With the trial of Jodi Arias slowly drawing to a close, the prosecution called two police witnesses to the stand Wednesday in an attempt to show the defendant premeditated the killing of her ex-boyfriend.
With the defense having finally rested its case after roughly 12 weeks of testimony, prosecutor Juan Martinez is currently in the state's rebuttal phase. The prosecution's first expert witness, Arizona clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte, easily poked holes in the credibility of the defense's experts, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette, and psychologist Richard Samuels; based on her review of the psychotherapist's notes, DeMarte said she did not believe LaViolette had conducted a thorough evaluation. DeMarte also said that she believed Arias was afflicted with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), not Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or memory problems, and said she showed no signs of domestic abuse, all arguments the defense has repeatedly hammered.
After finishing with DeMarte last week, Martinez called two detectives as witnesses Wednesday in order to prove Arias did not act in self-defense when she killed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, and had in fact planned out murdering him ahead of time.
The defense's assertion that Arias is the real victim here is the crux of its argument at this point in the trial. If they can convince the jury she was physically and mentally abused, and thus had a reason to fight for her life, she could beat the murder charge against her, and also receive a lesser sentence. Meanwhile, prosecuting attorney Martinez is determined to prove Arias' premeditation to sustain a first-degree murder charge in Alexander's killing.
A 32-year-old photographer from California, Arias is charged with the grisly first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend 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, or was actually a jilted lover exacting jealous revenge.
Martinez began by calling Robert Brown to the stand, a detective for the Mesa, Arizona Police Department's forensic computer division.
Brown testified that he studied Arias' cellphone and discovered numerous images taken June 3, 2008 -- just one day prior to Alexander's death. As Martinez showed the pictures to the jury, he noted that Arias had brown hair in the photos. Previously, an agent at a California rental car company testified that Arias was blonde when she came to rent a car for her alleged road trip to Arizona.
Next, Martinez brought in Mesa Police Detective Esteban Flores to once again suggest that Arias had brought a gun with her the day she killed Alexander.
Flores ran through the police investigation of Alexander's home, including the closet where Arias says she found the handgun she shot Alexander with. Flores testified that officers found no holster, bullets, cleaning kit, or anything else that would have indicated Alexander owned a firearm.
Arias has testified that after Alexander attacked her, she ran into his closet because she knew he kept a gun on a top shelf. Authorities have said they don't believe Alexander owned a firearm, and no one has testified in court to support Arias' story that Alexander kept a gun in the closet, according to The Herald. Arias' own grandparents had a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their home in northern California just one week prior to Alexander's death - the same caliber used in the killing. Prosecuting lawyer Martinez has repeatedly noted the entire idea that Alexander owned a gun in the first place was suspect.
Martinez argued earlier in the trial that even if Alexander really had a gun in his closet on the top shelf as Arias has asserted, because of Arias' height, she would have had to stand on the shelves in the closet to reach the gun, which he said was "impossible" due to the weak build of the shelves. Martinez said the build of the shelves in the closet was simple, and noted they were held up by nothing but tiny pegs. He said the shelves were so flimsy they would have collapsed under Arias' weight if she had attempted to use one as a step in order to reach the gun on the top shelf as she has claimed throughout the trial.
Court ended shortly after Martinez finished questioning Flores. Judge Sherry Stephens announced that the trial was entering its final phase, and that closing arguments would begin May 2.
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted. The trial resumes Thursday when the defense is expected to more witnesses to the stand.
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