If Jodi Arias' lawyers are trying to convince the jury their self-defense argument isn't fabricated, they might want to rethink their strategy. In a baffling last ditch move, Arias' attorneys called a final expert witness to the stand Wednesday that actually seemed to disprove their contentions as they argued them, even admitting he had never met the defendant, or evaluated her.
A 32-year-old photographer from California, Arias is charged with the grisly first-degree murder of her ex, Travis Alexander, in June 2008. Arias has admitted to killing her former lover, so her guilt isn't up for debate - but her mental state is. While Arias has wavered back and forth on providing surprisingly acute details and claiming memory loss throughout the trial, she has maintained her memory of Alexander's death is "foggy". Arias' future depends on whether the jury believes she killed Alexander in self-defense because she feared for her life due to his alleged domestic abuse, or was actually a jilted jealous lover exacting gruesome revenge.
The defense has essentially rested Arias' fate on the argument that Alexander fractured Arias' mental state so badly that's she's suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and memory loss, and is a victim of domestic abuse.The defense's assertion that Arias is the real victim here is the crux of its case at this point in the trial.
Desperate to reverse the narrative on Arias' mental condition after having much of its case effectively dismantled by a witness for the prosecution, Dr. Janeen DeMarte, the defense called Dr. Robert Geffner to the stand, a neuropsychologist, and founder and president of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute in San Diego.
Arias' lawyer Jennifer Willmott began by questioning Dr. Geffner about his intimacy with the case and the defendant's mental condition. Geffner testified that he based his opinions off reviewing materials given to him by the defense, such as an MMPI psychological test.
The results of the test were "consistent" with a person who has been traumatized or in an abusive relationship, he said.
"Based on just these objective tests, what kind of working hypothesis would you be looking at?" Willmott asked Geffner.
"I would be looking at anxiety disorder, PTSD and trying to find out what potential traumas may have occurred either currently or in the past. What types of things are going on that would produce those kinds of symptoms and try to define and get more clarification on what these are related to," Geffner replied.
Geffner then clarified for the court that he had never personally evaluated Arias, met with her, seen testimony, or even studied the case.
"I focused on the records ... that was my role," Geffner explained. "I tried to explain those records. I've not evaluated her, I've not met her, I've not reviewed her case, I've not seen the testimony, I don't know the interviews of her by others, I haven't met with her myself."
Wilmott next asked Geffner if the fact that Arias had lied about killing Alexander when she took the tests would change the results.
"If a person says they were attacked by a tiger but in reality they were attacked by a bear -- either way, they're telling you that they've suffered trauma. Is it going to matter one way or another?" asked Willmott.
"No, not for this test or for a diagnosis of PTSD. It's the reaction to the event that is assessed and goes into the diagnosis along as there is some type of traumatic event. The diagnosis requires there to be a traumatic event it doesn't require what it is. So either one of those would qualify but the test is focusing on the reaction to it," Geffner said.
Arias has already admitted to lying about Alexander's death to just about everyone. She first claimed she was never at Alexander's home the day he was killed. Then, at the time of the PTSD tests, when a bloody handprint on the wall confirmed she was at his home through DNA evidence, she admitted she was there, but said two masked intruders killed him. Finally, years later she backtracked to admit she killed the victim, but now claims it was in self-defense, saying he attacked her in the shower, forcing her to fight for her life. She claims she lied so often because she was "ashamed" she killed Alexander in self-defense and because she was afraid of revealing the details of their sexual relationship.
Wilmott next questioned Geffner about a medical examiner's report, a significant aspect of the case, as the doctor testified that Alexander would have been incapacitated after he was shot in the head, and was likely stabbed before he was shot.
Medical examiners found that Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, shot him in the head, 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.
Geffner said that he didn't believe it was a certainty that Alexander would have been debilitated by a gunshot to the brain.
Under cross-examination, prosecutor Juan Martinez noted that Geffner was no medical expert on the brain.
"And your knowledge of the brain ... if you really wanted more explanation, as to this particular issue, you would go to an expert yourself, wouldn't you?" Martinez asked.
"Yes sir," Geffner said.
"I don't have anything else," Martinez said.
Closing out the day, Martinez called clinical, forensic, and neuropsychologist Jill Hayes. Hayes said she believed Geffner's analysis of Arias' tests was inaccurate. She testified that Arias' lies would have in fact affected her test results. The neuropsychologist said that she would have been "very concerned" about the veracity of the results if she had been testing someone lying to the degree that Arias was when she was administered the tests.
Court was recessed after Dr. Hayes' brief introductory testimony.
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted. The trial resumes Thursday at 12:30 EST when the jury will hear more testimony from Dr. Hayes.
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