Jodi Taken Off Suicide Watch
Jodi was taken off of suicide watch and sent back to jail on Monday. She is separated from the general population. Although her Twitter account was down, it is up again, and she is tweeting through her friend. She has a site to raise money, called: Jodi Arias Is Innocent. That is so outrageous, but apparently she maintains her position that she shouldn’t have been convicted. She was truly surprised to receive premeditated 1st degree murder.
Defense Lawyers Asked to Withdraw from the Case
So much has been happening this week in the Jodi Arias case. On Tuesday, her lawyers, Wilmott and Nurmi, tried to get removed from the case, but they were denied by Judge Stephens. They have had a difficult time with their client about how to defend her – Jodi has her own ideas and they work for her. No doubt, she was demanding they do things her way during the final phases of this trial that they don’t believe are in her best interest.
Aggravation Phase
We also saw the Aggravation Phase. Prosecutor Juan Martinez was absolutely brilliant as Travis’s advocate in the courtroom. The defense tried to say that Travis’s death wasn’t cruel because he bled out so quickly from his 29 stab wounds that he died quickly, and adrenaline would have kept him from experiencing pain. (Maybe someone should stab one of them 29 times and let them see how the adrenaline helps.) Following that, Martinez asked that a timer be set for 2 minutes and then the courtroom sat in silence. This was both a memorial to Travis’s memory, as well as a demonstration of how long 2 minutes really is. He left no doubt about the extreme cruelty in the murder of Travis, so it was proven and the death penalty was on the table.
Victim Impact Statements – Travis’s Family Speaks
The victim impact statements in Arizona must be written; then approved by both the judge and the defense. The family is not allowed to ask the jury to give the defendant the death penalty.
Travis Alexander came from a family with eight brothers and sisters. They had a very difficult childhood, and both of their parents are dead. Today, his brother, Steven, and his sister, Samantha, gave very emotional victim impact statements. After four months of sitting quietly in the courtroom, they finally had a chance to tell the jury about the giving, inspirational, and thoughtful person Travis was.
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Travis was the strength of their family. He looked for the good in people. It was his goal to live a life of service to others. Travis was a motivational speaker and he livened up any room he entered. He often gave gifts of motivational books for Christmas, and he was writing one of his own. He was determined to live a life of accomplishment.
They also spoke about how Travis must have suffered, and that their minds are forever stained with the picture of their brother’s throat cut wide open, from ear to ear.
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Steven and Samantha spoke about the hardship this has caused for them and their family – depression, nightmares, ulcers and other health problems, marital problems, separation from spouses and children, being away from work, the financial hardship of being in Arizona for the trial (the family all live in California). Their grandmother, who raised Travis, died shortly before the jury was chosen for the trial. They attributed the decline in her health that resulted in her death to the fact that she had never gotten over the brutal murder of Travis.
Mitigation – Delayed Until Monday
Mitigation is simply reasons why a person should be spared from the death penalty.
During mitigation, the character witnesses for Jodi Arias can get up and say whatever they like – very different than the victims. They can plead for Jodi’s life. Surprisingly, Jodi’s mother and siblings are not on the witness list. A former boyfriend and a former childhood friend (who doesn’t want to be seen on camera) will be speaking about Jodi’s good qualities and why she should be given life instead of death.
No surprise that Jodi is planning to speak to the jury. It doesn’t sound like she’ll be asking for the death penalty, even though she said that’s what she wanted just last week immediately following her conviction. Nurmi made me think that she is planning to show them some of her artwork. Some of this artwork has been proven to be copied from advertisements, not original. People seem interested in buying it anyway.
Here are some of the Mitigating Factors presented by Jodi’s defense:
27 at time of murder
No criminal record
Good friend
Suffered abuse as a child and adult (not documented anywhere)
Trying to better her life
Good artist
Honestly, I’m not sure that the defense has a lot to work with, but they are doing their best on Jodi’s behalf.
After Judge Stephens met with the character witnesses in her chambers, she notified the court that they were unable to proceed today, and court is in recess – to resume on Monday, May, 20, 2013.
Crime and Literature 