weekend discussion: discuss the trial here #155

[AuburnSchnauzer]

I really land firmly on the DP for JA as I know it's what the family wants. She'll not be executed for decades if ever. She will get the best of the best legal help along the way and other amenities only reserved for death row celebrities. But it's the quality of life while she's there that will truly be punishment for her.

Personally knowing what the DP appeals process drags families thru and the taxpayer $ wasted on these demons, I wish there was a LWOP that included the death row lifestyle for lack of a better word.

And since there is no Arizona Law that would afford "death row lifestyle" if given LWOP, she MUST get the death penalty or she won't be penalized at all IMO. Because Dr. Demarte diagnosed her with a personality disorder that is not fixed with pills or treatment.

 

[K_Z]

I just want to jump really quick on a conversation that people have been discussing off and on: the idea of Jodi finding a relationship while in jail. Usually I am neither here nor there about the death penalty, but there is something about the idea of her finding someone that makes me cringe. The idea that she could find love, have sex again, basically enjoy one of the most wonderful things about life. That she could still experience that. It pisses me off, because she robbed TA of it, and I feel likewise she does not deserve to make love or love someone again.

There are some sick ****s out there. A lot of those sickos don't end up in jail. Instead, they end up pursuing relationships with the worst kind.

Richard Ramirez... had a huge fanbase. He ended up marrying one of his fans.

Ted Bundy had sex with the dead bodies of his victims, and yet someone loved him enough to marry him while he was serving time.

Susan Smith... she has had sexual relationships with not one but TWO guards.

And that is just to name a few. If Jodi is given LWOP she will, as others have said, adapt to it, and start a new life. She may even get married. She can continue her art. People will be interested. They will be fascinated. She doesn't deserve any of that. She does not deserve to love, to have relationships, to write, paint, laugh, love, live, etc. Really, I feel quite emotional about the subject. But there is something about her smug attitude that especially rubs me the wrong way. If she is given LWOP it will almost be like (to me) she got away with her crime.

I vacillate between hoping for LWOP, and hoping for the DP.

If she gets LWOP, for sure she will forge some kind of life for herself in prison. She will likely spend a couple years in admin seg due to her high profile, but I think she would eventually win a ticket to gen pop. She will survive, and even thrive (after a limited fashion) in prison. But eventually she will be disregarded, and mostly forgotten by the media, as well as the average citizen. Her groupies and advocates will be far and few between after 5-8 years or so. She will age, while she wins a job years pushing a broom, scrubbing something, or passing out library books. She will find her "hook ups" once in gen pop. And she will have her enemies who want to do her harm for their own notoriety.

If she gets the DP, it will severely restrict her movements and who she will have contact with. But realistically, it will be 15+ years before she even gets close to a real date with a gurney and a needle. In that time, she will become even more of a "notorious celebrity", while in lock down 23 hours a day on death row. Anti-DP advocates will make her into a pseudo-celebrity for why the DP should be abolished, because she was a "battered woman defending herself". Travis' name will be lost in the hype and celebrity of a condemned JA, or his name will continue to be sullied with allegations of battering and abuse and pedophilia. She will have groupies and websites and marriage proposals, etc. She will have YEARS or DECADES of appeals on little technicalities. She will relish all of the attention her appeals command. She will have a team of anti-DP attorneys. Law students will salivate to be part of her attorney team. Books will be written about her. But she will experience prison each and every day as a condemned inmate in lockdown 23 hours a day-- unless and until she is granted LWOP or a final date with the needle.

I honestly don't know which to hope for.

Travis' family (reportedly) wants the DP. And I'm supportive of that. But I just wonder if they have weighed the emotional toll that a DP verdict will weigh on them in the decades to come. That's when I swing back to LWOP-- let her age and rot for 60 years or so eating prison food, sleeping on a thin pad, and using the cold metal potty in full view of the guards every day. Scheming about how to one up another inmate for hot chocolate packets and ramen noodles.

Which outcome is "justice?" The answer is "both", but we each favor one or the other for our own reasons.

 

[SyraKelly]

IS her mom on her side?
How much communication was there between JA and TA from their break-up in April till his death?

I honestly don't know where her mother stands in all this.She said Jodi never had a bad childhood,but she did think Jodi killed Travis.

 

[leebee52]

If anyone cares to know the facts on Texas death row: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_facts.html

 

[Mrs G Norris]

I was just on the Arizona Department of Corrections website looking at conditions for Death Row inmates, agree it's the best choice for lifestyle reasons, no contact, she can read and write (I know) but books are from the prison library which is not doubt c***, two 10 min phone calls a week and some non contact visitation, also good .. anyway, strangely they have a list up of executed people and their last meals .. I don't know about you guys but if I was having a last meal it would be a lot more extravagant than these guys chose....

http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate...=Executed&SearchDescLabel=Executed Since 1992

 

[Dana]

they have the DP there,he must have made a deal to take it off the table

I'm from Missouri and yes, we have the DP here also. I'm glad I haven't heard of this trial. I can only keep up with 1 at a time.

 

[deedee21]

is anyone else thinking about the burglary in Dr D's house earlier this year , her laptop was stolen, had all her research notes regarding state of az vs. arias trial ,, Do you believe its a random break in or do you think someone associated with jodi did it?

I did not know she was robbed. May not be random. I wonder what Dr. D thinks reguarding this issue. I wonder if :facepalm: has anything to do with this?

 

[SyraKelly]

Oh...you can bet that she will be raised to Queen status of the prison inmates. She will be desired by both women AND men...prisoners and guards...uke:

ITA-The guards have heard the 3 statement Travis called her,She is going to use her sexuality like no tomorrow in their to get her *favors*

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

Darn I missed that,but if its says makes amends,I go with money stolen!!

Here you go, Syra....and I stand corrected; it was ElleElle that originally posted this text from TA to JA (in April, I believe):

"you have that information. its 15 minutes it would take to gt the info. But you won't take 15 minutes. Why because it is an Fing lie. So either text me you that you are ready
to tell the truth or give me your imaginary friend with
the worst BS story you have ever told or leave me alone.
Its a lie like no other. It is freaking foolish. There is no way out of it, you have screwed up your story so bad you can't mend it. You are caught. When will you realize that. I do not know. You have til tomorrow. to have me this persons information before I tell all of the Hughes' Leslie Udy, the Freemans, your parents and anyone else that
matters about all the crazy things you have done. So
either fess up or feel the wrath. No matter how bad
the truth is I promise you the punishment will be
better than the lie. This is worse than your magical
email that a mysterious man you've never seen before
wrote for you. You insult me by thinking ill believe such
crap. nothing else from you til the truth. I already know
your lying so why continue. After tomorrow, its gonna
get real bad for you. Time to spit it out."

 

[AstroKitty]

I honestly don't know where her mother stands in all this.She said Jodi never had a bad childhood,but she did think Jodi killed Travis.

I believe her mom is living in denial and a loss for what to do with her, and has been for a long time. There's no way Jodi had a perfect or stable childhood, yet turned out like this. Before the murder she had a life of meaningless jobs, dabbling in dumb things, relationships that didn't pan out, she dropped out of school (her mom had to sign for that). She kicked her mom in anger. She kicked the dog in anger. She's a product of divorce. I just feel there's something that happened which caused her not to trust people and to have a fiery resent towards her mother. None of it is a excuse of course, but everyone owning up to the reality of things would give the psych community more insight to the "nature vrs nurture" argument.

 

[katiecoolady]

And since there is no Arizona Law that would afford "death row lifestyle" if given LWOP, she MUST get the death penalty or she won't be penalized at all IMO. Because Dr. Demarte diagnosed her with a personality disorder that is not fixed with pills or treatment.

I firmly believe this jury will sentence her to death.

 

[leebee52]

ITA-The guards have heard the 3 statement Travis called her,She is going to use her sexuality like no tomorrow in their to get her *favors*

Didn't we already hear that JA is playing jailhouse paralegal for other inmates?

 

[Dark Inertia]

.. anyway, strangely they have a list up of executed people and their last meals .. I don't know about you guys but if I was having a last meal it would be a lot more extravagant than these guys chose....

It's interesting, the last meal of someone on death row is a source of fascination for many people. There is even a documentary about it that I believe is available on Netflix. Wikipedia spared no space on the subject, either:

Last meal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am the type of person who cannot eat when depressed or under a huge amount of stress. There is no way I would be able to take in anything the hours before I knew I was going to die. If I did I would probably throw it all up. :facepalm:

 

[AuburnSchnauzer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GS1rL9-Ydxc

Watch at about 16:53 forward - I don't see Donnie but I see this new person sitting with JA's Mom

 

[norest4thewicked]

I don't think the Queens that are there already will give her their crown. I think she will have hard time.

LOL...I hope you are right! There will be other prisoners in there who will have killed too. Hopefully there is at least one who is as manipulative and narcissistic as Jodi.

 

[SyraKelly]

If anyone cares to know the facts on Texas death row: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_facts.html

I read this site almost everyday.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

She was there last week .

Why on earth are ex prisoners allowed in a courtroom to watch the trial of someone they were in jail with in the first place? In Australia that would be consorting and they would be straight back in jail, also I was stunned to see two of them together in there last week near the end. What is up with that?

 

[Rocco]

Here you go, Syra....and I stand corrected; it was ElleElle that originally posted this text from TA to JA (in April, I believe):

"you have that information. its 15 minutes it would take to gt the info. But you won't take 15 minutes. Why because it is an Fing lie. So either text me you that you are ready
to tell the truth or give me your imaginary friend with
the worst BS story you have ever told or leave me alone.
Its a lie like no other. It is freaking foolish. There is no way out of it, you have screwed up your story so bad you can't mend it. You are caught. When will you realize that. I do not know. You have til tomorrow. to have me this persons information before I tell all of the Hughes' Leslie Udy, the Freemans, your parents and anyone else that
matters about all the crazy things you have done. So
either fess up or feel the wrath. No matter how bad
the truth is I promise you the punishment will be
better than the lie. This is worse than your magical
email that a mysterious man you've never seen before
wrote for you. You insult me by thinking ill believe such
crap. nothing else from you til the truth. I already know
your lying so why continue. After tomorrow, its gonna
get real bad for you. Time to spit it out."

So when Jodi was testifying, did she give her explanation as to what this was about?

 

[ILikeToBendPages]

I hate when the door slammed shut as I'm responding..

When she was telling that story she said "maybe he died" and I knew he did die. When she's lying or giving possible reasons and things - she says "maybe" and "if" otherwise it's impossible to know when she's lying. I just don't see how her anger laid dormant all this time. I know people do snap (typically it's drugs and or a break) but in her case it was a slow build and it could have been anyone.

Someone else just wondered why she did it. My theory is that he was taking someone else to cancun (had they gone together?) and she didn't want that to happen. She went there with the intent to kill him. He wasn't "allowed" to move forward. He was "hers" and no one else's. That entire "If I can't have you then no one else can either" thing. i go back and forth about the sex prior. I wonder if they did have sex. I know it "looks" that way but it's hard telling. He had to know something was off when she arrived. Her car wasn't parked there, it wasn't the car he sold her and that had to be weird to him.

I know what you mean. I had the same feelings when I heard Casey tell 911 that she had spoke to Caylee just that very afternoon, and I knew that Caylee was dead, and her mama had killed her.

I lean toward that also. Jodi brought her makeup, clothes, her camera and her laptop. She bought to two two pack's of facial cleanser and two two packs of sunscreen at the Walmart in Salinas when she bought the third gas can.

She was traveling under the radar, and parked the rental close (on google it shows two side streets) and if things worked out she could turn the rental in in Mesa and would have every reason to be there.

I think Jodi saw Gus somewhere in her trip. She could of stopped in Yoruba Linda and then on to Mesa. I don't think Travis was expecting her. Jodi always had a reason to return or to retrieve something. Always an excuse to get her foot in the door and this time it was the cd's that could of been mailed to Travis. I think she brought the car payments and wasn't worried about them bouncing. Once inside Jodi would use what she's been using all along. Sex and she's was going to take kinky up a notch. I do think a soft roped was involved to get the knife up in the bedroom and I think it was left on the nightstand. I don't think the sex was all that exciting because of the photo's and they look so odd.

I think Jodi had Travis trapped in the shower at gun point or by Jodi threatening to kill herself. I can see the gunshot first a a good possibility with the angle of the gunshot could be consistent with Travis sitting down and it's not beyond the chance he got out and to the sink. There is a slice like wound on Travis's groin like she was lunging towards him. He'd be grabbing the knife and trying to protect himself as she stabbed him and Travis was dead and being dragged back to the shower.

Since sex or anything else hadn't worked, Jodi played what she thought was her trump card and that was blackmail. She'd go to the bishop if he didn't change his mind and Travis told her to go ahead. She'd be worse off and lose more than him. She'd be marked as a liar, leech, psycho and a *advertiser censored*. There wouldn't be rich Mormon men to move on to if Travis went to the Bishop and confessed. I wonder about the May 26 text and what Jodi did to piss Travis off so much.

 

[YESorNO]

I'm from Missouri and yes, we have the DP here also. I'm glad I haven't heard of this trial. I can only keep up with 1 at a time.

Just found out they gave Terry Blair a deal - no DP.