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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Jodi Arias Describes Killing Travis
Aired February 20, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: A stunning, jaw-dropping day in court. Jodi Arias tells the world exactly how she killed Travis Alexander. But wait, there`s a catch when could it comes to the 29 stab wounds and the slitting of his throat. Can you say blackout or blackout B.S.?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, D-Day for Jodi Arias on the stand. Jodi says she was in mortal terror in the minutes before she brutally killed Travis Alexander. She says Travis flipped out, like a madman, after she dropped his new camera and body-slammed her in the shower. Jodi claims she blacked out during the struggle and only remembers later driving in the desert, covered in blood. So what happened to her razor-sharp memory?
And Jodi talks about the gun used in the killing. Did she shoot Travis by accident without even realizing it? We`ll debate today`s biggest moments from court, and we`re taking your calls.
JODI ARIAS, MURDER DEFENDANT: It was, like, mortal terror. He lifted me up as he was screaming that I was a stupid idiot, and he body slammed again on the tile. I could hear his footsteps chasing me. I didn`t want him to grab me again.
TRAVIS ALEXANDER, MURDER VICTIM (via phone): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
ARIAS: I pissed him off the worst I`ve ever seen him pissed off.
KIRK NURMI, JODI`S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Is that the last picture you intentionally took of Travis Alexander?
ARIAS: Pointed it at him with both of my hands. I didn`t mean to shoot him or anything. I didn`t even think I was holding the trigger.
He`s just screaming, angry. He`s -- he said (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I have no memory of stabbing him.
NURMI: Do you remember dragging him across the floor?
ARIAS: I remember dropping the knife, and it clanged to the tile and made a big noise. And I just remember screaming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, confessions of a killer, an unbelievable day in the Jodi Arias courtroom. Accused murderer Jodi sobs and weeps as she describes exactly what she says happened in the seconds leading up to Travis Alexander`s death, but at the very crucial moment -- we`re all there with bated breath -- she says, "I blacked out. I don`t remember a thing."
Will Jodi`s story of Travis erupting in rage and the gun accidentally going off convince the jury she killed him in self-defense?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.
The beautiful 32-year-old photographer is accused of stabbing her ex- boyfriend 29 times, slicing Travis Alexander`s throat from ear to ear, and shooting him in the head. Now she has finally told us exactly how this brutal killing went down. So, let`s listen to Jodi`s version of events from that blood-soaked day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: He lifted me up as he was screaming that I was a stupid idiot. And he body-slammed me again on the tile.
I began to run down the hallway, and I could hear him following me. I could hear his footsteps chasing me.
I remembered where he kept the gun, so I grabbed it. He got like a linebacker. He got kind of low and grabbed my waist. Before he did that, as he was lunging at me, the gun went off. I didn`t mean to shoot him or anything. I didn`t even think I was holding the trigger.
He said, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you, bitch."
There is like a huge gap. Like, I don`t know if I blacked out or what. There is a huge gap.
NURMI: Do you remember stabbing Travis Alexander?
ARIAS: I have no memory of stabbing him.
NURMI: Do you remember dragging him across the floor?
ARIAS: No.
NURMI: Do you remember placing him in the shower?
ARIAS: I`m sorry. That`s no. I remember dropping the knife and it clanged to the tile. It made a big noise, and I just remember screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is it an odd coincidence that Jodi has almost perfect recall up until this point but no memory whatsoever of stabbing Travis 29 times or slitting his throat, practically decapitating him? Is this a convenient memory lapse?
Jodi went on to testify she was too scared to call 911 and then decided to cover up Travis` death with one lie after another.
Plus, we`ve got never-before-seen exclusive video, just into our show, of Travis Alexander shooting a gun with friends. The issue of who owned this gun, who had the gun, big, big, big, crucial to this case. So, we`re going to talk to Travis` close buddy. Did Travis have a gun hidden in his closet, as Jodi claims? You will hear from his very dear friend in just a moment.
Will the jury buy Jodi`s story self-defense? I want to hear from you. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS; 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to our own senior producer, Selin Darkalstanian. You were in court during this momentous testimony. Take us into the courtroom, describe what it was like.
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, HLN PRODUCER: Jane, the day we`ve been waiting for, seven days of Jodi being on the stand, is finally here, where she had to tell us what happened in that bedroom. There are only two people there, Travis and Jodi. What happened on that day, June 4, 2008? And she blacked out. She didn`t give us much detail.
Whereas in her earlier testimony, we`ve been hearing so much detail about her life, about her relationship with Travis. The day of the murder she didn`t get much detail. She says she blacked out. She forgot. She doesn`t remember a lot from that day.
The jury, on the other hand, was not even taking notes. They were sitting back. They were studying her face. They were looking at her. They were -- they were listening so closely. They were watching her. Some of them just sat back like this, just listening to her speak to see what she was saying, almost studying her to see if they believed her.
And then there was Travis` family. You could see his sisters, and they were shaking their head. They were rolling their eyes. They were, you could tell, so frustrated at the lies she was -- at they believe the lies she was telling in her testimony today.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense claims Jodi was fighting for her life after Travis body-slammed her in a fit of rage, leaving Jodi to grab Travis`s gun. That`s her story. Her last clear memory, she says, from that day is the gun going off. Listen to the most crucial testimony in her entire time on the stand, right here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: When I grabbed the gun, I ran out of the closet. He was chasing me. I turned around. We were in the middle of the bathroom. Pointed it at him with both of my hands. I thought that would stop him. If someone were pointing a gun at me, I would stop. But he just kept running. He got like a linebacker. He got kind of low and grabbed my waist.
But before he did that, as he was lunging at me, the gun went off. I didn`t mean to shoot him or anything. I didn`t even think I was holding the trigger. I just was pointing it at him. And I didn`t even know that I shot him. It just went off, and he was -- he lunged at me, and we fell. He`s grabbing at my clothes. And I got up and he`s just screaming angry.
And after I had broke away from him, he -- he said, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you, bitch."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. This an accidental photo Jodi took, according to prosecutors, which shows Travis bleeding and Jodi apparently standing above him. Jodi claimed she unintentionally shot him, and she didn`t even know she had hit him.
OK. Let`s bring in our panel. The autopsy showed Travis was shot in the face. How on earth do you shoot somebody in the face, accidentally or not, and not realize you`ve shot them when you`re in a physical scuffle with them that`s up close and personal, starting with Wendy Murphy?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Look, I laughed out loud when I heard that. I had to check to see whether I had accidentally hit the clicker and put on "Saturday Night Live`s" version of this trial.
This was the most kooky testimony. There`s no way the jury is believing this, much less the craziness about the accidental loss of memory right around the time she starts stabbing him. No way is the jury going to believe this.
And you know what`s funny? The gunshot story, she said not only did she shoot him in the face -- oops, by accident, which is a little different defense than self-defense -- but then with a bullet in his face, he`s chasing her around the apartment, chasing her. And I mean, I know it`s a 25-caliber, which isn`t a machine gun, but are you kidding me? He`s running after with a bullet in his face?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Adam...
MURPHY: No one believes that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... for the defense, do you buy it?
ADAM SWICKLE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, absolutely I buy it. First of all, let me tell you, when I first heard this testimony, I said, "Wow. The defense is scoring point after point after point."
You have this young lady on the stand, explaining everything she can possibly explain, admitting her faults, and doing what she needed to do in telling this jury finally the truth about this incident.
As far as being able to move with a bullet or a gunshot, No. 1, it happens all the time that the recoil or that a firearm is shot. And in a scuffle, not everybody knows exactly what`s happened at that stage.
But if you listened to the experts of the prosecution, they actually testified that he would have still been in control of his normal faculties...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.
SWICKLE: ... due to the angle in which he was shot and the area he was shot. So it`s very plausible that that`s the truth.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Jon Lieberman.
JON LIEBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Adam -- Adam what you`re missing here is the headline also is not only did she admit to the killing, which we know. She`s now admitted to repeatedly lying to police, obstructing the investigation.
SWICKLE: Absolutely.
LIEBERMAN: She has admitted to getting rid of the gun, the murder weapon. I mean, this is all but case closed. And it doesn`t even sound, as Wendy said...
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Rene Sandler.
SWICKLE: Let me finish. It doesn`t even sound like -- it doesn`t even sound like self-defense anymore.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Rene.
RENE SANDLER, ATTORNEY: It`s case closed. It`s case closed on at least second-degree murder here. If the jury doesn`t accept self-defense, it`s second-degree murder. There was a fight. There`s no premeditation here.
She was precise. She was consistent. She was clear. She was pointed in what her answers were to -- in response to her attorney. And you know, you just don`t like what she has to say. But she`s clear...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: By the way, if she -- if she gets second degree as opposed to, like, convicted of premeditated, with the death penalty, second degree, she`s already served four. She could be out in a few years.
I want to go to a quick phone call. Christine, North Carolina. Your analysis, your feeling about this testimony today?
CALLER: Yes, Jane. First of all, I want to congratulate you on 18 years. I have 16.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. Sobriety.
CALLER: Just wanted to let you know that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Almost. April 1. Go ahead.
CALLER: My comment is, you know, they never talked about stabbing or anything ahead of time. Then they talked about the gun shooting, which was accidental. And the medical examiner said he was shot last, not first.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you are making an excellent point.
On the other side of the break, we`re going to talk to Beth Karas, who knows this case inside out about the order and why it`s so significant whether he shot first or shot last after he`s stabbed.
We`re just getting started. Bombshells from the Jodi Arias trial. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I knew that my life was pretty much over, but -- I was -- I didn`t want anyone to know that that had happened or that I did it. So I started taking steps of what I could do in the aftermath of it to try to cover up that I was there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: So I ran into the closet, and I slammed the door. And I remembered where he kept the gun. So I grabbed it. I jumped up on the shelf, on the very top. I grabbed it. And then I went out the other door as he was opening the door.
And he ran, chasing me. And I turned around and pointed it at him so that he would stop chasing me. It was up here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. You`re looking at Travis Alexander`s closet. She claims that he had a gun hidden there. She grabbed it.
We`ve got Travis`s very dear friend, Dave Hall, with us tonight, very special guest.
You gave us some never-before-seen video, exclusively, of Travis shooting with one of your guns. Let`s show you some of this video that you gave us. And there`s Travis. He`s got the shorts and T-shirt and he`s in the foreground. He`s shooting a gun.
And so what do you say to Jodi`s testimony today that she did not bring that gun, that she got the gun from Travis` closet?
DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS: Well, Jane, I`ve been out shooting with Travis many times. He loves shooting guns. And every time we go out in the desert shooting, he`s always shooting my guns. All those guns in that video in the pictures I sent you are my guns.
If Travis owned a gun, he would have said, "Hey, I`ve got a gun. I want to test it out. I want to sight it in. I want to practice shooting it." I was at his house one week before he was murdered. He did not own a gun.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is extraordinary footage. I mean, we`re seeing this man who is at the center of this tragedy, the man who was killed, who was shot as well as stabbed, and there he is. Thank you for that video. That gives us such an insight.
Is Jodi lying not just about that but about having a blackout? Is her blackout during the stabbing total B.S.? Jodi has shown an uncanny memory during her testimony, remembering how she bought Frappuccinos years ago and the price of gasoline. But today she told the jury that after that gun went off, she barely remembers what happened next. She went into a complete blackout, she claims, as she stabbed Travis 29 times, and slit his throat. Listen to this and we`ll debate it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NURMI: Do you remember stabbing Travis Alexander?
ARIAS: I have no memory of stabbing him.
NURMI: Do you remember dragging him across the floor?
ARIAS: No.
NURMI: Do you remember placing him in the shower?
ARIAS: I`m sorry, that`s no. I remember dropping the knife, and it clanged to the tile. It made a big noise, and I just remember screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, expert panel, do you buy that she went into a blackout, and without alcohol, mind you. I`m a recovering alcoholic, as of the callers said. Hopefully, I`ll be 18 April 1. I have had blackouts, but there was always a large amount of alcohol that went along with those blackouts.
Jon Lieberman, you buy it?
LIEBERMAN: This is a case, Jane, about credibility, and we have several confirmed instances in this case where we know Jodi Arias was lying, lying in great detail to police, videotaped lies. So, this case is about credibility. So how can we take anything she says on the stand to be true at all, because 99.9 percent of it isn`t corroborated by any evidence?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Adam. The blackout?
SWICKLE: Going to your question, Jane, absolutely this is plausible. It is well documented and well settled by medical professionals that people can have posttraumatic stress disorder. You remember everything before and you remember things in your life after. That does not mean that you remember such a traumatic event. We`ve had it with our military personnel and we`ve had it in multiple cases that I`ve been involved in and tried.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.
SWICKLE: Let`s remember, let`s -- hold on, let`s remember, everybody here who is saying that this case is over, she`s going to be convicted, same people who said Casey Anthony and O.J. Simpson were going to be convicted. I think this evidence is powerful, and I think it`s going to help her out.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Wendy Murphy, I`m dying to hear what you have to say about this blackout.
MURPHY: Look, it is possible in theory for a person to have disassociation or what`s called traumatic amnesia. And I guarantee you they`re going to have an expert, who for a big fat fee, will lie under oath and say that`s exactly what she was going through. But the fact that she says it doesn`t make it true.
And look, there`s no doubt she tripped herself up even on this defense today. Because the expert to say she was traumatized is not going to be able to answer the question, "You mean, she wasn`t too traumatized when the gun went off. She just kind of went into trauma right after that?"
She said, and she got caught -- listen to this one -- she said when he asked -- when her lawyer said where`d the knife come from, remember, she has no memory of the knife, nothing at all, un-unh, big blank on that, right? Where did the knife come from? She goes, "Oh, from upstairs."
And he goes, "Ooh, ooh, do you mean you think and assume you got it from upstairs?"
"Oh, yes, that`s what I meant. I assume I got it from upstairs."
It`s so clear that she`s lying about no memory regarding the stab wounds. All she`s doing is laying the groundwork...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. You know what?
MURPHY: ... for some expert to make up another big fat lie and...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She could have remembered -- she could have remembered the knife from when he cut up the rope to tie her up to have sex with her earlier and remembered it from before the blackout. Hypothetically. I`m not saying that happened. I`m just saying hypothetically.
Our debates continue. Your calls on the other side. More key testimony. We`re going to play it for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I remember what was going through my head. I don`t remember anything else after that. I just couldn`t believe what had happened and that I couldn`t taking any back what had just happened, and it was like -- I couldn`t rewind the clock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I`m taking pictures of him. We were trying out different photos. I was showing him the photos, and we were deleting some. And at one point, when I was -- went to delete the photos, as I moved the camera, it slipped out of my hand.
Travis flipped out again. He lifted me up as he was screaming that I was a stupid idiot, and he body-slammed me again on the tile. He told me that a 5-year-old can hold a camera better than I can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that`s how the fight started, according to Jodi Arias.
Beth Karas, you`ve covered this trial from the start. She`s very intent on showing that, oh, she shot him before she stabbed him 29 times while she was in a blackout and slit his throat. Why is it important for the defense for her to have shot him before stabbing him?
BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": Well, it appears, Jane, there are a couple of things going on here.
The shot, according to her, did not disable him, and she continued to be in fear of her life so, that will, in part, justify why she resorted to other means to kill him and not just the one shot to the head.
There are problems with that shot, though, because the trajectory of the shot is downward. She was over him, and he was taller than she. It didn`t happen the way she said. It couldn`t have.
But also, the one aggravating factor that makes this death-eligible is called cruelty. A judge had already stricken heinous, depraved. So, cruelty. And the order of the shots is important to the defense on that end.
The state says the shot came last and that she slashed him and sliced him and stabbed him, and he suffered so, and that he had mental anguish. He knew he was going to die. The shot was just the final coup de gras, and that will justify death, in the eyes of the state, if the jury agrees.
The defense will say, no, quite the contrary. She shot him in the head first. It didn`t kill him, and that she was simply defending herself. And, you know, they`ll make some argument that it wasn`t cruel. She was doing what she had to do
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, OK. Excellent explanation. Thank you for that.
Now, take a look at the waterworks today: Jodi Arias crying, crying, crying, crying, crying, and really turning on the tears. And as we do that, we are going to go to Susan Constantine, body language expert. There she is, sobbing, crying like this. Effective? Phony? Genuine? What say you?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Well, there are -- some of the tears are genuine, but a lot of them are towards her own self-pity.
How it`s going to work with the jury, if you`ve got some really high emotional people that love storytelling and those wonderful Danielle Steele movies, they`ll probably connect with her. But the ones that won`t are those Type A personalities: want to get to the point. They don`t like all the drama.
But the tears that she shows are not always genuine. You don`t always see tears rolling down her eyes. You see her hand over her mouth or on her nose, but you don`t often see actual genuine tears. Only when, primarily, she`s feeling self-pity.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Interesting. So many incredible moments to show you from court today.
Now, we`re going to take your calls and, in fact, we`re going to get to Susan in Illinois on the other side.
Nancy, up at 8 with her take on Jodi`s testimony. You don`t want to miss that. That`s top of the hour.
On the other side, we`re going to show you how Travis Alexander`s family reacted in court and why one sister started crying during Jodi`s testimony. What`s that about?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I ran into the closet, and I slammed the door. And I remembered where he kept a gun so I grabbed it. I jumped up on the shelf, kept it on the very top. I grabbed it.
And then I ran out the other door as he was opening the door. And he ran, chasing me. And I turned around and point it had at him so that he would stop chasing me. It was up here in the corner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI ARIAS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: There`s a lot of that day that I don`t remember. I was scared. There are a lot of gaps. Mortal terror. Travis flipped out again, looked at me like a mad man.
JENNIFER WILLMOTT, JODI ARIAS` DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jodi believed that Travis was going to kill her.
ARIAS: He had attacked me in the past and nothing happened. I don`t know if I blacked out or what. He was still conscious. I didn`t even know that I shot him.
WILLMOTT: Travis left Jodi no other option but to defend herself.
ARIAS: I have a million regret. I just couldn`t believe what had happened, that I couldn`t taking any back. There was a huge gap. There was blood on my hands.
WILLMOTT: He threatened to kill her.
ARIAS: I wish that it was just a nightmare that I could wake up from.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you kill Travis Alexander?
ARIAS: Absolutely not.
It was not a life.
If I killed Travis, I would beg for the death penalty.
I just wanted to die. My life is probably done now.
I don`t remember anything else after that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Jodi Arias` biggest day on the witness stand, describing the actual killing of Travis Alexander. She says, oh, she pointed a gun at him and it went off. She didn`t even realize she hit him. Then she claims she doesn`t remember what happened next.
Oh she goes into this blackout after she shoots Travis Alexander -- doesn`t remember stabbing him 29 times. Doesn`t remember slitting his throat ear to ear, but she says she does remember how she felt. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: It was like mortal terror. It was like he -- I pissed him off, the worst I had ever seen him pissed off. And then I tried to stop him and then I would piss him off even more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you believe him when said "kill you, bitch"?
ARIAS: Because he had never said that before and he had taken me almost to that point without that threat and now he was clearly making that threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense could have a problem because she said, oh, it was after she shot Travis that he said bleeping kill you, bitch. So, that`s problem right there. But I have to talk about a problem for the prosecution. And let`s bring in our panel.
Ok, she claim she doesn`t remember anything about the stabbing, the 29 times she stabbed him. So, did she essentially -- that`s the best and most incriminating evidence the prosecutor has. Did she just pull the rug out from under him? How many times can he ask her about something that she is in a blackout over? I think it really kind of -- it`s like a great chess move, Wendy Murphy.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: No, because you know what he`s going to say? "So you don`t recall slitting his throat and stabbing him 29 times in the back, is that correct?" She will say "Yes". And he will say "So, how do you know it was self-defense, darling?" Hello? She can`t possibly justify something she doesn`t remember, much less say oh and then I confess.
At the end she said, Oh, then I had my soul-searching moment at the end when the cops caught me and figured out I lied so many time, I was about to go to jail, I said I think I will have a confession now. What did she confess to? Can you confess to something you don`t remember? I`m wondering -- just wondering.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Rene Sandler? Rene.
RENE SANDLER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, this is a victim of domestic violence, Jodi Arias, we have corroboration of that. There`s a distinction that needs to be made here between how she feels, how she felt in the relationship and what she recalls about her actions. What she doesn`t recall in being in the blackout is during the throes of a very emotional event -- entirely consistent with domestic violence.
This case is going to come down to credibility and order of wounds and what the jury weighs in terms of evidence, in terms of the order of proof.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Jon Leiberman, quickly?
JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: And I think on cross-examination tomorrow, I think Jodi`s credibility is going to be further shredded. I mean prosecutors are going to point out wait, you were body slammed but you had no bruises on your body.
You testified earlier in this trial that you didn`t know if Travis had a gun or not, but yet you went straight to the closet where now you say conveniently, you knew he had a gun. I mean there are just so many inconsistencies here and you will see that tomorrow on cross. Further --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Adam?
ADAM SWICKLE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think that`s necessarily what you`ll see. I think you`ll see a prosecutor attempt to attack somebody. But let`s face it, if she was going to lie, she would have lied throughout the process. Has she given inconsistent statements? She has. That happens in these cases. The question is, is she telling the truth now and is at least one juror going to have reasonable doubt about what took place?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Got it.
Susan, Illinois, your question or thought. Susan, Illinois?
SUSAN, ILLINOIS (via telephone): Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
SUSAN: Wow. Selective memory sure is coming into play now. I mean this poor man did not slip and fall on this knife 29 times. And in my opinion, I think she brought the gun, hid it in the closet, because there was no commotion in the closet. She knew exactly where it was.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Beth Karas, when she blacks out, to the point where she comes to in the desert after driving into the middle of the desert with blood on her hands, what are the things that she can`t remember in that blackout?
BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": She cannot remember slashing his throat, dragging his body, stabbing him in the back nine times with a total of 29 slash and stab wounds. She can`t remember deleting the photos from the camera, putting the camera in the washing machine, taking those sheets out of the washer and putting them in the dryer first, putting a towel, some T-shirt of his, some other clothing of his along with the camera in the washing machine.
Moreover, she didn`t leave any blood in the house. If she had blood on her hands, she didn`t leave it on any door handles. There was no blood anywhere outside of the bathroom.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, in other words, the defense is asking us to believe that she cleaned up the crime scene badly but tried to clean up the crime scene in a blackout. Do we believe that?
On the other side, Dave Hall, Travis` dear friend is going to talk about, whoa, an amazing piece of testimony that probably has Travis` family steaming, next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I mean, I was thinking at the time, the camera if I hadn`t dropped the camera, but then I realize there are other steps that could have been taken. Even though he got really mad, and even though he threatened to kill me, maybe I would have run left instead of right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you angry at yourself?
ARIAS: I was just feeling a whole lot of emotions. Mostly, I was very scared. And I was very upset. I just wanted to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You will not believe how Jodi Arias tries to turn the tables and essentially say that she lied to police, making up two totally different stories in order to protect Travis? Yes. We will play the sound bite on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I wish that it was just a nightmare that I could wake up from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you still love him?
ARIAS: Yes, I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you still love him now?
ARIAS: It`s a different love but yes, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense tried turn this into some kind of love story gone wrong, maybe appealing to a love addict in the jury pool. You know, that`s outrageous. This is not a love store. This is a story about violence.
And talk about -- while we are on the subject of turning the tables, Jodi says she lied to cops, making up two different stories, right -- ninjas broke into the house. I wasn`t there and then ninjas broke into the house. She says she did it to protect Travis Alexander. She said she didn`t want to have to reveal to the cops all the sordid sex games and the alleged pedophilia. And so she didn`t want to hurt Travis. That`s why she lied. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I was very concerned about both of our reputations and I didn`t want to start throwing him under the bus, so to speak. Accident want to say negative things about him now because there were a lot of people already hurting and it -- I didn`t see what benefit it would be to talk about any of those things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dave Hall, your dear friend of Travis Alexander`s and you gave us some extraordinary footage and photos, these are exclusive. And also we got photos of him and video of him shooting your guns to prove the point that the gun that was in his house was not his gun, according to you. You say he did not own his own gun.
What do you make, though, of Jodi Arias trying to say that she lied and made up the ninja stories to protect Travis` reputation?
DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: Yes, I think with the majority out of people out there, it`s hard to hold a straight face when you hear these stories that Jodi tells, that she`s only making up these stories to protect Travis` reputation. I mean she made up these stories to protect her from going to jail or getting the death penalty.
None of her stories add up. None of the facts add up. She is a narcissistic liar. There`s nothing in -- nothing in here story that you can believe. The jury should have an easy one on this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at that video, the man who we are all talking about here is deceased. And thank you for that video. Wow.
Emotions running so high in the courtroom today as Jodi testified about the moment she killed Travis and the terrible aftermath and she was choking back tears as she talked about a moment after attending Travis` memorial -- yes, she went to his memorial -- when she felt, she claims his presence. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I felt like he was there. It helped me to know that he was ok, and he was in a better place. And maybe that he wasn`t mad any more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know, there is the sister of Travis Alexander weeping as Jodi is weeping on the stand, but for probably very different reasons.
Selin Darkalstanian, do you remember this moment where it was sort of -- I was struck by it. The sister of the victim is weeping while the accused killer is testifying.
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, HLN PRODUCER: Well, because Jodi is testifying about the last day that Travis was alive, the last time, what they did together, the last video he watched on the computer, you know. What they ate what they did together so this is -- they are reliving a nightmare sitting through this. But in essence they`re crying because they`re hearing the last moments that their brother was living before he was tragically murdered.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. Two people crying in the same courtroom for entirely different reasons.
Let`s go out to the phone lines. Kathy, Washington -- your question or thought, Kathy.
KATHY, WASHINGTON (via telephone): Yes, I`ve got a thousand questions and a thousand comments. I will narrow it down to two I have one comment and one question.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Go for it.
KATHY: Why in the world would she say I didn`t mean to shoot him when she is in mortal fear for her life and she doesn`t remember stabbing him or anything? So, that should have been it right there. That`s when she shot him in self-defense but she doesn`t remember shooting him. I mean she didn`t mean to and then she doesn`t remember stabbing him so where does she remember the self-defense? It never came out.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think, Adam Swickle, it is a confused defense strategy and maybe it`s intentionally confusing because I have said it a million times, in confusion there can be reasonable doubt. You just throw so much at the jury. And it`s going which way, every which way, they can get confused.
SWICKLE: I don`t necessarily think it`s that confusing because for self-defense, she has testified that this all started based on her fear. Her inability to be able to give certain details does not mean that this whole incident didn`t start as a result of self-defense.
It`s why the gun was introduced. It`s why the shot could have gone off because remember, we don`t know necessarily whether or not there was a strong or a soft recoil on this, but certainly this whole incident started as a result of self-defense. And I think her testimony was clear with respect to that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. Can I give Wendy Murphy ten seconds to respond?
MURPHY: Look, she is trying to put together a little self-defense, a little accident defense, mixed in with a little bit of insanity. But none of it makes --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A lot of insanity.
MURPHY: -- sense. None of it makes sense. The jury doesn`t mind when defendants lie to cops sometimes. They mind a lot when they lie to them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, her confession. That`s right. She uses the word "confession" on the stand today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: They have razors there for shaving, double-bladed razors that you`re allowed to just keep with you. And I took it apart one night with intentions of slitting my wrists. I never did it, obviously, I`m still here. And I couldn`t bring myself to do it. And I was really -- I was really pissed at myself, because I wanted to just -- I just wanted to be done. I wanted to be done. I wanted to be dead before Travis` birthday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for "Pet o` the Day". Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Jack, my God, you`re ready for the office. I like it. And Lily -- she`s got a little dolly. And she says I like my dolly. And Kira says, yes, I`m a bunny and I`m going to be a pet of the day. Laurence, very regal, beagle -- regal beagle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I would rather have gone to my grave. It feels very fragile and from day one especially when there are so many nice people reaching out to you and they believe you.
My family also remains very supportive and told me that it didn`t matter what happened, we love you anyway.
You can bring -- 2010 rolls around and I confessed. Told everyone what I can`t remember of the day and that the intruder story was all BS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There she is saying after a couple of years of all these stories about ninjas invading and she wasn`t there, she finally decides to confess. And Susan Constantine, courtroom analyst, body language expert, she uses the word "confession". Some people say that`s idiotic. It sounds like she`s confessing to murder. Others say it`s brilliant because it`s like I`m going to confess to a little bit so let me off and see how honest I`m being.
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Yes, well, see the thing is it`s a sticky word. So the jury is going to hear the word "confession". They`re not going to hear the other stuff that`s going around and that`s what`s going to stick in their minds.
But I do think it is brilliant on the defense`s point by kind of throwing it out there because the state`s got to come back and rebut all these things and here is the thing is she`s already answered many of those questions. But when you`re watching her body language, I`m not seeing that sense of remorse or guilt for what she`s done. She still has a very affect look, that there`s no emotion there. She doesn`t really feel what the words are she`s speaking. They`re always incongruent Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, I think Wendy Murphy that there`s going to be a real problem of the prosecutor because sometimes the defense attorney seemed like a prosecutor. Why didn`t she call 911? Why didn`t she tell the truth? It`s almost like he`s trying to use up all the questions that the prosecutor might ask so that he has nothing left to ask.
MURPHY: Well, you know, that`s a good defense attorney. You know, they`re supposed to take some of the air out of the balloons of the prosecution`s cross-examination. But believe me, the prosecutor is going to make mincemeat out of this woman. She already comes across to me as an arrogant, lying sociopath.
This was a seven-day dog and pony show from where I sit. But the prosecution is going to make it much worse.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want to get everybody`s grade on this testimony on the other side. And remember tomorrow is going to be the huge day. You`ve got to join us at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here tomorrow because it`s the cross examination.
What is going to happen? Is she going to be turned into -- I don`t like to use the phrase mincemeat but I guess I will. Is that what`s going to happen to Jodi Arias tomorrow. Join here and find out.
More on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So how did Jodi do? Let`s grade her.
Rene -- grade.
SANDLER: I`d give her a B-plus, but Jane, I would subpoena that gun video tonight.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Adam.
SWICKLE: A-plus, plus, plus Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A-plus. Wendy?
MURPHY: A B and an F for big fat faker.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon.
LEIBERMAN: F, nobody`s buying it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I`m going to give her an incomplete because she went into that blackout -- blackout or blackout BS.
Once again, thanks fantastic panel. Join us tomorrow -- cross examination. Oh my God.
Nancy Grace is up next.
END
