Arias- Dr. DeMarte diagnosed Jodi Arias with Borderline Personality Disorder.  Dr. DeMarte had the added luxury of having her home vandalized and her laptop stolen following the start of the trial.  That information was not shared in open court.

Significant from a psychological evaluation perspective, Jodi Arias’ expert witnesses Alyce LaViolette and Dr. Samuels felt Arias was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the killing of Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008 at his home in Mesa, Arizona.  Only Samuels was licensed to test Arias similarly to DeMarte, and it appears the results were very different.   Samuels testified that he never re-tested Arias after he learned her accounts of June 4 were fabrications and that was an error on his part in his finding Arias suffered from PTSD.

Cross examination of Dr. DeMarte induced a migraine headache suffered by Arias (her 3^rd since trial) although she is taking Imitrex for the condition.   Earlier in the day, Wilmott began her cross by repeatedly stating that DeMarte was practicing therapy without a license prior to her licensing exam, to which DeMarte responded “That is not correct, it is permitted under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, which I was.”

Wilmott went on to question DeMarte’s credentials specifically related to expertise in domestic violence and her current knowledge of the practices of Dr. Lenore Walker- largely considered the pioneer of domestic violence research and testing.  Walker’s work is novel within the psychological community in the area of the battered woman syndrome diagnosis.

Wilmott unsuccessfully tried to trip up DeMarte by suggesting that Walker no longer uses her own 6 point scale to include the possibility of battered woman syndrome to which DeMarte replied, “I would say that you are being inaccurate.”

DeMarte completed her testimony with very limited juror questions, although it was clear that a juror or two was not sold that Arias’ only disorder is BPD.

While DeMarte represented the State well in my opinion; Jodi Arias remains the round peg in the jello rhomboid to me.  Too many unanswered behavioral observations from a criminal profiling perspective to fit into the BPD mold.

Prior to the start of the State’s rebuttal case, defense counsel Kirk Nurmi recalled a witness for the defense who never made it into the witness list for trial, Mr. Bryan Neumiester.

In previous hearings where Neumiester appeared as an expert for the defense in the authentication of the May 10, 2008 phone sex recording made by Arias, the State agreed to a stipulation that it was indeed Travis Alexander’s voice on the tape, and that it was made on May 10.

In earlier testimony Juan Martinez elicited from Jodi Arias, Martinez accused her of recording the tape without Alexander’s permission or knowledge.  Arias was forced to admit that at no time is the fact that the conversation is being recorded heard mentioned by either party during the recording.  More on that recording in a bit.

Neumiester was able to magnify the very haunting last image of a live Travis Alexander’s face in the shower, specifically his iris, and gain agreement via stipulation that the reflective image contained therein is that of Jodi Arias.  She was not holding a gun or knife and the image was time-stamped correctly.

This was the second time Juan Martinez agreed to a stipulation from the same expert witness regarding the recorded media, both digital and audio in this case- outside the presence of the jury.

Mr. Neumiester is an expert witness for colleagues in Mr. Martinez’s own office as well as the Mesa Police Department.  Might suggest offsite meetings going forward.

The final witness listed for the State’s rebuttal case is an investigator for the Mesa County Police who specializes in computer forensics, Detective Robert Brown.    Detective Brown describes himself as a Computer Forensics Detective:

As a Digital Forensics expert, I possess attention to detail in my forensic capability, as well as the ability to explain complex technical concepts in a non-technical manner.

In the course of my regular duties, I also perform the following:

-Support ongoing internal investigations and litigation matters
-Utilize a variety of forensic tools (Encase, FTK, Helix, Cellebrite, Wireshark, etc.)
-Perform storage forensics (for example, hard drives, phones, USB storage)
-Perform network captures for traffic analysis
-File-system analysis and file carving (for example, to extract email, documents, and other trace evidence)
-Identifying , collection and analyzing electronic information, relevant to a case, incident or event of interest
-Establish timelines and patterns of activity of individuals and electronic devices and software
-Following forensically sound practices, including preserving chain of custody
-Efficiently and effectively report progress, risks and issues associated with assignments to varying levels of management

Following sound practices including preservation of chain of custody is looking like a welcome addition to this case.

In testimony from Detective Michael Melendez where the images allegedly taken by Travis’s camera were recovered from the deleted or unallocated portions of the memory stick via Encase software we learned that the infamous afternoon of highly graphic sex images of both Travis and Jodi that were dated and time-stamped on June 4^th took place that afternoon prior to Travis’s murder.

Thus, making Jodi Arias an invited guest.

As an invited guest spending the day indelicato delicto, it certainly makes it difficult to prove the felony murder charge she is facing- and does not help the pre-meditation or murder in the first degree allegation because the basic motive is that Jodi went there to murder Travis because he was not going to take her to Cancun.   While certainly a possibility, I would offer that just about every psychological professional who sat across from Arias missed the fact that she literally saw her old boyfriends more than once along her trek that ended up with her last breakup.  Weird, yes.

Otherwise known as a raging sign of dependent personality disorder.

…” You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me…”

-Travis Alexander

 According to the text messages back and forth between Jodi and Travis the weeks prior to his murder, it was patently clear that Alexander wanted Arias out of his life for good.

Has what the state since learned after having Jodi on the stand under oath and repeated in cross examination opened the door to further investigation of the electronic media in this case in preparation for rebuttal?  Looks that way.

Keeping in mind that the phone sex recording was May 10^th.  About a week later, Arias testified, she thought the phone was stolen.  She alleges it was found by her Aunt in 2010 in her grandfather’s car.  This would be the same aunt that she pointed out in court, and who has not been seen in court in weeks although she had attended daily.

Arias writes in her journal entry May 22, 2008 that there are several explicit photos on her stolen phone, and 2 recorded sex tapes.   In 2010, Arias though her attorneys, deliver this phone into evidence with no chain of custody information in a then 2 year old case.   Miraculously, this occurs just as Arias is moving from the “maybe not the ninja’s” defense.  From the defense perspective it has some statements from Alexander on it that they feel support’s their defense.  From the State’s perspective it proves that Arias was certainly very open to the sexual practices of the couple and never felt abused, nor was she put off by the comments by Alexander.

A win-win for both sides so why not agree to its stipulation, right?

Is this why Juan Martinez was hammering home the journal entry written about the “fruitful imaginations” the two explored, causing Arias to miss Lonnie’s christening?

The infamous sugar fest that takes place just before Arias allegedly walks in on Alexander in masturbatory behavior where some image of a boy lands at her feet on January 21^st?  I note that one of the pictures allegedly from the June 4^th date seems to show Alexander engaged in some self-satisfaction that ended with a surprise photo taken from the point of view of the chair next to him.

You’ll see where I am going with this momentarily. (more…)