Trapped with Ms. Arias
Chapter 27
My Mitigation Investigation
L thought only 1 Mit witness could speak on her behalf "who could truly offer help...her ex-boyfriend Darryl" because she "truly had so little support in her life before this crime was committed"
L chose no mit witnesses during sentencing phase at 1st trial "I did not have enough good cards left to play by the end of the guilt phase of the trial"- claims media partially to blame
"pretrial events, I certainly cannot blame the media for the fact that I did not even have one family member whom I could count on to help Ms. Arias make her case for life"
L's 1st meeting with the murderer's mother Sandy. father Bill, brother Joey, sister Angela
- "took in aura of house...I like to get a sense of what the [client's] experience was like for them..my attempt to walk a mile in my client's shoes , their mental 'shoes' .. "
-L thought it was small for 5 people, had "old-looking furniture", messy- just observation, not "condemnation"
- L "sensed a feeling of coldness...sense of despair"; coldness like a newly built home that no one lived in; despair- like being in an abandoned home "...whose life blood had left"; didn't feel like a "true home" to L
-L claims "no took the time to clean any portion of the house": seemed like a bother to murder's family that L and team were there- "messed up their daily routine", L sensed their actions/attitudes
- L wanted to talk to Angela (16 yrs old) 1st alone- he thought she might be closest to murderer- spoke to her in the yard; she spoke in voice "almost childlike"
- expected her to be heartbroken over sister's situation, to ask several questions about what was happening, her to cry, "begging me to do everything I could to help her sister"
"Instead, what I got was a girl who seemed emotionally disconnected to the entire situation...perhaps this was another sign ...victimization but it seemed like more..."
-Angela just came out on Twitter to "proudly pronounce her sobriety, perhaps she was high......no sign she was concerned for her sister"- L found that "strange" (her attitude and convo)
L spoke to father Bill- no concern for daughter- father talked about "blame others for" TA's death- "none of his [Bill's] theories made sense"
Sandy acted like this was all "a bother by the whole visit...irritated because...she had to take a few hours off work to come home to speak with us" (pg. 153)
"How sad was it for Ms. Arias that she had a family, her parents in particular, that seemingly did not care about her enough to help her legal team do her job"
L and team went out to storage shed, with family dog "Jewel"- lab mix (only member of family interested) - Bill stayed inside- L talks about Jewel, a neglected dog after he grew from puppy? "...perhaps Biil and Sandy took the same approach to parenting their children, meaning they got bored of their kids after they got older"
L was looking in shed "for nothing in particular"- family put the murderer's stuff in shed- family "seemed done with her...as if they 'erased' their eldest daughter from their house"
eldest brother didn't make it to meeting- youngest brother, "Joey ...was of no importance to the case"
L visited murderer's grandparents (Caroline, Sunny)
-Caroline "genuinely kind woman. Her house was a home..clean..furniture... old it was well-kept"
-Sunny- "a bit odd, but he was elderly (as was Caroline)"- Talked about theft gun, day murderer was arrested, about their grand-daughter (a lot about her)
"To their credit...seemed more concerned about Ms. Arias than her parents were"
L spent time talking to them and answering their questions/concerns
"They were clearly warm and caring people however it was just as clear to me that their testimony would be clouded by their age and by their clear desire to help Ms. Arias...they wanted to help in a way that Ms. Arias wanted to help...clearly following her wishes." (pg. 155)
the muderer called when L was speaking to grandparents- wanted to talk to them and then L- "coincidence?...no coincidence...she wanted to control the conversation" L was having with grandparents- also to make sure L spent time with cat Luna-"pet her cat"
important to L - see the murderer's room in person- last place she lived in before leaving for trip to Mesa, slept in before arrest
-had a twin bed, painted pink, had a "dream board" on wall- to L, seems grandparents were "not quick to erase my client from their lives as her parents were"
-room seemed to L "too juvenile to be the room of a 30 year old" maybe color of room? "dream board"?- filled with things/experiences "that one has to actually work to earn...delusional dreams" from someone "who could not even afford to rent her own place"
-L felt murderer was still holding on her pipe-dreams (even tho' she murdered TA)
_ L talks more about room where the murderer might have done this/ that (phone sex, chats, etc) "this might have been the exact spot that Ms. Arias planned to kill" TA- " planning a murder, truly chilling"
L felt that jury would see that no one, parents, sister, "supposed friends", grandparents would say only what murderer wanted them to say- no one cared for murderer, that she was facing execution
L felt that putting family on stand- big risk ( parents had given interviews with Det F) would probably "do more harm than good"
L worried what he was going to say to the murderer about "seeing very little chance that her family would be of much help"- she didn't seem surprise family would be no help
L claims murderer was "seriously upset that I had not pet her cat, Luna" - thought that was "strange"- he "suppressed my inclination to tell her it was not my job to pet her cat"
"Finally, Ms. Arias, if you are reading this please be advised that I do not care about your cat" (pg. 158)
================================================
Chapter 28
The State's Sentencing Phase Witness
L felt State had little to offer in this phase (no criminal record, fairly well- behaved in jail)
"State's case for death would....be the crime itself"
2 experts listed on State's witness list: Dr. Jill Hayes, Dr. Janeen DeMarte
State's choice of expert- DR. Demarte- to examine murderer didn't make sense to L- thought DR. Hayes better choice- more experience, university prof who had experience testifying in court
L talks about Dr. DeMarte:
-had very little experience, not impressed with web page, not very accomplished- unpublished in academic journals, no true experience in DV
-only experience she had- doing evaluations for county- whether or not person is competent to stand trial and acting as counselor for clients
-L thought her experience/ background, she would not have "ability to competently assess" the murderer , Dr. "over her head"
-L talks about Dr D's report: thought JM's goal "did not seem to be to conduct an intellectually objective assessment" of the murderer
-L thought that goal of Dr. D- create diagnosis that fit "with the State's theory of the case and could be sold to the jury"; when she found diagnosis, "her plan was to work backwards and search for and/or bend facts that would support the desired diagnosis" (pg. 160)
-L claims Dr. D "focused on traits that showed certain traits and then exaggerated their diagnostic value so as to create her so called diagnosis"- way to attack the murderer, convince jury "even thought the science behind her indicated that she was wrong"
-L thought she had this plan before she wrote her report/before meeting the murderer (only his opinion)
-L claims Dr. D was willing to "misuse" a test "designed to assess domestic violence to draw her conclusions that no domestic violence existed" in TA's/the murderer's relationship (this test not brought into trial)
-L claims that Dr. D "mold a test that was suppose to be given to supposed domestic violence offenders (in this case that would mean Mr. Alexander)"- gave it to TA's brother
"Yes the same brother that thought that Mr. Alexander died a 30 year old virgin was her source"
-L claims that Dr. D wouldn't acknowledge that the murderer had "symptoms of trauma", that TA's words " '*advertiser censored*,*advertiser censored*,three-whole wonder, corrupted carcass' " were "abusive"
-L contemplates if defendant's words were reversed- would she say those words were "evidence of abusive tendencies" ?
-L talks again about Dr. D had a "preconceived plan"
-L will now "translate Dr. DeMarte's report in layman's terms"
-L's views are "as follows":
"One key point of her 'diagnosis' seemed to be that Ms. Arias was a liar and therefore everyhting she said was a lie. The exception to this rule were those things that helped Dr. DeMarte support her 'diagnois,' statements of this nature were true. Dr. DeMarte's 'diagnois' went on to assert that Ms. Arias was a *advertiser censored* who jumped from man to man. Dr. DeMarte also asserted that Ms. Arias always had to have a boyfriend and that once she had a boyfriend she would alter her identity to conform to the wants of that boyfriend. In Dr. DeMarte's mind all of this proved that Ms. Arias had borderline Personality Disorder." (pg. 162)
-according to L. the testing did not support diagnosis
-L claims that the murderer's behaviors were dismissed by Dr. D- the murderer may have low self-esteem, victim of childhood trauma
"It seemed to me that Dr. DeMarte was of the mindset that Ms. Arias was simply a *advertiser censored* who happened to have" BPD- "not very scientific....not supported by any evidence....seemed downright sexist"
-L claims he did not like the murderer at the time/could care less about her image; didn't like that Dr.D "*advertiser censored*-shamed " her- thought Dr Hayes was not used "because she was not willing to use such tactics"
-L didn't meet DR. D in person "shortly before trial"- Wilmott and L met her at her office for interview- L "listening to her answers...read her body language...observe her demeanor" while Wilmott spoke to her- conclude that she had "a very cold deposition...cold for a therapist..arrogant disposition...of the mindset that nothing she did should ever be questioned, by anyone, let alone Jennifer Wilmott" (pg. 163)
-L claims DR. D "seemed to despise jennifer both on a personal level and because Jennifer was questioning her conclusions... what was Dr. DeMarte trying to prove?" - his theory: she was not an arrogant person- acting arrogant because she was insecure about her opinions and justifying them "It was as if DR. DeMarte knew that the facts were not on her side....her 'diagnosis' was , at best, on shaky ground....perhaps" ...she "was getting the sense, for the first time, that we knew this as well"
- L "guesses" Dr D.'s " 'diagnosis' nor the supposed support behind her conclusions, have ever been challenged"- claims DR. D was "surprised"
-biggest problem: no indication that the murderer had personality disorder in childhood (required for diagnosis of BPD, he claims); her facts "not accurate"- the mudererer did not "jump from boyfriend to boyfriend...several months of time passed between her breakup with Matt and the beginning of her relationship with Darryl"
- L gives some eg to explain the murderer altered her personality for boyfriends
-L claims some of DR. D's conclusions were correct: the murderer idealized people and them demean them when they pulled away- she was extremely moody (L had experiences with her moods)- murderer acted like teenager (L says "really smart 5 year old...had very little true empathy")
-L claims that DR. D's did great job describing "the Ms. Arias I knew" but description was "not a true psychological description"
- L wonders if State concerned about what Dr's diagnosis would say about TA
- L wants us to "think about it"- "If "..the murderer.."adapts herself to the men in her life, what did that say about Mr. Alexander? If she acted like a '*advertiser censored*' ... '*advertiser censored*' ..'3 whole wonder' the logic of Dr. DeMarte's diagnosis would be that she brcame those things for" TA.."Her diagnosis would have to account for the fact that Mr. Alexander wanted her to be these things....biggest flaw in Dr. D's report/conclusions...raised question "would jury kill the woman who killed her former boyfriend, the former boyfriend that was stll using her for sex?" (pg. 168)
End of Section 4 (pg. 168)
=============================================
Next:
Section 5
Quit
Chapter 29
Want Out
Chapter 30
Spoiler Alert I Did Not Get Out
end of Section 5 (pg. 178)
William Pitts ‏
