The Dirty Lil Secret Who Couldn't Let Go ~ Travis Alexander's Murder Case ~ CONCLUSION

 

I don't even know where to begin with the trial as, there was so much time wasted on BS things, it took a long time to even get to this point...

On January 2, 2013, the prosecution was seeking the death penalty; as we have all seen how vicious and brutal Jodi Arias was in her attack on her victim, Travis Alexander. Arias' court appointed defense lawyers argued that Travis' death was a justifiable homicide, as she was acting in self defense.

A few witnesses took the stand to verify that Jodi had cuts on her hands, but was claiming it was from getting drunk and breaking glasses in her hand. The prosecutor brought forward their theory that since they found a .25 caliber bullet at the crime scene AND a gun of the same caliber went missing during the "burglary" of Jodi Arias' grandparents it could be concluded that Jodi staged the robbery and used the gun on the man she was completely obsessed with, Travis Alexander.

Jodi decided to go on the stand to testify; this took 18 days. Over the course of those 18 days, she shared many stories with the jury and courtroom. She began by claiming she was violently abused by her parents as a child. 

The next day she spoke about her "unorthodoxed" sex life with Travis, also implying that he liked little children (boys & girls), and she was the one who was helping him overcome those urges.

As the trial proceeded, Jodi began to explain how dysfunctional her and Travis' relationship was, with him becoming so violent over time that she had no choice but to kill him in self defense. After making this damaging statement, it was felt by defense and prosecution that she made a fatal error revealing that; damaging her credibility as this was the THIRD version she told of the events that happened on that fateful night.

Jodi Arias was put on the spot when she was confronted with a TV interview she did back in 2008 where she stated, "No jury is going to convict me ... because I am innocent. You can mark my words on that." When questioned about it, Arias testified that, "At the time [of the interview], I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me, because I didn't expect any of you to be here." No one was buying her version of events; even the jury later states, her talking for 18 days hurt her as she was not a very good witness.

After her testimony, there were several medical professionals, including psychologists that would take the stand and discuss Jodi Arias' mannerisms and possible mentality at the time of the murder; with the defense team claiming the  whole relationship was chaos, just like the murder scene and there is no way this was a planned crime. 

While the prosecution continued with their logic and theory, saying there was no pleasing her; she wanted to make sure no woman would ever have Travis Alexander as their partner. This was not a manslaughter case, but a pure evil planned out execution of an defenseless man... He was in the shower, he had no way of defending himself. It was an overly excessive murder, in the sense, that she stabbed him over 20 times and then proceeded to shoot him when he was already dead... which forensics verified.

Because the trial was drawn out so long, it weighed too heavily on the jury; with one juror being dismissed for "misconduct"; Defense was denied a mistrial as the jurors seemed to be vanishing. Another juror left due to health reasons and a third was dismissed after they were arrested for a DUI.

On May 8, 2013, after deliberating for 15 hours, Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder. Out of 12 jurors, 5 found her guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, and 7 jurors found her guilty of both first-degree premeditated murder AND felony murder. 

Now became the REAL test for the jury as we enter the aggravation part of the verdict. Everything lay on the prosecution to convince the jury that the murder Jodi had committed was not only heinous and cruel but it was also depraved. This was necessary to deem her eligible for the death penalty.

The only person who took the stand was the medical examiner. After his testimony, it only took the jury 3 hours to deliberate; coming back with the decision that she DID, in fact, deserve the death penalty. This is where things get a bit more interesting, and confusing...

Jodi Arias addressed the courts, admitting she did it and would plea to the sentencing of life in prison; this being the complete opposite of what she has said on the stand and in the infamous TV interview.

On May 23, 2013, the sentencing phase resulted in a hung jury, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for that phase. It was reported that the vote was 8 to 4 in favor of the death penalty. Once the jury was dismissed, one juror firmly believed that Jodi Arias was mentally abused, but that did NOT warrant what she did.

Once the mistrial was declared, there was the option to have another sentencing trial but if both the defense and prosecution agreed, they could accept Jodi's plea deal and sentence her to life in prison. By this point, her trial had cost taxpayers $1.7 million dollars already. Many, many appeals were made, all of which were denied but her sentencing retrial began on October 21, 2014 with many of the same witnesses taking the stand.

Once again, the jury was deadlocked after 26 days of deliberating; this time 11 jurors were in favour of the death penalty, but 1 juror stuck it out, claiming (later), she was receiving death threats and begin harassed after her name, number and address were made known. Judge declared a mistrial on March 5, 2015.

Finally on April 7, 2015, Judge Stephens sentenced Jodi Arias to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. By now, Arias' defense cost the taxpayers over $3 million!!! In June 2015, Jodi Arias was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $32,000 to Travis Alexander's siblings.

AFTERMATH: 

As of today, Jodi Arias is at the Arizona Department of Corrections which is located Perryville. She has since been downgraded from maximum security to medium security. Any appeal Jodi's legal team proposed had been denied in court. 

Since the case, there have been several movies and docu-series about this trial. It was a major headlining story, especially since this is one of the first cases I have heard of a man finally being acknowledged as a domestice violence victim.

Travis Victor Alexander (July 28, 1977 – June 4, 2008) Rest in Peace!!!

~Phoenix