If the defense for Jodi Arias can't prove she's a victim of domestic abuse and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, her lawyers have a new plan: beg for a mistrial.
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A 32-year-old photographer from California, Arias is charged with the the grisly first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in June 2008, when she stabbed the 30-year-old man 27 times, primarily in the back, shot him in the face, slit his throat from ear to ear with so much force it almost decapitated him, and left his bloodied corpse crumpled over in the bathroom shower of his home - all in the course of 106 seconds. Arias' guilt is not up for debate - but her mental state at the time of the killing is. Arias' future depends on whether the jury believes she killed Alexander in self-defense, as she contends, or was actually a jilted lover exacting jealous revenge, as the prosecution argues.
With little else to grasp onto at this point in court, Arias' lawyers are urging the judge to consider a mistrial in the case, and reportedly filed a claim Sunday alleging juror misconduct "discovered during closed proceedings" last week. Her attorneys Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott don't go into specifics, but say they would also be open to removing the juror from the trial. If the judge does decide to remove the juror, there would still be another 12 jurors, and five alternate jurors to determine Arias' fate.
The juror's alleged misconduct likely stems from when Arias' attorneys argued in court last week that prosecuting attorney Juan Martinez was guilty of misconduct for signing autographs and posing in pictures outside the court house. Jurors were questioned one-on-one by the judge in private if they had witnessed any of Martinez's alleged behavior. A legal correspondent for the TV show "In Session" also testified about whether or not she'd seen anything in regards to misconduct. Arias' attorneys argued that Martinez's histrionics could have "tainted" the entire jury if one of the jurors had seen it.
On cross examination, Martinez got her to admit she had never seen him enter or leave the court house, and that the defense only believed she had seen the behavior because the TV personality had been openly speculating about it on TV. It's unclear at this time if the defense's strategy will have any bearing on the rest of the trial, but we're likely to get some indication of the judge's feelings on Martinez's actions today when court resumes.
Arias' defense is currently trying to establish her innate need for self-defense against Alexander by focusing on her backstory of memory loss and past relationship abuse through a series of paid "expert witnesses" on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, amnesia, and domestic abuse. Alyce LaViolette, who's currently testifying about Arias' history as a victim of relationship abuse, was paid $250 an hour for interviewing Arias for 44 hours in jail, and is now receiving $300 an hour to testify in court.
LaViolette never met with Alexander, but you wouldn't gather that from hearing her testimony. She's read through numerous text messages, emails and listened to phone conversations Arias recorded between the two. Based on the evidence that LaViollete collected - including "collateral data" from members of Arias' family - and the word of Arias, the psychotherapist said she was certain Arias was a victim of domestic abuse.
Last week, LaViollete discussed a previously undisclosed series email exchanges between Arias, Alexander, and his "longtime friends," Chris and Sky Hughes as evidence of Alexander's allegedly abusive behavior.
"They have basically advised Ms. Arias to move on from the relationship ... that Mr. Alexander has been abusive to women," said LaViolette of the emails, according to The Huffington Post.
LaViolette testified to reading another email exchange from Alexander to the Hugheses where he criticized them for telling Arias not to date him, and referred to himself as "sort of a sociopath."
LaViolette was prohibited from quoting from the emails, and was only allowed to paraphrase and give her personal opinion of the content. The email exchanges were not shown to the jury.
Prosecuting attorney Martinez has objected to the majority of LaViollete's testimony so far, arguing her claims were nothing more than hearsay, but it made little difference; the judge overruled most of his objections.
Arias has also claimed she's been a victim of abuse since she was a child, which LaViollette attempted to establish as well.
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted. The trial resumes with more testimony from LaViolette Tuesday, April 2 at 12:30 p.m. EST.
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