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Defense Rests in Jodi Arias Murder Trial
After nearly three months of testimony, the defense rested in the murder trial of Jodi Arias, the woman accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend in 2008.
Arias, 32, has admitted to killing Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008, but claims she did so in self-defense and had pled not guilty to murder.
The defense’s strategy has been to paint Arias as a battered woman and Alexander as a secretly violent and manipulative man.
The prosecution however believes Arias is in fact the manipulator and was possessive and refused to allow Alexander to be with anyone but her
According to friends and family of Alexander, he had told them he had broken up with Arias, but admitted he had not ended their sexual relationship. In the months leading up to his death, Alexander had told friends Arias was stalking him, had hacked into his Facebook account, and slashed his tires.
In 2008, after having not heard from Alexander for days, friends went to his Mesa, Arizona home to check on him. His body was found in his blood-spattered bathroom. He had been stabbed 27 times, with his throat slit from ear to ear. He had also been shot once in the face. Alexander’s digital camera was found in his washing machine. Although images had been deleted, Mesa Police were able to recover the images. The recovered images included Arias and Alexander, both in sexually suggestive poses. The last photo of Alexander alive, and in the shower, was taken at 5:29:20 p.m. on June 4, 2008. The next photos were of an individual, believed to be Alexander, “profusely bleeding” on the floor.
When questioned by police, Arias lied multiple times, first claiming she was never in the home, then claiming two people had come into the home and killed Alexander. When she finally admitted to the killing Arias and her attorneys began building a defense around her claims of abuse by Alexander.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Janeen DeMarte testified for the defense that Arias has borderline personality disorder and said she found no evidence to believe Arias’ claims of memory problems or domestic violence. Dr. DeMarte added that she did not believe she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the defense claimed.
Dr. DeMarte stated that if Arias was in a ‘fight-or-flight’ situation, things she did after killing Alexander—deleting the photos on the camera and attempting to clean up the crime scene—would not have been possible and are indications of “organization and planning.”
The trial began on January 2, 2013 in Arizona’s Maricopa County. This month, one juror was removed and another was excused for health reasons.
Published in Latino Daily News
2013-04-17 18:31:08
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