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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Prosecutor Has Jodi Arias Reenact Attack
Aired February 28, 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: The blockbuster confrontation we have all been waiting for. Prosecutor Juan Martinez breaks Jodi Arias down. He forces her to re-enact what she claims happened when she killed Travis Alexander, all to prove she`s lying and is a cold-blooded murderess. Jodi sobs convulsively. But so do the sisters of the man she slaughtered. But is the prosecutor unconsciously imprinting her version of events on the jurors` minds?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, Jodi Arias crumbles on the stand. Aggressive prosecutor Juan Martinez relentlessly attacks Jodi`s explanation of how and why she killed Travis Alexander. And the waterworks start to flow. Has Jodi finally cracked and realized the horror of what she did to Travis? Or are her tears a sympathy ploy?
Plus, the prosecutor makes Jodi stand up in court and demonstrate how she claims Travis charged her like a linebacker. Brilliant move by the prosecutor or big blunder? We`ll debate it with our expert panel and get reaction from both Travis` friend and Jodi`s supporter. And we`re taking your calls.
JODI ARIAS, MURDER DEFENDANT: He went like that, and he turned his head and he grabbed my waist.
JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: Just like that, correct?
ARIAS: Pretty much.
MARTINEZ: Right before this attack happened, he`s sitting down, right?
ARIAS: I saw this thing in a Calvin Klein ad once. It looked really good.
I said when, not while. It was actually a run-on sentence.
MARTINEZ: Yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
MARTINEZ: Yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
MARTINEZ: Yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
Because you`re not finishing the sentence.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MARTINEZ: I`m not asking you if it`s the truth.
ARIAS: I don`t know. You go all over the place.
MARTINEZ: Were you asking him how to pose? It was you who was behind the lens. And it was you who wanted to get a certain look.
Do you remember that we`re talking about Travis Alexander? That`s why we`re here, because you killed him, right?
ARIAS: Yes. Travis snapped. He`s said, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED) idiot."
MARTINEZ: He said (EXPLETIVE DELETED) what?
ARIAS: That I`m a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) idiot.
He lifts me up and body slams me. I remember him just coming at me and coming at me and coming at me.
MARTINEZ: You`re telling us he didn`t catch you here, right?
ARIAS: No.
MARTINEZ: He didn`t catch you here, right?
ARIAS: No.
MARTINEZ: He didn`t catch you here, right?
ARIAS: No.
MARTINEZ: You`re the one that did this, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: And you`re the same individual that lied about all this, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: So then take a look at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, but she can`t.
Tonight, yes, this was the big day. Jodi Arias skewered on the stand, showers tons of tears, weeping seemingly uncontrollably, as the prosecutor, clearly aiming to get the death penalty, confronts Jodi over her story of how and why she killed Travis Alexander.
Despite Jodi`s uncontrollable sobbing, the prosecutor never backs down, even forcing Jodi to stand up and re-enact how she says Travis attacked her.
But could this theatrical moment that we`re going to play for you several times so you can analyze it, could it actually help Jodi?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.
The stunning 32-year-old photographer accused of stabbing her ex- boyfriend 29 times, slicing Travis Alexander`s throat ear to ear, all the way back to the spine, and putting a bullet in his head. But she claims it was all done in self-defense.
Well, Jodi broke down on the stand, sobbing, siding her face as the prosecutor asked if she was the one who slit Travis`s throat. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: You would acknowledge that a lot of the stab wounds, and if you want, we can count them together, including the ones to the head, were to the back of the head and to the back of the torso, correct?
ARIAS: OK.
MARTINEZ: Well, no, I don`t...
ARIAS: I can`t count them, I don`t know. I`ll take your word for it.
MARTINEZ: Would you like to take a look at the photograph?
ARIAS: No.
MARTINEZ: Which -- so if he is being stabbed in the back, would you acknowledge at that point that he`s no threat to you?
ARIAS: I don`t know.
MARTINEZ: Would you agree that you`re the person who actually slit Mr. Alexander`s throat from ear to ear?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: Would you also agree that you`re the individual that stabbed him in the upper torso?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Again, the tears weren`t the only drama, because the prosecutor forces Jodi -- you`re looking at it here -- to get up on the stand and physically demonstrate how she claims Travis lunged at her right before she shot him. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: Do the linebacker pose.
ARIAS: He got down.
MARTINEZ: Well, show me. Show me the linebacker pose. That`s what I`m asking for you to do.
ARIAS: OK. He went like that and turned his head and grabbed my waist.
MARTINEZ: Just like that, correct?
ARIAS: Pretty much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mm. The jury also got an eyeful of the extremely bloody and gruesome crime-scene photos. Travis` family sobbing in the gallery.
Will the jurors believe Jodi killed Travis in 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. We saw you on one of the cutaways. You`re right there watching and listening to this unbelievable drama being played out on the witness stand. What was it like? Take us inside the courtroom.
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, HLN PRODUCER: Jane, it was unbelievable today, because we were actually at the day of the murder, and this time Juan Martinez, the prosecutor, was not letting one single detail go by. He was forcing Jodi to answer either single detail about what happened on June 4, 2008, the day she killed Travis Alexander in that bathroom.
Now, the main point he hit today at the end of court just now a few moments ago is that she claims her memory was foggy. She doesn`t remember what happened. She doesn`t remember the stabbing. She has blocked it out of her memory.
But he made the point he showed us photos of the crime scene showing that, if her memory was foggy, she sure remembered to take the knife out of the room. She remembered to take off her socks so she wouldn`t leave footprints leaving the room. She remembered to call him and leave a voice mail, acting like she didn`t know he was dead, after she killed him.
He is making all these points, saying, "If your memory is so foggy, if you don`t remember what happened, if you were in a daze, then how come you were able to do all these things to clear your tracks?" She staged the scene so that she wouldn`t get caught.
This is not somebody who`s been abused. This is not somebody trying to run away from an abusive boyfriend that she was claiming she was doing.
Unbelievable day in court. Tears from Travis`s family, crying in the front row as they kept seeing more stab wounds and autopsy photos of their brother. The blood -- the blood photos of the bathroom, Jane, were worse than the autopsy photos, because you imagine the horrific pain.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we`re going to be showing you all those. We have all those photos, and we`re going to be showing them to you throughout the hour. We`ve taken all the photos that were shown in court today and lined them up in a loop, and we`re going to show them to you.
The prosecutor ramped up the drama today when he re-enacted how Jodi described Travis` attack on her. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: What you`re saying is that he is more like a bull rather than a linebacker, because he`s got his head down, and he`s charging like a bull with his head down. That`s what you`re saying, right?
ARIAS: Not quite down like that. Maybe in between. That would be accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the jury then got to see Jodi herself demonstrate. The prosecutor`s the one who forced her to get up and demonstrate how she claims Travis lunged at her, sparking her whole self- defense -- as she puts it -- killing. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: The linebacker pose.
ARIAS: He got down and...
MARTINEZ: Well, show me. Show me the linebacker pose. That`s what I`m asking for you to do.
ARIAS: OK. He went like that, and he turned his head and he grabbed my waist.
MARTINEZ: Just like that, correct?
ARIAS: Pretty much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s debate this. Is he scoring a brilliant point or is this a big blunder? By first reenacting it himself and then reenacting her version of events, allowing her or forcing her to reenact it, is he somehow imprinting on the minds of the jurors what she claims happened? So brilliant or a blunder?
Let`s debate it with our expert panel. We`ve got an incredible one. Stacey Honowitz, prosecutor; Gloria Allred, famed victims` rights attorney, for the prosecution, mind you; Dana Swickle and Drew Findling for the defense. So let`s start with Stacey Honowitz.
STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: Boy, it was a masterful day in court, Jane, all the way around. And absolutely not.
He wants her to demonstrate to the jury exactly what happened. And she`s got to try to fit in on cue, right then and there in front of the jury to try to make up something that fits into her scenario. I think it showed the jury, bottom line, there is nothing that he did that would cause her to react in the way of slitting his throat, butchering him and slaughtering him.
So I don`t think he did anything wrong. I think he was brilliant. And I think basically she`s done.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Drew Findling.
DREW FINDLING, ATTORNEY: Yes, Stacey, I can`t disagree more with you. The problem is that this prosecutor, as most prosecutors, are not cross- examiners by nature, because most defendants don`t testify, and a lot of the attorneys don`t put anything as defense. So they don`t have as much opportunity to cross-examine.
Anybody that understands the art of cross-examination knows this: you never give the witness control. You never give the witness the opportunity to be demonstrative. The witness must be on the stand, under your spell.
By giving her that opportunity, you humanize her, and you give her a chance to reinforce that which took place during direct examination. Is it a major blunder? No. But it wasn`t so helpful to the prosecution.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But, Gloria Allred, there she is, demonstrating at his insistence how she thinks it all went down. How she claims it all went down. Wouldn`t that kind of possibly help her?
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I don`t see it, Jane. And when you say how she says it went down, how she says it went down today, because obviously she`s had various conflicting versions of how this went down or if it went down. He is nailing down her story, big time.
I think it`s good that she got up and demonstrated. The jury`s either going to believe her, not going to believe her. I think there are many, many, many more reasons not to believe her than to believe her. And I think the prosecutor`s doing a masterful job.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dana Swickle, for the defense?
DANA SWICKLE, ATTORNEY: Well, I think it was a good idea. Not for him, but for her to be able to get up there and to be able to show it.
And quite frankly, when he demonstrated it, I think he used even more force. And I think when he shows the force, and she gets up, and he asked her, "Show me the linebacker pose," and she does it. She didn`t have to think about it. She got up there and she did it.
Is it -- is it a big blunder? I don`t think it`s a huge blunder. But do I think it may have helped her? Absolutely. Because I think, by her just getting up and doing that and making the action may imprint in the jury`s mind, and they will remember that. So I think it was better for her than it was for him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And, again, Jodi Arias demonstrating how she claims Travis came at her like a linebacker.
All right. We`re just getting started with the debates. We`re taking your calls.
The big day in court. The time that the prosecutor confronts the defendant about the killing itself. We`re going to talk to a good friend of Travis Alexander`s coming up, as well as a supporter of Jodi`s. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: You were familiar with his house, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: You were familiar with the fact that you could have gone down the hallway, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: And then you could have taken a quick left, and you would have been down the stairs, right?
ARIAS: No, I probably would have been dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I ran. And he stopped me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stopped you?
ARIAS: Travis -- he was, um -- he was still, like conscious and still alive and ...
MARTINEZ: You just left him there?
ARIAS: No, I ran into the closet. `Cause there was two doors. And they were sort of in the hallway already. And he stopped me, and he didn`t touch me. He just held the gun to my head, and he was like, "You don`t go anywhere."
MARTINEZ: Would you agree that you`re the person who actually slit Mr. Alexander`s throat from ear to ear?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. That`s Jodi Arias sobbing today. But how do we know if her tears are genuine when we`ve seen her in these interrogation tapes turn on the tears while she`s lying through her teeth? First denying she was ever there. Then saying ninjas busted in and all of those crazy stories.
Susan Constantine, body language expert, let`s take a look at Jodi Arias in court today. She turns on the waterworks. Is this just a big sympathy ploy?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Well, basically when we watch her, you know, you can see her hand up near her face. It`s kind of like she doesn`t want to look at it, kind of a scary story.
But then what she does is, when she puts her hand up over the other side, she opens her pinky with her ring finger, and as if she`s kind of like not really wanting to see it, but she`s got this morbid curiosity. But there`s another point where, when she removes her glasses, you start to see a smirk underneath there.
So that`s really frightening to me, because it reminds me of Neil Entwistle, when he was tried in court for, you know, killing his wife and daughter. Had that same kind of enlightenment, that enjoyment. But then it did change...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I see the smile there. She took the glasses off and I saw the smile...
CONSTANTINE: See, I told you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... that you just referred to. Oh, my gosh.
CONSTANTINE: Yes, saw that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What does that smile mean in people terms?
CONSTANTINE: That`s duping delight. What happens is, is that when she thinks that she outwits you or she thinks she`s really putting on a good act, she actually gets aroused, and she can`t control the smile. So she covers it. But when she takes her glasses off, it`s right there before your eyes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.
Now, some of the creepiest stuff is what she did after she killed Travis Alexander. She actually wrote a Travis cheery "what`s up" e-mail three days after she killed him, before his body had been discovered by others, to cover her tracks.
Juan Martinez, the prosecutor, made her read it aloud in court. But she could only get through a few lines. Check out this unbelievable moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: "Hey, I haven`t heard back from you. I hope you`re not still upset that I didn`t come to see you. I just didn`t have enough time off. It`s OK, sweetie, you`re going to be here in less than two weeks. We`re going to see the sights..."
MARTINEZ: You also write, "check things off the list and all kinds of fun things," right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: You say, "Oregon is beautiful this time of year. Yay, be happy," correct?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh, Jean Casarez, "In Session" correspondent. "Yay, be happy" in an e-mail to a man that she killed three days earlier. Of all the things, that and the voice mail she left him after she killed him, I think those put -- I had goose bumps.
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": And it`s all consciousness of guilt. And she is admitting that it`s consciousness of guilt.
And remember, she is saying, "I was justified in killing him." You`re not going to have consciousness of guilt when you are justified, when you were trying to save your own life. And all of her testimony today went against trying to save her own life.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s absolutely unbelievable stuff.
Let`s go to the phone lines. Mark, Florida, your question or thought? Mark, Florida.
CALLER: Jane, thank you very much for taking my phone call. And this trial and -- I like to call this, better yet, this tragedy hits home for me on a much more personal level. I myself have been through this.
When I say I`ve been through this, about ten years ago, I was in a very unhealthy and destructive relationship that I was trying to end, where I myself was actually in the process of breaking up with an individual who attacked me in a shower by throwing paint thinner at me, as well as hitting me on the side of the head with the side of a hammer.
A neighbor happened to actually save my life. The arresting officers that came to the house almost sided with her playing the victim.
I went through a lengthy court battle, a lawsuit, as well as filing attempted murder charges against this individual, who got off, based on them saying that a doctor mis-prescribed her different medications including antidepressants.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh, Mark, Mark, thank you. Thank you for bringing that story to us.
I`ve got to go to Gloria Allred, victims` rights attorney, because what she is doing is so diabolical. If you reject her story, as 90 percent of everybody we polled has. We show you that poll. Because she`s pretending to be a battered woman when she is the batterer, and she`s making it tougher for a real battered woman. And she`s also making it harder for guys like that who are genuinely stalked and attacked to do anything about it -- Gloria.
ALLRED: You said it, Jane. I couldn`t have said it better than you just did.
And in addition, what she`s doing is she`s trying to set up an alibi originally. You know, sending that e-mail to him after she knows that he`s dead. Doing everything possible to try to cover her tracks, so to speak. And she probably thought it was going to work. Until she had to change her story and then change her story again.
So now she`s at her ultimate story from the witness stand. But she`s having a hard time explaining her previous stories.
And by the way, if, in fact, she was battered, how is it that she`s setting all this up, as you say? Why does she feel any consciousness of guilt, as Jean Casarez said? Doesn`t she feel she did the right thing, if it was truly an act of self-defense?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And on the other side, we`re going to play a voice mail she sends to the dead Travis Alexander, as well as tell you what her version is with graphics, and the prosecutor`s version of the killing. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: Man, this is a very small closet, isn`t it?
ARIAS: No, it`s bigger than the cell that I live in.
MARTINEZ: It`s bigger than what?
ARIAS: It`s bigger than the cell that I live in. It`s not a small closet.
MARTINEZ: Ma`am, we don`t want to know where you`re living. Do you understand that?
ARIAS: I`m just using that as a reference. It`s not...
MARTINEZ: You understand -- did I ask you where you were living?
ARIAS: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: That`s what it says, yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
MARTINEZ: Yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
MARTINEZ: Yes or no?
ARIAS: Yes, part of it.
MARTINEZ: You keep saying part of it.
ARIAS: Because you`re not finishing the sentence.
MARTINEZ: You took other photographs that day?
ARIAS: Yes, in the shower.
MARTINEZ: Well, we`re not there, are we?
ARIAS: I don`t know. You go all over the place.
MARTINEZ: Well, you can keep trying to be critical, but you`re not answering the questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a day of back and forth. Wow.
Now, the prosecutor maintains Jodi plotted to kill Travis, goes to his house and then convinces him, let`s do a photo shoot in the shower. Directs him to sit down in the shower. Then she plunges a knife into his chest. Travis flees down the hall. She follows him. At the end of the hall, she slits his throat. Then drags his body back to the bathroom, where she shoots him in the head.
Now, Jodi claims, oh, she acted in self-defense after she dropped Travis`s camera and he came at her. Listen to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: I dropped it when I was facing this way. It landed on the mat right about here. He said, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED)."
MARTINEZ: He said (EXPLETIVE DELETED) what?
ARIAS: That I`m a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) idiot.
He body slammed me. I got the wind knocked out of me, and I hit my head. I rolled and ran down the hallway.
As soon as I slammed the door, I was going to run through the other door, and then in a split second I realized where the gun was and I went to grab it so that I could point it at him and protect myself.
I closed my eyes, I think, as the gun began to go off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So let`s debate it. Jodi claims the killing started when a furious Travis lunged at her in the bathroom because she dropped his camera, tackling her to the ground. She gets away, runs down into a closet, grabs a gun. He`s chasing her. And then she goes through the other closet door, back into the bathroom and accidentally shoots him.
Does it make sense? We`ll debate it. Stacey Honowitz for the prosecution.
HONOWITZ: No, it doesn`t make sense at all. It`s the most preposterous story there is. And Juan Martinez today nailed it. He got her to admit all the things that she did after the killing. And the story, in and of itself, doesn`t make sense.
And Jane, when you take the totality of the circumstances, of everything, all the conflicts, all the fake stories. All the things, the alibis, everything that she`s been telling, none of it makes sense. And...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dana Swickle for the defense.
SWICKLE: You know, listen, I -- unfortunately, I don`t agree with Stacey. Anything can happen when you are in a type of a situation like that where things get out of control. Stranger things have happened. That could possibly be the case. And someone on that jury could possibly believe that that took place.
Why is it so hard to believe that he went after her, lunged after her, got her down? She narrowly escaped. We`ve seen it happen before. She was able to get the gun. And then, in a panic, she shot him. It is all very possible. You never know what you`re going to do, what can happen, till you`re in the situation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gloria Allred. Gloria.
ALLRED: OK. I agree -- I agree, it`s possible. I do not agree that it is probable. I do not agree that this is likely to have happened.
I think what`s happened here is she`s got a script for the trial. She`s decided, "This is how I`m going to say it happened." And she`s got that down. She may even have rehearsed it in her defense attorney`s office. I don`t know.
But here`s what I do know. It doesn`t withstand cross-examination. When she`s got to go off the script and try to actually answer the questions about it, it`s not working for her.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Drew Findling.
FINDLING: Jane, you know who`s -- if they`re not watching your show should be watching the show tonight? The defense team. Because you just showed that 6 percent of the jurors do believe the defense. That means no death penalty. That may even mean a lesser included offense. They need 100 percent. So they should be watching this show and toasting tonight.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, guess what? We know that they are watching, because they subpoenaed video that a friend of Travis Alexander`s gave us of Travis using a gun, because he said that showed that he didn`t own his own gun. He had to borrow his friend`s gun. And they subpoenaed it. And so we know they watch.
I think both sides should watch, frankly. I think everybody should watch this show.
We have so much more to show you from today`s extraordinary blockbuster day in court on the other side. We`re going to play more crucial testimony.
At 8, Nancy Grace with her take on the Arias trial. Top of the hour here on HLN.
And we`re taking your calls on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: The linebacker pose.
ARIAS: He got down and...
MARTINEZ: Well, show me. Show me the linebacker pose. That`s what I`m asking for you to do.
ARIAS: He went like that and turned his head like that.
MARTINEZ: Just like that, correct?
ARIAS: Pretty much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI ARIAS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: Travis snapped. He stood up, stepped out of the shower. All the while calling me --
JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: Screaming at you -- bad stuff, right? Cursing at you, right? I`m asking who was directing him in these poses. It was you, wasn`t it? Were you crying when you were shooting him?
ARIAS: I don`t know, you go all over the place.
MARTINEZ: You keep trying to be critical but not answering the questions. You`re remembering all this even though she slammed you down really, really hard. Were you crying when you stabbing him?
ESTEBAN FLORES, POLICE DETECTIVE: Were you at Travis` house (inaudible)
ARIAS: Absolutely not. I was nowhere near Mesa.
I think the wind was knocked out of me partially.
MARTINEZ: How about when you cut his throat, were you crying then?
ARIAS: I don`t know.
MARTINEZ: He didn`t catch you here, right?
ARIAS: No.
FLORES: Your picture`s on that with him. Your blood is in the house.
MARTINEZ: You`re the one that did this, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Jodi`s big claim is that, oh, I killed Travis Alexander in self-defense because "he became rageful when I dropped his new camera". And here`s her version of events on the witness stand today, explaining, oh, Travis allegedly, purportedly, attacking her. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: He body slammed me.
MARTINEZ: He body slammed you down, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: In a very forceful way?
ARIAS: I think the wind was knocked out of me partially or somewhat because that`s the sensation that I felt.
MARTINEZ: All right. But it didn`t involve breathing though, is what you`re saying?
ARIAS: Did you say did or didn`t?
MARTINEZ: Did not involve a breathing difficulty.
ARIAS: I can`t say for sure because that wasn`t the immediate problem that I was worried about in that moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, the prosecutor made a point of saying, oh, my gosh, Travis is so much bigger than she is at the time, stronger, taller, weighs more. How is she able to roll away and then run away and get around into the closet, grab the gun and turn around -- there`s no lock on the closet door.
He`s saying no, it wasn`t self-defense. This was plotted and planned. We have a guest now who indicates this may have been plotted and planned by Jodi Arias for weeks if not more. Our very special guest, Julie Christopher, friend of Travis Alexander`s who had dinner with Travis and Jodi a couple of weeks before the killing. And you say that there were things that she asked you -- because, look the prosecutor says she used to be a bleached blonde. She dyed her hair right before the killing so she could get into Arizona and wouldn`t be spotted if she ran into anybody or anybody spotted her.
But you said she started bringing up the idea of hair color a couple of weeks before this killing, indicating she might have been planning this idea of changing her hair color. What was your reaction to that conversation and what did you tell Travis?
JULIE CHRISTOPHER, FRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER`S: Wow. It was just very bizarre. This Jodi, she comes to me, you know, she`s not my friend or anything, I just know her because of Travis. She comes to me after an event and she says, "Oh, Julie, what do you think" -- she touched my hair and she goes, "What do you think if I go back brunette?" I said, "Well, honey, you would like fine either way" I said, you know. And then she took picture of her and me together. She looks at me and goes, "That way, we can be twins." I said, "Oh, ok." And --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What did you tell Travis about this?
CHRISTOPHER: You know, I really didn`t say anything to Travis about that because at that point, Jane, I knew she was going back to California and to be honest with you, it was kind of a relief for me and I`m sure a lot of people when she said -- she says she`s going back to California to live with her grandparents.
So I thought, well, great, she`s leaving, she`s going to leave our friend alone and he`s going to be able to move on with his life. Because at the time, find out he had a new girlfriend that he was going to take to Cancun, ok. And that`s where we find out he was dead. So I knew Jodi is going to go back to California. So we kind of, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you this question, did you have a bad feeling about your interaction with Jodi Arias a couple of weeks before she killed him?
CHRISTOPHER: Yes, ma`am. What happened is that we had dinner after an event. We were sitting down having dinner. Travis was across from me. And Jodi was sitting on my right side. Now, Jodi`s someone who`s very cold, so really no exchange of conversation. I have never seen her talking to somebody. She was kind of there but not there if that makes any sense. I picture her as zombie-like.
But anyway she was sitting next to me and having this conversation with Travis and all of a sudden, Jane, I had this rush, this feeling in my body, this cold rush, and I learned how to listen to this sensation. It`s kind of giving message. So I told Travis, "Honey, I got a message for you," I know it sounds bizarre but that`s what happened. "Come with me to the lady`s room so we have a nice conversation, I need to talk to you."
He knew the kind of person I was. I was very intuitive. I said, "Well, close your eyes." And I closed my eyes, I touched his hands and I said "Oh, my, Travis, you have a very dark cloud around you. There is, you know, just watch your back, there`s something really dark around you."
So that`s what happened. And then I said "Somehow light, lots of light, lots of love, guidance, angels around you. You`re going to be free. You have this love. You`re so loved, Travis." I keep saying, "You`re so loved, you`re so loved." He looked at me, started crying. He got very emotional about this, Jane. I hugged him. And because of that, started crying, we both hugged.
And again one more time I said, "Travis," and I remember those beautiful pure blue eyes, he was so like an angel. I said, "Travis, I`m going to cheer up, but I said, I love you, I love you so much." As if I knew I`m not going to see him again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my god --
CHRISTOPHER: And I took his hand -- it`s all crystallized, Jane, in my mind, I can never forget this conversation, honey, because I never seen him again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh, thank you for sharing that story. Dr. Judy Ho, clinical psychologist, people do get intuitive and sometimes they do -- there is a foreshadowing. If somebody is planning something, they may not verbalize it but 90 percent of communication is nonverbal. She might have gotten a buzz off of Jodi that something funky was up or a buzz off of Travis that he was in fear.
DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, I hear this all the time that people have this -- kind of a sixth sense when it comes to things like this and it`s a little bit of a premonition of something that`s to come. And I can certainly understand, you know, what she just shared right now.
And going back to the nonverbal behavior you just mentioned, you know, I think actually Jodi did create a sliver of hope for herself today in the court because she cried. And we know from research that defendant remorse is a mitigating factor in the sentencing of murders. The jurors do think about that more than the verbal behaviors. And so even though she can`t keep her story straight and verbally she`s inconsistent, the jurors are much more likely to use her tears as --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoa --
HO: As part of the judgment in the sentencing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I have to say -- we have some prosecutors that are really wanting to jump into that conversation. We have to take a very short break. On the other side, we`re going to debate it. Will her tears sway the jury? Will they take death off the table for Jodi Arias because she turned on the waterworks?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Do you know of him having any weapons at all in the house.
ARIAS: His two fists.
FLORES: That`s it.
ARIAS: Really.
FLORES: Ok. No handguns or rifles or --
ARIAS: No, wasn`t one to keep any of that.
MARTINEZ: That`s you saying no, he doesn`t have any guns right?
ARIAS: Yes, that`s right.
MARTINEZ: And that was the truth, wasn`t it?
ARIAS: No, that wasn`t the truth?
MARTINEZ: Are you saying that you lied to him again.
ARIAS: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re all over the Jodi Arias case. We`re also tracking other big cases for you all the time. Tomorrow, Lindsay Lohan, once again, the subject of a court hearing as she faces charges of lying to cops. And some say she could get sentenced to the slammer. Some reports claim there`s a letter and court document saying Lindsay is going to undergo psychotherapy and would be willing to speak at schools. Maybe she should speak to fellow inmates behind bars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIAS: My phone died so I wasn`t getting back to anybody. Oh, and I drove 100 miles in the wrong direction. Over 100 miles, thank you very much. So, yes, remember New Mexico? It was a lot like that. Only you weren`t here to prevent me from going into the digits. So fun, fun. Tell you all about that later. Heather and I are going to see Othello on July 1st and we would love for you to accompany us.
MARTIN: In all of these lies, ma`am, are meant for your benefit so that you could escape responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brian Carr, you are a friend of Jodi Arias`. You`re there supporting her in court. You visit her regularly behind bars.
Of all the things that she has done that I think just make people think that she`s some kind of psycho, the idea that she left that voice mail we just heard for Travis Alexander after she killed him, that is just incomprehensible. How can you explain it when you`re a supporter of hers?
BRIAN CARR, FRIEND OF JODI ARIAS: Yes, you know -- I mean the big thing I can support is that she`s not a monster like everyone`s making her out to be. And just because they`re proving her to be a liar does not mean that she will be found guilty.
It was a rough day for her in court today, very shaken up. The tears are definitely going to help her towards the jurors. I mean that`s a guarantee. People that are hoping for the death penalty, it`s not going to happen because all they`re doing is proving her as a liar not proving her as a murderer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me bring in Gloria Allred, victim rights attorney. Now you`ve heard two people say, oh, the tears, that means death`s off the table and there`s just no way that somebody on that jury is not going to sympathize with her.
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, I think that it obviously it could be real tears, in the sense that she is now trapped. She is trapped and she can`t get out of the trap she set for herself which is various stories none of which are really making sense. This is the moment and she knows that she is caught in the trap.
So, I mean if these were tears perhaps for Travis I might feel differently about it. But I think it`s tears for herself that she doesn`t know how to get out of this mess that she`s created for herself. She`s attempted to avoid, evade and escape responsibility for what she`s done. Now she`s had to say yes, that she did stab him when before she was denying it, now she has to come to terms with it.
Is this manipulating the jury? I don`t think it`s going to work if that`s what she`s trying to do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Drew Findling, do you think the tears will take the death penalty off the table?
DREW FINDLING, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think they`re definitely going to be helpful. And because you know the same people that are now going to criticize her crying, if she weren`t crying would say she`s devoid of emotion, what a cold calculated murderer. Of course they`re going to be helpful.
I think the thing that is going to be important and I know Gloria knows this. And that is the cleanup work, the cleanup work is going to be by the experts and the battered women syndrome and the post traumatic stress disorder. They`re the ones that have to field all the questions as to the lies and as to exaggerations and all the other issues. They`re going to be the ones to field those questions.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And, remember, Jodi`s not off the stand. They finished cross but there`s something called redirect.
More on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: "If you`re a lucky boy and you promise to give me a good, well-deserved spanking," and then there`s a period there, right.
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: And then you also say, "Maybe you could give my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) a much-needed pounding too, kidding." Correct.
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: You were kidding about the second portion but not the first portion, correct?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day. Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Louis, Louis, Louis -- Louis, Louis, Louis. Cisco and Geno -- what a pair, what a team, I love you guys. And Mr. Ollie, oh, you`re so handsome, and you`ve got a bell. Yes, you are, most eligible bachelor -- Dezi. Dezi -- where`s Lucy?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINEZ: So this individual that`s in this shape that you`ve described, you get here before he does, right?
ARIAS: Yes, I do.
MARTINEZ: There`s a door there, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
MARTINEZ: According to you, you were able to close that door, right?
ARIAS: I slammed it.
MARTINEZ: But that door doesn`t have a lock to it, right?
ARIAS: Not that I recall.
MARTINEZ: Well, you were there, right?
ARIAS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now Jodi, every time they got to the really gruesome photos of how she stabbed and slit his throat, starts sobbing hysterically. So what`s the reaction on the part of the jury?
Let`s go to the phone lines. Debbie, New York your question or thought, Debbie, New York?
DEBBIE, NEW YORK (via telephone): Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
DEBBIE: Love your voice. You have a great singing voice.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
DEBBIE: Ok, with that being said, Jane, I`m -- it`s sad to say, but I`m the one juror. I agree with the defense that this could have been self-defense. The reason I say this is, is that she traveled all the way from California to Phoenix. If this was premeditated, all she had to do when he opened the door was a couple of bullets, nice and clean, shut the door, leave and go. So I believe that there was some self-defense involved. And then it turned into rage, from a culmination of her being used and abused --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Susan Constantine, body language expert. Could other jurors be having this reaction?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Absolutely. And this happens too, you know, during deliberations. You get different people that have different life experiences and different mind-sets and different occupations and there`s just a lot about their personalities. You put them all together and you`ll find people that will side with the defense.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, more of the waterworks and how the jury might be reacting to them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Judy, what kind of a person sends a voice mail and an e-mail -- cheerful ones -- to somebody they`ve already killed?
HO: Well, Jane, it could be somebody who`s trying to cover her tracks because she knows what she did and she`s trying to make sure that she doesn`t get in trouble for it. But it could also be somebody who has had a complete break with reality. There is probably a part of her that is remorseful and there is a part of her that wishes he was alive and she`s carrying on this fantasy life almost, completely believing in her lies.
There is an incidence of that too and we see that sometimes after traumatic events like this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or she`s a sociopath or a psychopath who has absolutely no empathy and no remorse and the only time she cries is when she knows she`s in deep you know what.
All right. This has been an extraordinary day. We`re going to continue because remember there`s redirect.
Nancy next.
END
