Jodi Arias Trial Live Stream: Sex Focus Could Undermine Defense In Sentencing
~~By Cole Hill
~~By Cole Hill
 |
| Jodi Arias was found guilty of the grisly premeditated first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008. (Photo : myspace.com/jodiarias) |
The salacious tales of sex Jodi Arias' defense based much of its case on may come back to haunt her sooner than they imagined. The defense's prurient focus could have undermined any hope of saving Arias from the death penalty, according to some experts.
A 32-year-old waitress and aspiring photographer from California, Arias was found guilty last week in the grisly first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in June 2008. Arias admitted to killing her former lover, so her guilt wasn't up for debate - but her intent was. Arias' defense depended on the belief that she killed Alexander in self-defense because she feared for her life due to his alleged habitual domestic abuse.
Much of Arias' testimony throughout the trial explicitly described the couple's equally violent, and kinky relationship, claiming Alexander was often verbally and physically abusive, and sexually manipulative. The defense explained the pair's sexual history in explicit detail through a number of witnesses, repeatedly pouring through countless raunchy emails, texts, voicemails, and recorded phone conversations, hoping to portray Arias as an innocent girl who got caught up with a twisted man with a "nearly-predatory sex drive."
While the defense apparently hoped its sexual focus would humanize Arias as the true victim for jurors, a veteran crime journalist, Patricia Pearson, author of "When She Was Bad: How and Why Women Get Away with Murder," says it may have actually destroyed the jury's sympathy for her. Pearson says that women who are guilty of "sexual murder" are typically not treated with leniency in sentencing.
"The sexual component to Arias' story makes her a more likely candidate for the death penalty, in terms of what kind of woman still gets that ultimate sentence," Pearson explained to the Christian Science Monitor.
Arias' lawyers endlessly discussed she and Alexander's sex life during her virtually unprecedented 18 days on the stand. Arias claimed that she and Alexander had been having BDSM-styled sex in the hours leading up to his death, and that he had been agitated and hostile most of the day over minor inconveniences such as a CD he found scratched. Arias said she pacified Alexander by granting his sexual desires for tied-up sex, anal sex, filming a sex tape, and a nude photo shoot in the bathroom where he was eventually discovered dead.
Among her other lewd accusations, Arias claimed she once discovered Alexander pleasuring himself to photographs of naked young boys Jan. 22 2008. Arias said she so upset after discovering Alexander in the act, she said she vomited in disgust, drove "aimlessly" in shock for hours, and refused to answer his many phone calls throughout the day.
The defense also told a story of Arias once waking from sleeping in Alexander's bed to find him having sex with her. Prosecutor Juan Martinez countered the defense's version of Alexander by showing the court several text messages and phone calls between Arias and Alexander suggesting she enjoyed, and initiated much of the sex she claimed she only engaged in to pacify Alexander's rages and fulfill his fantasies. Arias steadfastly testified that the raunchy sex acts she was "coerced" into made her feel used, often like a prostitute.
As the trial moves into the "aggravation" phase, jurors will now rule whether or not Arias killed Alexander cruelly, and will then decide if that merits a death sentence or life in prison in the penalty phase. Earlier in the trial, Arias' lawyers portrayed her throughout the trial as an innocent, naive, devout convert of Mormonism who was sexually exploited by an often sadistic and abusive Alexander. The defense's case was essentially built around these versions of Arias and Alexander. Arias testified throughout proceedings about her lover's supposed double life: a pious virgin on the surface, but a "sexually deviant" violent control freak underneath. Alexander's friends contended the defense's portrait of him was nothing like the man they knew, and said Arias was stalking him and was "possessive and jealous." However, Arias consistently claimed the couple had a volatile relationship, and that Alexander was possibly a pedophile who was "emotionally detached."
Medical examiners found that Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, as well as the torso and the heart, slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear with so much force it almost decapitated him, shot him in the head, and left his bloodied corpse crumpled over in the bathroom shower of his home - all in the course of 106 seconds.
If jurors determine that Arias deserves the death penalty, she will become the fourth woman on Arizona's death row, and the first to be executed in the state since a woman was hanged in 1930. A unanimous vote is required to reach the death penalty. Were the jury to deadlock or rule in favor of a life sentence, Judge Stephens could take over in imposing a sentence, and would then have two options. Either sentence Arias to life in prison with no possibility of parole, or sentence her to life in prison with parole possible after at least 25 years behind bars.
Facing life in prison, Arias is currently on suicide watch after proclaiming she would rather receive the death penalty.
In Arias' first interview following news of the jury's verdict, the convicted murderer said that she preferred "the ultimate freedom" of death to serving a life sentence in prison.
"The worst outcome for me would be natural life," Arias told FOX10. "Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I said years ago I'd rather get death than life and that still is true today. I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."
After Arias' statements, court was delayed until May 15 for unspecified reasons, though, it was at least partly due to prosecutor Martinez's wish to once again question medical examiner Kevin Horn, who performed the autopsy on Alexander's body.
Court resumes May 15 at 1 p.m. EST.
A 32-year-old waitress and aspiring photographer from California, Arias was found guilty last week in the grisly first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in June 2008. Arias admitted to killing her former lover, so her guilt wasn't up for debate - but her intent was. Arias' defense depended on the belief that she killed Alexander in self-defense because she feared for her life due to his alleged habitual domestic abuse.
Much of Arias' testimony throughout the trial explicitly described the couple's equally violent, and kinky relationship, claiming Alexander was often verbally and physically abusive, and sexually manipulative. The defense explained the pair's sexual history in explicit detail through a number of witnesses, repeatedly pouring through countless raunchy emails, texts, voicemails, and recorded phone conversations, hoping to portray Arias as an innocent girl who got caught up with a twisted man with a "nearly-predatory sex drive."
"The sexual component to Arias' story makes her a more likely candidate for the death penalty, in terms of what kind of woman still gets that ultimate sentence," Pearson explained to the Christian Science Monitor.
Arias' lawyers endlessly discussed she and Alexander's sex life during her virtually unprecedented 18 days on the stand. Arias claimed that she and Alexander had been having BDSM-styled sex in the hours leading up to his death, and that he had been agitated and hostile most of the day over minor inconveniences such as a CD he found scratched. Arias said she pacified Alexander by granting his sexual desires for tied-up sex, anal sex, filming a sex tape, and a nude photo shoot in the bathroom where he was eventually discovered dead.
Among her other lewd accusations, Arias claimed she once discovered Alexander pleasuring himself to photographs of naked young boys Jan. 22 2008. Arias said she so upset after discovering Alexander in the act, she said she vomited in disgust, drove "aimlessly" in shock for hours, and refused to answer his many phone calls throughout the day.
The defense also told a story of Arias once waking from sleeping in Alexander's bed to find him having sex with her. Prosecutor Juan Martinez countered the defense's version of Alexander by showing the court several text messages and phone calls between Arias and Alexander suggesting she enjoyed, and initiated much of the sex she claimed she only engaged in to pacify Alexander's rages and fulfill his fantasies. Arias steadfastly testified that the raunchy sex acts she was "coerced" into made her feel used, often like a prostitute.
As the trial moves into the "aggravation" phase, jurors will now rule whether or not Arias killed Alexander cruelly, and will then decide if that merits a death sentence or life in prison in the penalty phase. Earlier in the trial, Arias' lawyers portrayed her throughout the trial as an innocent, naive, devout convert of Mormonism who was sexually exploited by an often sadistic and abusive Alexander. The defense's case was essentially built around these versions of Arias and Alexander. Arias testified throughout proceedings about her lover's supposed double life: a pious virgin on the surface, but a "sexually deviant" violent control freak underneath. Alexander's friends contended the defense's portrait of him was nothing like the man they knew, and said Arias was stalking him and was "possessive and jealous." However, Arias consistently claimed the couple had a volatile relationship, and that Alexander was possibly a pedophile who was "emotionally detached."
Medical examiners found that Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, as well as the torso and the heart, slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear with so much force it almost decapitated him, shot him in the head, and left his bloodied corpse crumpled over in the bathroom shower of his home - all in the course of 106 seconds.
If jurors determine that Arias deserves the death penalty, she will become the fourth woman on Arizona's death row, and the first to be executed in the state since a woman was hanged in 1930. A unanimous vote is required to reach the death penalty. Were the jury to deadlock or rule in favor of a life sentence, Judge Stephens could take over in imposing a sentence, and would then have two options. Either sentence Arias to life in prison with no possibility of parole, or sentence her to life in prison with parole possible after at least 25 years behind bars.
Facing life in prison, Arias is currently on suicide watch after proclaiming she would rather receive the death penalty.
In Arias' first interview following news of the jury's verdict, the convicted murderer said that she preferred "the ultimate freedom" of death to serving a life sentence in prison.
"The worst outcome for me would be natural life," Arias told FOX10. "Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I said years ago I'd rather get death than life and that still is true today. I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."
After Arias' statements, court was delayed until May 15 for unspecified reasons, though, it was at least partly due to prosecutor Martinez's wish to once again question medical examiner Kevin Horn, who performed the autopsy on Alexander's body.
Court resumes May 15 at 1 p.m. EST.
Courtesy: Latinos Post
