What should Juan say in closing to knock it out of the park?

We all know that Mr. Martinez will do a brilliant job in closing arguments but, given what you have observed during this trial, or how you perceive the jurors are leaning based on their questions, what points would you like to see him cover, reiterate or emphasize - or how do you think he might most effectively structure his closing - to bring it home to the jury that JA is guilty of premeditated, first degree murder?

Personally, I hope he clarifies and telescopes the time line of their relationship so it is clear how little time they actually dated and how long they were broken up to highlight how inappropriate and obsessive her feelings toward him were.

I also hope he puts the negative things TA said or did in the proper context, as things that happened late in their relationship, after it was obviously going south and when she had probably exasperated him beyond belief with her lies, stalking and crazy behavior. She would try the patience of a saint. And I hope he also mentions that TA may have simply molded his sexual behavior to please his partner, given the silly giggly way she talked on those tapes makes me think much of their sexual relationship was influenced by her.

And I hope he dramatizes that her behavior afterward is beyond macabre - from the make-out session with Ryan to the bizarre continuation of her stalking Travis (and his family) with her showing up at the memorial - the flowers and letter to his grandmother - more like the smug, manipulative fascination a budding serial killer has with her handiwork than the behavior of a frightened victim of a defensive killing. Even if a jury bought the fognesia at the time of the crime, there is no doubt her ability to dissociate and relish going overboard with her bogus alibi in the hours days afterward is truly frightening and something for the record books.

Finally, I also wish he could use that clip of her saying "if I ever did anything to hurt Travis, I would BEG for the death penalty" (although that would probably be yet another thing deemed too prejudicial) with autopsy pictures of Travis.

cecybeans said:

We all know that Mr. Martinez will do a brilliant job in closing arguments but, given what you have observed during this trial, or how you perceive the jurors are leaning based on their questions, what points would you like to see him cover, reiterate or emphasize - or how do you think he might most effectively structure his closing - to bring it home to the jury that JA is guilty of premeditated, first degree murder?

Personally, I hope he clarifies and telescopes the time line of their relationship so it is clear how little time they actually dated and how long they were broken up to highlight how inappropriate and obsessive her feelings toward him were.

I also hope he puts the negative things TA said or did in the proper context, as things that happened late in their relationship, after it was obviously going south and when she had probably exasperated him beyond belief with her lies, stalking and crazy behavior. She would try the patience of a saint. And I hope he also mentions that TA may have simply molded his sexual behavior to please his partner, given the silly giggly way she talked on those tapes makes me think much of their sexual relationship was influenced by her.

And I hope he dramatizes that her behavior afterward is beyond macabre - from the make-out session with Ryan to the bizarre continuation of her stalking Travis (and his family) with her showing up at the memorial - the flowers and letter to his grandmother - more like the smug, manipulative fascination a budding serial killer has with her handiwork than the behavior of a frightened victim of a defensive killing. Even if a jury bought the fognesia at the time of the crime, there is no doubt her ability to dissociate and relish going overboard with her bogus alibi in the hours days afterward is truly frightening and something for the record books.

Finally, I also wish he could use that clip of her saying "if I ever did anything to hurt Travis, I would BEG for the death penalty" (although that would probably be yet another thing deemed too prejudicial) with autopsy pictures of Travis.

Click to expand...

Especially the part I bolded.
I think he could just show the crime scene photos. They speak volumes.

Why would Travis own a gun if he did not lock his front door? Remind the jury that Brewer said jodi told him she was going to Arizona and Utah. Jodi said she did not know where the knife was because she was in a fog. But she told Alice the gun was on knife was on the night stand.

I think he should continue to point out the blatant inconsistencies in her story on the stand. [The gun was not loaded, oops, I mean it was loaded, there was a holster, nope, no holster, I saw it once when I was cleaning, I mean I saw it again in December when he took it out , Umm...I saw it three times...]

["He picked me up over his head and body slammed me to the ground...I had the wind knocked out of me..." but then after the cross she back pedaled it to' He threw me down and I wriggled away.' ]

I think the jury knows what a liar she is, so he needs to bring home the premeditation argument. The defense's best chance is if they get the lesser includeds and convince the jury it was a heat of the moment, crime of passion. So Juan needs to convince them that she decided to kill him back when she stole that gun. That is why her LIES about the gun in the closet are so very important. If she brought that gun herself, that is FIRST DEGREE MURDER.

I am very surprised that she did not admit to stealing grandpa's gun earlier. She could have said she was going to kill herself. Even if she said she planned to kill herself and she wanted to do it at Travis's , to hurt him. People can believe that. Then she could have had the chance for 2nd degree, with much less time given.

deedee21 said:

Why would Travis own a gun if he did not lock his front door? Remind the jury that Brewer said jodi told him she was going to Arizona and Utah. Jodi said she did not know where the knife was because she was in a fog. But she told Alice the gun was on knife was on the night stand.

Click to expand...

She told Alice the knife was on the nitestand. NOT THE GUN. My mistake.

I hope toward the end he gives a laundry list of premeditation.

1. Gas cans
2. Dyed her hair

Etc.....

I don't know if it is possible, but I hope Juan explains to the jury that it does not matter which weapon was used first. I think the weakest part of the state's theory is the knife first/gun first question. NEITHER side makes total sense. I think an argument can be made for either side.

So I hope that Juan makes it clear that it does not matter which weapon she used first. It was not self defense no matter if she shot first or stabbed first. JMO

I want him to play the beg for the death penalty and the no jury would ever convict me remix. Someone needs to auto-tune it for him.

"No--No--no Jury--No--no--no death penalty--no--jury-- no jury--I'd beg for the death penalty....(giggles---giggles) That's so debasing....I love it."

Far be it from me to presume to know anything JM does not. I am confident he will tie everything together in a seamless story that proves premeditation, the intense cruelty and suffering, cover-up, and depraved indifference post-murder. Further, Arias's personality disorder will be woven in; the jury will be left knowing she is not a victim but a psychopath. Any unanswered questions--including, perhaps, the exact sequence of events-- will be proven irrelevant in light of the depravity of the crime. The jury will have NO question that Arias poses an imminent danger to society.

How he will do this is anyone's guess. I think most of us agree, however, it will be masterful. Any anxiety I had dissipated when again listening to his brilliant opening statements.

He's built his case beautifully. He will summarize is just as well.

Thank you, Mr. Martinez, for advocating for Travis, his family, the citizens of Arizona, and society as a whole.

He will show all the evidence that points to premeditation. He will then prove she lied, she has never shown any remorse, she lied.

I would love his closing to be - Flashing the autopsy pics on the big screen while her voice is playing in the background, "If I did this, I would beg for the DP."

I would get four big poster boards and I would write out four words and these corresponding lists:

1) Stalking, 2) Premeditation, 3) Jodi's Remorse, and 4) Is Jodi likely to re-offend, (is she dangerous to the public)

JODI STALKING (Point-1)
1. Travis told her to stay away and she moved 272-miles to be closer to him.
2. Jodi was “clingy, smothering, and stalking.” (Travis’s Friend).
3. Jodi stalked previous boyfriends.
4. Text—“How evil you are you, worse thing that happened to me.” (Travis)
5. “Countless times you have prevented me the decency of privacy.” (Travis)
6. Arias snuck in house, laid on couch.
7. Arias hide in closet when he was gone or when he was on dates.
8. Arias peaked through windows while he was with another woman.
9. Arias showed up on dates and other social functions uninvited.
10. Arias showed up on doorstep and threatened to kill herself if he wouldn’t let her in.
11. Arias snuck in doggie door, and later hid behind Christmas Tree.
12. TA finally gave her a job cleaning his house, and slept in his bed without his permission.
13. Arias slashed his tires twice in two different locations so she had to be following him.
14. Arias slashed the tires of a girl friend of his.
15. She hacked into his emails.
16. She hacked in to his Face book.
17. She hacked into his ATM/Bank accounts.
18. She sent threatening e-mails to his friends, especially girl friends.
19. “We saw the evil look in her eye, we told Travis we don’t want her around our children and we don’t want her around here.” (Chris Hughes)
20. “I am extremely Fearful.” (Travis)
21. Turned her jealousy of a planned trip to Cancun into a Rage.
22. “Jodi was obsessed.” (Sky Hughes).
23. “Jodi was Clingy, like Fatal Attraction.” (Clancy)
24. Travis would question her, ‘Why you in the house, why are you here?’ (Zach Billing)
25. “She told me she snuck over to his house and looked in the window.” (Jodie’s father).
26. “She haunted him; every girl he met a girl she would text and send these crazy e-mails, saying you are a *advertiser censored*, and you shouldn’t be dating Travis.” Chris Hughes.
27. “She was obsessed with him and she didn’t want my brother to move with his life.” (Travis’s sister)
28. “In the end he was scared but he just couldn’t get her out of his life.” Chris Hughes.
29. “It takes an evil, evil person to do what she did.”
30. “My spying ex.” (Travis)
31. “Don’t be surprised if I end up dead.” (Travis)



Why was Travis Stalked?

“Anyone who knew him loved him. He went out of his way to help people, and to make sure they were taken care of. He was an amazing person.”


Why didn’t Travis call the Cops?

Read his journal, he thought if he could appeal to the goodness in people he could change anyone. To admit he couldn’t do that would be a failure on his part. He tried to motivate her but was manipulated by kinky sex (a form of power and control), and he was also perhaps he was afraid she would go to the Mormon church and tell them he was having sex. This is why she hooked up with Ryan Burns after they broke up, to stay around Travis. Also, fear doesn’t show up until later in the stalking process. Travis would also have to face the ridicule of perhaps his friends or police, and that could have damaged his business. Also conduct causes fear, although not always vocalized. For instance a woman who is abused could be planning an exit strategy can often still have sex with that person.

------------------------------------

PREMEDITATION: (Point-2)

1. Faked Journal entries.
2. Broke into TA’s face book, sent messages to herself.
3. Hacked into his ATM, Bank Records, and E-mails.
4. Robbed Grandparents of 25-calibre GUN, $30 cash, and a stereo.
5. Dyed her hair a different color.
6. Drove 90-miles out of her way away from home town to get rental car.
7. Used rental car, specifically asked for not red, so she could presumably not see any stains/blood to clean.
8. Borrowed two gas cans, and bought a third.
9. Turned off cell phone so it wouldn’t ping off towers.
10. Turned her license plate upside down.
11. Brought gun and knife to crime scene.
12. Showed up at Travis’s house early in morning.
13. Locked Travis’s dog in a closet so he wouldn’t get in blood.
14. Waited until he was in vulnerable position in Shower and naked.
15. Arranged for date with Ryan Burns and was to arrive same night as murder.
16. Malice: “Intent to kill or harm.”
17. PREMEDITATION:
“Wrongfully causing the death of another human being, after rationally considering the TIMING---OR---METHOD of doing so in order to increase the likihood of success or to evade detection or apprehension.”
--------------------------------

JODI SHOWED NO REMORSE: (Point-3)
1. “He had it coming.”
2. Wanted make-up in jail and smiled for her mug shot, saying that’s what Travis would have wanted.
3. Showed more remorse on police video tape for dog she kicked (who then disappeared).
4. Made out/intimate relations with Ryan Burns immediately after killing.
5. “No Jury will Convict Me.”
6. Morbid curiosity of autopsy photos to help build her case.
7. “No reason to be sad, smile and say Cheese.”
8. Cried about what SHE would miss out on during police interrogation.
9. Frequent smiles and giggles during proceedings.
10. Lied about pedophilia after killing, and forged papers to kill him again.
11. Lied about domestic abuse after killing him thus killing him again.
12. Filed motion saying if convicted remorse would not be a factor in penalty and she would never apologize.
13. Said in police interrogation tape that TA’s murder was a temporary loss for his family and they would get over it.
14. Savage and brutality of killing—29-stab wounds, shot in head, near decapitation.
15. Sent twenty Iris’s to his Grandmother after she killed him.
---------------------------------

DANGEROUS JODI (Likely to Re-Offend) Point-4
1. Frequent rage and physical violence toward mother.
2. Lied about Marijuana she was using on roof of house.
3. Attacked and kicked dog who ‘disappeared’ and never came back.
4. Kicked and broke walls and doors and smashed things.
5. “Her own actions scare people”
6. Stalked and used the men in her life prior to Travis.
7. Practiced Witchcraft in a prior relationship.
8. Gave Chris Hughes such an evil look that he told Travis not to bring her around anymore and he didn’t want her around his children.
9. Threatened TA’s female friends.
10. Broke in Travis’s email, Face-book, and ATM and sent messages to herself.
11. Broke into Travis’s house several times and was there uninvited at other times.
12. Stalked Travis at his house and on his dates.
13. Slashed all four tires of Travis’ car twice.
14. Slashed tires of a girl acquaintance of Travis once.
15. Travis friends called other friends out of fear of Jodi.
16. Peeped outside TA’s window when he was with someone else.
17. Broke into Grandparents house and stole gun, $30, and stereo.
18. Turned license played upside down to evade police.
19. Turned off cell phone, dyed hair, and borrowed gas cans to evade police.
20. Premeditated and planned attack on Travis.
21. Hide gun and knife from Travis for several hours.
22. She and NOT Travis, had a morbid curiosity of the “Psycho” movie and combined that with her own psychosis, personality disorder (black and white- no gray, go from loyalty to intense rage).
23. Stabbed Travis---29 times.
24. Cut a gaping hole in TA’s neck.
25. Shot TA in head.
26. Removed evidence—gun and knife from crime scene and destroyed/hide evidence.
27. Removed (Stole) car mats from rental car and did not return them.
28. Had a 9mm gun, 2-knives, and a box of ammo in her car when arrested.
29. Forged pedophile papers prior to trial.
30. Lied throughout interviews and trial, falsely claimed abuse.
31. Narcissist and above the Law.
32. Six disciplinary actions In Jail
A. Fight with cellmate
B. Disobey return to cell
C. 3-different violations for hiding pens
D. Hiding various creams.
E. Hiding various pictures.
33. Accused prosecutor of being threatening on the stand.
34. Broke pencils and gave other people the finger.
35. Tweeted derogatory statements to Nancy Grace and Prosecutor.
36. Borderline Personality Disorder: Past behavior=future behavior.

cecybeans said:

We all know that Mr. Martinez will do a brilliant job in closing arguments but, given what you have observed during this trial, or how you perceive the jurors are leaning based on their questions, what points would you like to see him cover, reiterate or emphasize - or how do you think he might most effectively structure his closing - to bring it home to the jury that JA is guilty of premeditated, first degree murder?

Personally, I hope he clarifies and telescopes the time line of their relationship so it is clear how little time they actually dated and how long they were broken up to highlight how inappropriate and obsessive her feelings toward him were.

I also hope he puts the negative things TA said or did in the proper context, as things that happened late in their relationship, after it was obviously going south and when she had probably exasperated him beyond belief with her lies, stalking and crazy behavior. She would try the patience of a saint. And I hope he also mentions that TA may have simply molded his sexual behavior to please his partner, given the silly giggly way she talked on those tapes makes me think much of their sexual relationship was influenced by her.

And I hope he dramatizes that her behavior afterward is beyond macabre - from the make-out session with Ryan to the bizarre continuation of her stalking Travis (and his family) with her showing up at the memorial - the flowers and letter to his grandmother - more like the smug, manipulative fascination a budding serial killer has with her handiwork than the behavior of a frightened victim of a defensive killing. Even if a jury bought the fognesia at the time of the crime, there is no doubt her ability to dissociate and relish going overboard with her bogus alibi in the hours days afterward is truly frightening and something for the record books.

Finally, I also wish he could use that clip of her saying "if I ever did anything to hurt Travis, I would BEG for the death penalty" (although that would probably be yet another thing deemed too prejudicial) with autopsy pictures of Travis.

Click to expand...

So anytime I get an idea for closing I am going to write it out here.

Something I hope he points out is that drive from Cali to Mesa was a drive Jodi had made often. Yet this is the one time she did things differently. She rented a car from Redding, she borrowed gas cans and then bought a third that she never returned. Why would Jodi do all this unless she was planning on making this trip different than her other?

I hope Mr. Martinez reminds the jury how much Travis must have suffered when JA brutally murdered him. And I hope he tells the jury that since that day Travis' family and friends have suffered almost as much emotionally as Travis must have suffered physically. And I hope Mr. Martinez tells the jury that although Travis' family's suffering will never end... the only peace they will ever have is if JA is convicted of first degree murder with the DP. And I hope Mr.Martinez tells the jury that outcome is the only certainty that JA will never be able to hurt anyone again.

I don't remember fear, I wasn't angry at Travis....
If the gun was Travis's he would know if it was loaded or not....
Point out her demeanor in court....
Take a knife and stab it into wood at the podium 29 times and slice a watermelon end to end.....
Use you common sense...

Jodi killed Travis 3 ways on June 4 2008. In this court, she tried to kill him a 4th time. Don't allow her to do that.

Garlandy said:

I hope Mr. Martinez reminds the jury how much Travis must have suffered when JA brutally murdered him. And I hope he tells the jury that since that day Travis' family and friends have suffered almost as much emotionally as Travis must have suffered physically. And I hope Mr. Martinez tells the jury that although Travis' family's suffering will never end... the only peace they will ever have is if JA is convicted of first degree murder with the DP. And I hope Mr.Martinez tells the jury that outcome is the only certainty that JA will never be able to hurt anyone again.

Click to expand...

He will argue that in the aggravation phase as the definition of cruelty , required for the death penalty, is all about the suffering of the victim.

I would focus very little on her words as we all know she lies. I would focus on her actions.

2 people were in a room. One is now dead. Nothing she can say can distort that.

I have prayed so hard all week for this trial to end with 1st DM charge and beyond giving her the DP. Pray people. it gotta happened!

I'd like to see closing start with something along these lines...

TA did not body slam or attack JA in any way on June 4th and there is no evidence of any violence in their relationship at all And the only thing the defense offered to suggest there was any is the testimony of JA - a proven liar.

This was not a case of self-defense or battered woman's syndrome. There is no evidence to support that and the only thing the defense offered to suggest it is the testimony of JA - a proven liar.

JA does not suffer from PTSD and there is no evidence she does and the only thing the defense offered of it was the testimony of JA - a proven liar - and opinions of their experts who based their diagnosis on what we know are false accounts of what happened told by JA - a proven liar.

JA did not kill TA in self defense or a PTSD fog or heat of passion...this was a premeditated calculated cold blooded cruel and horrific murder.

JA planned this murder and stole her grandfather's gun and took it with her to TA's. She rented a car almost 100 miles from her home and refused the red car because she thought it would be too noticeable in Mesa. She borrowed gas cans and purchased another to avoid buying any gas enroute to TA's to bolster her claim that she didn't go to Mesa. She colored her hair between picking up the rental car and showing up at TA's so she wouldn't be as easily recognized. She went to Mesa with one purpose...to kill TA.

She planned her trip to arrive in the wee hours of the morning to reduce the risk of being noticed. She had not considered the presence of the roommates and had to adjust her plan once she was at TA's which delayed her arrival at Ryan's in Utah. And she extended the number of days on the rental car to give her an extra day so she could still use being in Utah as her proof she couldn't have been in Mesa.

She got TA in the shower nude and vulnerable and she viciously attacked him. She stabbed him over and over as he tried to grab the knife to defend himself.

then...detail the injuries and the attempts to cover up and the outrageous behavior after the murder with her time in Utah and the memorial and the flowers to TA's grandmother and the lies to LE about not being there and then the strangers and then the fog and no remorse...