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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Jodi Arias Trial; Where is Baby Elaina; Why is Jodi Arias Smiling in Court?; Actress Discusses Playing Jodi in TV Movie

Aired June 21, 2013 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RYAN SMITH, HLN ANCHOR: ... starts Monday, 9 Eastern. We`ll have it right here for you.

SUSAN HENDRICKS, HLN ANCHOR: Jury selection was a long process. Now it starts.

SMITH: Yes. Now it begins. And JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL begins now.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, shockwaves over Jodi Arias`s latest court appearance, after her latest episode of weird, grinning behavior. Yes, she`s grinning in court yesterday. Look at her, laughing. Will Jodi play her only card left in a bid to escape the death penalty? I`m talking mental illness, of course.

Good evening, I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: You`re the person who actually slit Mr. Alexander`s throat from ear to ear?

JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED OF MURDER: Yes.

(singing): Oh, night divine.

(laughing)

(speaking): Is it because I`m not crying?

JENNIFER WILLMOTT, JODI`S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She didn`t wake up one morning and think that it would be great to have a personality disorder.

ARIAS: You could have at least done your makeup, Jodi. Gosh.

I think I did a little tilt on my head and gave a little smile.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There she is smiling.

ARIAS (singing): Oh, hear the angel voices...

(speaking): He went like that and turned his head and grabbed my waist.

I guess that`s all I needed. Sorry. Don`t roll the tape yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jodi, convicted of first-degree murder for the brutal, bloody killing of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, who was stabbed 29 times. But even a murder conviction didn`t wipe that grin off Jodi`s face. She was all smiles yesterday, even in her prison stripes and shackles.

Was she smiling because another one of her stall tactics work? That`s right: It`s going to be at least one more month before we find out when another jury is going to decide if this cold-blooded killer gets life in prison or death by lethal injection.

Even though we have to wait a few more weeks to see more of Jodi`s theatrics in court, we are just one -- one -- day away from the premiere of the brand-new movie based on Jodi`s relationship with Travis Alexander. Watch this from Lifetime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANIA RAYMONDE, ACTRESS: Let me see those big, broad shoulders. Yes, that`s it. You look good, Travis.

JESSE LEE SOFFER, ACTOR: You know, you don`t have to sweet talk me if you want to get some of this.

RAYMONDE: I`m done talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I will talk to that actress who played Jodi Arias in just one minute. But first, straight out to my expert panel. Let`s debate it. Why was Jodi grinning in court yesterday? And I think we have to start with -- we`ve got a special panel: two lawyers, two shrinks. Let`s start with Dr. Robi Ludwig.

DR. ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, maybe Jodi is smiling because she`s happy. Jodi is getting a lot of attention. She might feel like she finally exists. She has an identity. And although she`s on Death Row, maybe her life in some ways is better now for her than on the outside. That is true for certain people who are in prison.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, Seth Meyers, you`re also a clinical psychologist. Why do you -- I see you`re not agreeing with your colleague, your fellow shrink.

SETH MEYERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Actually, I do disagree. You know, I think this behavior is oppositional. I think that it`s her attempt to not take the courtroom, the whole situation seriously, and I think this is a woman who doesn`t respect boundaries, who doesn`t respect authority, who doesn`t respect the legal system. So I think when she`s smiling, she`s undermining the power and authority of the court, and I think it`s her way of giving the middle finger to the courtroom.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, I know that must resonate with you.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. Look, if you don`t have a conscience -- and she doesn`t, she`s a psychopath -- you smile no matter what`s going on, including that you`re in the courtroom hearing about the fact that you sliced a guy`s head off. You smile because if you don`t have a conscience, why would you be sad? And you know, you have the wrong emotion, because that`s the kind of person it takes to slice a guy`s head off.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Jodi murdered Travis, to your point, in a very brutal way, stabbing him in the chest, slitting his throat ear-to-ear. And her cruelty did not end there. Remember this chilling voice mail that she left for Travis -- who she knew was dead because she killed him -- just hours after leaving his body crammed in the shower, in an attempt to pretend that she had no idea that he was dead. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAS (via phone): My phone died, so I wasn`t getting back to anybody. 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 three digits. So fun, fun. Tell you all about that later.

Also, we were talking about -- when we were talking about your upcoming travels my way, I was looking at the May calendar -- duh -- so I`m all confused. But Heather and I are going to see "Othello" on July 1, and we would love for you to accompany us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. She knows he`s dead. She`s just slit his throat, and she invites him to see "Othello."

Her devious, sadistic behavior doesn`t end there. She sends irises to Travis`s beloved grandmother. She goes to Travis`s memorial service and commiserates with his friends. And one of these friends, Dave Hall, is here tonight with us.

We`re discussing the, oh, shock of Jodi Arias smiling in court yesterday. That`s nothing compared to some of the things that she`s already done, Dave.

DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS: Yes, that`s correct. Her -- her behavior is always completely bizarre. And her smiling in court, I agree with the other gentleman, it`s kind of her way of just saying, "Hey, look, my life is just fine. I`m happy here. This is great. None of you are hurting me; none of you are affecting me. I`m just fine in prison."

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve all witnessed Jodi`s completely insane behavior, from her lies on the witness stand to the unbelievable interrogation room tape. Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAS (singing): It might change my memory.

(speaking): Should have at least done your makeup, Jodi. Gosh.

(laughing) Goodness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I believe everyone who commits murder has to be a little crazy, so let`s debate it. Jodi`s nuts, so what? That doesn`t give her a pass for murder, Wendy Murphy.

MURPHY: I don`t think she`s nuts. I don`t. I know you think everyone who kills is crazy. No. And even if they`re a little off because you think you have to be off to kill, it has nothing to do with legal responsibility.

And that`s my problem, is the notion that there might be sympathy for her because she`s a little off makes me crazy. She`s not off; she`s evil. And even if she`s a little off and a lot evil or vice versa, I don`t care. She should suffer the ultimate punishment, because she`s not safe to be around human beings, or animals, Jane. And that was for you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you so much for that, Wendy Murphy.

Brian Silber, criminal defense attorney, the reason why we`re discussing whether or not she`s cuckoo for cocoa puffs is this likely going to be something they`re going to play, their -- the crazy card, in the mitigation phase the next time we have to decide life or death and there`s a new jury.

BRIAN SILBER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, here`s the real issue. We`re here about the question of imposing the death penalty. And in America, that`s a very serious thing. And when we look over this, and before we decide to lop someone`s head off, we want to make sure we cross every "T" and dot every "I."

And when it comes to this particular case, as it does in others, this is a question of pathology. Is she a pathological person? Meaning, as opposed to the weird quirkiness and craziness that maybe all of us have, do her issues rise to the level of illness? Because if they do, the law says, whether we agree with it or we disagree with it, that a mental health problem is a mitigator that negates the death penalty. And that`s something a jury has to consider before they pull that trigger, so to speak.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy?

MURPHY: Yes, look, I think the jury will probably think about it. And I have no doubt there will be somebody reasonable who says, "OK, so she`s a little off. And maybe ill."

But you know what? There`s a guy on Death Row in Arizona right now who is really off, totally mentally ill. Mother was a prostitute. The kid was, you know, victimized by drug abuse in his entire life, and then he commits murder. Guess how much of a discount they gave him? That`s right, nothing. Every appeal, lost. He`s about to die in the death penalty in Arizona.

And Jodi Arias has a lot more going on than he does. So don`t give me any sympathy. It might be relevant, but it`s going nowhere.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do any of our shrinks on the panel, pardon the phrase, agree with Wendy?

LUDWIG: Well, I mean, I certainly -- Jodi Arias does have a character pathology that makes it very impossible for her to connect in a healthy way with other human beings. Does that make it OK for her to kill people? No.

But I think what`s interesting here is that this murder happened within the context of a romantic relationship. She wasn`t Ted Bundy. She wasn`t luring in strange men and murdering multiple men. I`m not saying that that doesn`t mean that she`s not sick...

MURPHY: That makes it worse. That makes it worse.

LUDWIG: Well, I don`t know. I don`t know about that, because a lot of people...

MURPHY: Oh, my.

LUDWIG: ... feel...

MEYERS: It`s all bad.

LUDWIG: A lot of people have expectations for people they`re in relationships with. If you`re a sick person, and your expectations are not met and you can`t really distinguish sometimes between reality and...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, everybody has been in an unhealthy relationship. I`ve been in an unhealthy relationship.

LUDWIG: But you don`t have a character disorder. But you don`t have a character disorder, Jane. I`m not giving her a pass.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: O.J. Simpson. O.J. Simpson: "I loved her too much. So I had to cut her head off, too." Unbelievable, stupid defense. You don`t get discounts by saying "I loved him too much."

LUDWIG: No, I agree. But some people might say...

SILBER: The truth is...

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let Brian Silber in here for a second.

SILBER: The only -- the only mental health mitigators that really work are the ones where a jury is convinced that a person is really out of it. And maybe they don`t qualify as being incompetent to proceed; they`re not on that level. But there`s someone, let`s say, who suffers from a mental retardation.

You know, if we had a defendant who had Down Syndrome, for example, which has happened, you know, that`s something that a jury might look at this person and say, "You know what? They really are different from the rest of us. Maybe we shouldn`t kill that person." You know, I can tell you...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s a slightly different issue.

SILBER: Exactly, and that`s my point.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think -- I don`t think it`s correct to compare Down Syndrome with mental illness at all.

SILBER: I`m not comparing her. I`m not -- I`m not...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go to the phone lines. Dorothy, Michigan, your question or thought. Dorothy, Michigan.

CALLER: Hi, Jane. Thanks for your uplifting, energizing personality.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. You`re the one who likes it. Go ahead.

CALLER: First, I`d like to thank the jury for their service. That`s a hard job to do. Appreciate it, from me and other people.

Jodi looks just great in black and white, and I guess what I wanted to say so long ago was it was aggravating that the jury couldn`t quite wrap themselves around that the reason that she didn`t kill him right off the bat when she got there was the roommate was there. So she had to play nice, have sex, fall asleep. And then she gave him that one last chance, and it didn`t work. But, you know, I appreciate what they did. And...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I...

CALLER: She`s just an evil person with the whatever syndrome for me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I like what you have to say, Dorothy, Michigan, thank you so much. The "whatever syndrome."

On the other side of the break, and we`re going to bring Travis`s friend Dave Hall into the panel on this one. What exactly is that, "whatever syndrome"? What ails her. We`ve heard everything, from borderline personality disorder to bipolar. We`re going to analyze that on the other side and take your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAS: I said years ago that I`d rather get death than life, and that still is true today.

If a conviction happens, I know that I won`t be the first person to be wrongly convicted and possibly wrongly sentenced to either life in prison or death penalty. And personally, if I had my choice, I would take the death penalty, because I don`t want to spend the rest of my life in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAS: In prison, there are programs I can start and people I can help and programs that I can continue to participate in. If I`m sentenced to life, I will live among the general population of women, and I`ll be able to share my knowledge of those subjects with them. And when I do that, the desire to learn, also. I may even be able to start classes. If I get permission, I`d like to implement a recycling program.

I can help other women become literate so they can add that dimension to their lives. Along the lines of literacy, I`d like to start a book club or a reading group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: By the way, I talked to the prison officials. They already have a recycling program. Jodi, don`t give recycling a bad name.

Everybody believes Jodi is not right in the head, but nobody can agree on what`s wrong with her. We have heard now a laundry list, an absolute laundry list, of diagnoses. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SAMUELS, PSYCHOLOGIST: I actually was considering the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, which used to be called multiple personality.

WILLIAM ARIAS, JODI`S FATHER: She was a little crazy.

WILLMOTT: We know that the state`s own witness, Dr. DeMarte, came in and told you that Jodi suffers from borderline personality disorder.

SAMUELS: ... confirmed that she did suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder.

ARIAS: "You are a sociopath. You only cry for yourself."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve heard everything. You`ve got bipolar. She`s got narcissistic personality disorder, detachment disorders, sociopath, psychopath, borderline personality disorder, multiple personalities, PTSD. What the heck is it already? Let`s debate it with our expert panel, and we`re bringing in Dave Hall, who has spent time with Jodi Arias.

Dr. Seth Meyers, clinical psychologist, you go first.

MEYERS: Yes, well, you`re right: we have discussed so many diagnoses for her during the trial. I think that the mental health testimony during the trial was a real mess. It seemed that all the testimony kind of canceled each other out.

What I think, if I was forced to diagnose her, I would say she absolutely has a personality disorder, probably something called Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, which basically means that this is a person that doesn`t fit neatly into just one box of a diagnosis. I don`t believe that she has PTSD.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Robi Ludwig, get to the point: What has she got?

LUDWIG: I think she has borderline personality disorder with sociopathic tendencies. I think she has both those features. She might have a mood disorder, but I don`t think that would contribute to murder. So I think it`s a sociopathy with a borderline personality that would contribute to her chaotic relationship and her violent behavior in the way she reacts to that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, people always say borderline personality disorder, but very few people really know what that means. I always thought it was no borders: She doesn`t know where she ends and another person begins. So when she sees somebody that has stuff she likes, she feels entitled to take it and to own that life, and inserts herself into that life and you can`t get her out. I mean, that`s people terms, Robi. Briefly, is that accurate?

LUDWIG: Well, not entirely. Very often people with borderline personality disorder have a void. But they see people in extremes, either idealize people or they devalue people. Very often they have chaotic relationships. They are preoccupied with a fear of abandonment. So it`s very hard for them. Once they plug into a person, they really have very high expectations that nobody can meet. And that`s why their relationships often fail and are problematic.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dave Hall, I know you`re not a psychiatrist, but you are a dear friend of the victim, Travis Alexander, and you spent time with this woman. You sat there the day after she killed Travis Alexander at a restaurant, if I`m not mistaken, and had dinner with her, and she was laughing and acting normal. You had no idea that your friend was dead. What do you think her problem is up here in the head?

HALL: Well, you`ve got the attorneys that are getting $300 an hour to defend her. No wonder they want to extend this into next year. But they also have a blank checkbook to find doctors out there that can find something wrong with her. And if you go through enough doctors, you will find someone that will give her some diagnosis of what`s wrong with her.

But there`s a huge difference between having something that you don`t fit into society real well and being mentally ill to the point where you can`t tell the difference between right and wrong. There`s so much premeditation in this murder that Jodi calculated every move and also had to cover up every single move. She is not mentally ill; she is evil.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She had dinner with you the night after she killed Travis Alexander, along with a whole bunch of people from PrePaid Legal. There were cuts on her hand. And she -- "Oh, I`m a bar tender. I`m a waitress, I get cuts. No big deal. She was laughing, she was chatty. She had just killed Travis Alexander and driven across the state to get to another state so she could have dinner with you guys so that you would give her an alibi. Is that crazy or is that just devious?

Next, I`m going to talk to the actress who played Jodi Arias, and we`ll get back to Dave Hall. Stay right there. We`re just getting started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMONDE: Let me see those big, broad shoulders. Yes, that`s it. You look good, Travis. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMONDE: Who the hell is Marie?

SOFFER: A girl that I know.

RAYMONDE: How well do you know her?

SOFFER: Well enough that she texts me from time to time. This is crazy. You`re acting crazy. This is like insane jealousy.

RAYMONDE: I feel like a prostitute, Travis. A piece of toilet paper.

SOFFER: It is way too soon to be discussing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tomorrow night, 8 p.m. Eastern, the premiere of the highly-anticipated Lifetime movie based on the Jodi Arias case, "Dirty Little Secret," a phrase taken right from defense attorney Jennifer Willmott`s opening statement. Tonight, our very special guest, Tania Raymonde, plays Jodi Arias, and she joins me from Los Angeles.

Tonia, first of all, bravo on an amazing portrayal. Wow. You were filming this as the trial was under way, so you got to eyeball, at least on videotape, the person you`re playing, Jodi Arias. Why do you say this was your toughest role ever?

RAYMONDE: Well, I mean, it really -- I didn`t anticipate it like -- I didn`t anticipate having it come home with me as much as it did. You know, I was -- I had the challenge of playing a person with as much objectivity as I possibly could and try and sympathize with her to a certain extent, because I can`t judge the character that I`m playing.

But at the same time, I -- you know, I had to juggle with the fact that on one hand she so desperately loved this man that she`d do anything that he ever desired to please him. And at the same time, you know, she got so obsessed with him that she killed him. You know, for me to sort of juggle those two things was a very fine line, and I felt myself kind of living those two extremes in my head, if that makes sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you feel evil?

RAYMONDE: You know, it`s interesting. Again, like I was kind of blinded by my objectivity. You know, I never judged her while I was playing her, and I also tried to ignore the fact that she murdered Travis while we were shooting it.

Because we kind of shot in chronological order, and the movie really explores their intense affair and how -- how that sort of led into a developing insane passion on -- I mean obsession on Jodi`s part. And so I didn`t really think about -- I couldn`t think about what she did to him, because first of all, it broke my heart and it made me too sad. And if I did that, then I would be judging her and I wouldn`t be able to portray her in an accurate way.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s check out another clip from your movie that premieres tomorrow, 8 p.m. Eastern, Lifetime, "Dirty Little Secret" from Lifetime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMONDE: Let me see those big, broad shoulders. Yes, that`s it. You look good, Travis.

SOFFER: You know, you don`t have to sweet talk me if you want to get some of this.

RAYMONDE: I`m done talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. So you say you didn`t judge her, but as you get further along in the story, ultimately the moment of death comes. And we don`t want to give it away, but it`s a violent, graphic scene. Did you get into that dark place where you are capable of murder? Because this is one of the most vicious murders. He was practically decapitated, Tania.

RAYMONDE: Yes. I mean, I can`t -- you know, it`s funny, like it gives me the creeps to even watch that clip. Look, I don`t recognize any part of myself in that at all. I mean, I know how I am, and I can tell when I`m incredibly stressed and obviously in, like, a very weird, dark place.

And when we shot that scene, you know, we shot -- we opened the morning of that shoot day with a love-making scene, and then we ended the day with the murder. And I don`t even remember that shooting day. So, you know, I mean, it was like -- it had a profound effect on me.

And we`d been looking at autopsy photos, unfortunately, and watched every single day on the trial. So I was very familiar with the trial and what had happened on that day that she killed him, and you know, to have to re-enact that, it was probably the most gruesome, like, bloodiest scene I`ve ever shot, and I was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" last year, so I know what that`s like. This is way worse.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Well, Tania, we`re just a day away from the premiere of the movie based on this horrific case. Check out this latest clip from Lifetime. It`s a doozy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMONDE: I can`t say goodbye?

SOFFER: Well, then they`ll all think you`re staying over.

RAYMONDE: I am staying. Well, wait, what`s the big deal? Are they going to ex-communicate you from the church or something?

SOFFER: No, but they don`t need to know everything we do.

RAYMONDE: So wait, what? I`m just your dirty little secret?

SOFFER: Not "just."

RAYMONDE: What else am I to you?

SOFFER: Well, you`re...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. OK, what about the sex scenes, how raunchy does it get? Because if you studied the evidence, it is raunchy.

RAYMONDE: Right. Well, you know, fortunately, there isn`t so much that you can show on Lifetime, so a lot of it was suggestive. But you know, we really had to jump into it. All of the love-making scenes were done right in the beginning of the movie. I`d never met the actor who played Travis, Jesse Soffer, so we had to be intimate very quickly.

And it`s not my nature, so to speak, so it was definitely like a big leap, but you know, justified because this was the way she was and they did have the sexual relationship. And so it it all made sense for the movie.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want to thank you for coming on. I will be watching it. I could never do what you do. I could only play wonderful people who do fabulous things. That`s why I`ll never be an actress. So you`ve chosen a tough profession. Thank you for coming on.

Up next, more Jodi Arias. The real story, the reality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTINEZ: When is it that you decide to tell the truth, when you`re in this court and no place else? Is that what I`m hearing from you?

ARIAS: No.

MARTINEZ: Just because you`re in this court, doesn`t mean you have to tell the truth. I mean, that`s what you`re telling us, right?

ARIAS: That`s not what I`m telling you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was there jealousy?

JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED MURDERE: On my end not so much jealousy, maybe a sense of insecurity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- said Jodi`s bipolar and she needs help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only dressed in her prison garb, the stripes, but she was also shackled at her hands and her feet.

STEPHEN ALEXANDER, BROTHER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: I don`t want to have to see my brother`s murderer anymore.

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: She slit his throat as a reward for being a good man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was shocking to everybody, that brought gasps from those in the courtroom, that she had shackles on her hands and feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were fully invested in this trial and we want to continue to see it through to the end.

MARTINEZ: You`re the person who actually slit Mr. Alexander`s throat from ear-to-ear?

ARIAS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could never tell. She was such a good person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Justice delayed, justice denied. There is Jodi Arias in court yesterday -- smiling, grinning. Another one of the defense stall tactics has worked. So we still don`t know when the life or death phase of this trial will happen. It`s been postponed.

The hearing, the decision has been postponed to at least July 18, another month. After months of this trial, years of trying to cope with Travis` loss. The family of Travis Alexander, they`re in a waiting game and it`s torturous.

The brothers and sisters choked back tears while giving their impact statements to the jury. We all remember this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMANTHA ALEXANDER, SISTER OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: Our minds are currently stained with the images of our poor brother`s throat slit from ear-to-ear.

STEPHEN ALEXANDER: I`ve had dreams of my brother all curled up in the shower, thrown in there left to rot for days, all alone.

SAMANTHA ALEXANDER: We have paid the ultimate price of losing Travis.

STEPHEN ALEXANDER: I don`t want to have to see my brother`s murderer anymore.

SAMANTHA ALEXANDER: It`s simply too hard to think of that one empty chair.

STEPHEN ALEXANDER: I don`t want to hear his name dragged through the mud anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dave Hall, a dear friend of Travis Alexander, close with the Alexander family, what was their reaction, Dave, to this latest delay where we won`t even know when this case is going to start until at least the next hearing, July 18, and that`s just the decision day, that`s not the start of this thing.

DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: Well, as you can imagine, Jane, the family is extremely disappointed in this latest move. It`s not like Willmott and Nurmi haven`t had five years to (AUDIO GAP) put together a case for this last phase. There`s no new evidence that`s going to come into play. There`s no reason why we shouldn`t be able to move forward right away and get some justice for the Alexander family.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, the defense attorneys filed a motion essentially saying they need a cool-down period and it was multi-determined -- they said well, they need time to get mitigation witnesses and that some of them feel threatened to come forward, they said. They have other things on their agenda. They have new cases.

I mean there was potpourri of excuses why they want this pushed back to 2014. Should the judge take that into consideration?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Oh please. Yes, I mean the judge is not an idiot. It`s all nonsense. They may need a cold shower like we all did and a real bath to get over the scum and slime of her testimony. But I don`t think there`s a reason for a delay here.

And you have to remember that this has been five years already. The family is suffering. This hearing was short, even at the end of the very lengthy trial. The punishment hearing itself was very short, because the defense said we`ve got nothing.

Remember Jodi herself said, I asked my lawyers and they said I don`t have any mitigation evidence. That`s not something that you`re going to find between now and 2014. There isn`t any mitigation evidence, because she doesn`t have anything worth saving. She`s not worth saving.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s talk about her parents. In their interrogation interviews, Jodi`s own parents showed major concern about her mental state saying that she suffered from severe mood swings, that she could go from happy to sad in a moment, that she might be bipolar. Let`s listen to this. This is the interrogation tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes she would call and real sweet and 10 minutes later she`ll call in a rage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One friend called me in the middle of the night and he even called the hotline for bipolar people -- that Jodi is bipolar and she needs help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s debate it. Why do you think that Jodi`s own mother, Brian Silber, criminal defense attorney, did not testify for her daughter in the mitigation phase?

BRIAN SILBER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I have to guess only that it wouldn`t have helped her. That`s probably a very tactical decision made by her attorneys. They had a game plan that they went in with and mom was not part of it. You know, when you`re in the penalty phase of a death case, you bring out everything, anything that can be used to save this person, you put it out there and it`s up for the jury to decide.

So my thinking is if mom would testify and be subjected to cross- examination, there are probably things about that testimony that they did not want to come out.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And one of them is that she --

MURPHY: I don`t agree.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- threw her family under the bus and said that her mother and her dad beat her, which there is absolutely no corroborating evidence for. So they might have been asked well, did you really beat her, and then they would have to say no, and do a Cindy Anthony and say yes I beat even though they would be kind of lying in a way that would hurt them to save their daughter.

Ten seconds, Dr. Robi Ludwig. That is a real tough choice for a mom.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: It is a real tough choice. And also it`s not so easy sometimes to get your daughter the help that she needs. I mean Jodi Arias is an adult, and I bet those parents were burnt out by Jodi and also victimized by Jodi.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there. I want to thank my panel and Dave Hall. We`re going to stay on top of this and keep you up to date on every development.

Then up next, the search for a baby girl that has two families warring. Where is Baby Elaina?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quiet, let him open his mouth and he`ll go to jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, just keep it down. You`re being recorded, everything you say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him away from me. I`ve got a restraining order on him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve got a restraining order on him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re already getting --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had his mouth going when we first come in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s about the baby -- it`s not about what this person said, or what that person said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom, Angela, in court for a preliminary hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had his mouth going when we first come here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said everyone together in the courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The emotions are running very high.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole time that we were out here looking for Elaina, she has -- we were asking if she knew anything, anything at all. She kept telling us "No, I don`t know anything." But really this whole time she knew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, new developments and more secrets exposed in the case of missing Baby Elaina Steinfurth. Three weeks ago, the 18-month- old toddler vanished in the middle of the day while in the care of her mother Angela. They were staying with the mom`s ex-boyfriend Steven King at the time. The mom claimed she put the child down for a nap and when Elaina`s dad came to get her in a custody exchange, she was gone.

Tonight we`re learning in a house filled with more than half dozen people, nobody saw the baby the entire morning except for the mother and her ex-boyfriend, Steven King`s cousin told HLN`s Nancy Grace. Reports said Steven`s mom changed the baby -- that`s false.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Did Steven King`s mom change a diaper on Sunday, did they actually see the baby?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, ma`am, they did not. My aunt went to bed about 9:30, 10:00 Saturday night. And that`s the last time she saw that baby. I was told directly from my cousin, Steven that Angela changed the baby`s diaper and gave her a juice cup before they left for the store, not my aunt.

GRACE: This is a major development in the case. This is shattering the timeline. This baby was not spotted the entire day on Sunday by anyone but mommy and boyfriend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Fred Lefebvre, morning host 1370, WSPD. The only two people, Fred, who claimed they saw Baby Elaina the morning of her disappearance happened to be the same two people her neighbor says mysteriously left the house around midnight the night before. What do you make of it all?

FRED LEFEBVRE, MORNING HOST, 1370 WSPD (via telephone): Well, that`s what has a lot of people talking today, which of those two people, Angela or Steven, are going to be the first ones to crack. Angela as you said is in jail. Police have asked for a continuance of her hearing until Monday. And a lot of people involved in the case, including family members of the Steinfurths feel that there`s a definite reason for that. They feel that we`re very close to some kind of conclusion after waiting three weeks to find out where this 18-month old is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Before her arrest, the mother Angela, said I need support from the community during this difficult time. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA STEINFURTH, MOTHER OF BABY ELAINA: I have been shaking for the last three days and I just want my baby home. She is probably (inaudible) I need all the support I can get to bring her home -- anything to keep me comfortable and from losing my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Angela was in court for a preliminary hearing yesterday, HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, but the cops said let`s delay it and come back Monday. Do you think they`re putting the squeeze on her?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, I sure hope so. I think that they have more than what they`re telling us. The searches in the river they have stopped, Jane, but I still think it comes down to Angela and to Steven King. But I still have a problem with over our head maybe six to eight people law enforcements says was in the house at the time of the disappearance. They didn`t see anything. They didn`t hear anything. No one looked in on this little baby? I`m finding that hard to believe too, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joe Gomez with KRLD in Dallas, the cops say don`t point the finger at the ex-boyfriend. He hasn`t been arrested. He`s not a suspect. They say Angela keeps changing her stories.

JOE GOMEZ, KRLD DALLAS: Yes, it`s very bizarre, Jane. Tensions have clearly reached a boiling point here, but police do say that he is apparently cooperating with them. What I don`t understand though is why is it so sketchy in the hours leading up to this baby`s disappearance? Who changed her diaper? If the mother changed her diaper, why isn`t that just coming out here?

What concerns me is that the mother is in jail obviously on child endangerment charges. Did the baby have a big goose egg on her head? Did she have a black eye? Did she have a bloody nose? If that`s the case, why was that and why didn`t she go forward to police? Why did that baby disappear at 1:00 in the afternoon on Sunday and why did it take her biological father to find out about it?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you raise important questions. The mother has admitted according to police that, yes, the child was injured and she didn`t take her to the hospital because her boyfriend said she`ll be ok, the kid will be ok.

On the other side, a surprise. You`re going to like it, I think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day. Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Buddy, you are ready to party my friend. You`re my Buddy. And Henri, I`m very French and I`m very sophisticated and I absolutely love to be out and about. Now Lily is just a princess and she has her toys and her games. And she likes to read too, maybe -- yes. Oh Honey Pickle is just stunning, -- a cover girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey little Rico, our "Animal Investigations Unit" has breaking news tonight. A victory for the millions of farm animals who are just as smart as little Rico here -- the controversial farm bill shot down by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Animal rights activists opposed this bill because it`s something called the King Amendment and that would have repealed a lot of state laws that provide the meager protections that these farm animals -- these voiceless animals -- billions of them have. Very few protections, it would have wiped them out.

One of the policies that would have been wiped out is California`s ban on the sale and production of foie gras. Now take a look at Mercy for Animals` latest undercover investigation video revealing what they say is really horrific abuse on foie gras farms. These ducks, critics say are force fed as many as four pounds a day swelling their livers up to 10 times their natural size making it hard for them to stand or breathe.

Straight out to my very special guest, Matt Rice, director of investigations at Mercy for Animals. Now, thanks for joining us.

MATT RICE, MERCY FOR ANIMALS: Thanks for having me on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why do people want to wipe out do you think, there are so few protections for farm animals and we`re going to show other farm animals -- pigs in gestation crates and other basically institutionalized cruelties is how critics put it. Why is it that people want to wipe out the very few protections that exist for these sentient beings?

RICE: That`s a good question. And first of all there are no federal laws that protect the animals during their lives on factory farms. And that left it up to some states to start passing laws to get rid of some of the cruelest factory farming practices, including gestation crates for breeding sows, battery cages for chickens, crates for cows -- these extreme confinement systems that don`t even permit animals enough space to turn around or stretch their limbs for nearly their entire lives.

States like California have banned the violent practice of force- feeding ducks, ramming metal pipes down their throats up to three times a day and pushing food into their stomachs in order to produce a diseased fatty liver known as foie gras. That`s been banned in California. And the sale of foie gras produced by forced feeding has been banned in California.

And that`s why it`s so disturbing that Representative Steve King has introduced the King amendment into the farm bill which would wipe out the state animal welfare initiatives and basically set back the clock on animal welfare by decades. And so we`re very pleased to find out the farm bill along with the King amendment was overwhelmingly voted down in the house yesterday.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But they will try to bring back a similar measure, you can count on it. That`s why folks, if you care about these voiceless creatures who are just as smart of little Rico here if not smarter, you have to get involved with Mercy for Animals. MercyforAnimals.org -- check it out. Get involved because animals can`t speak for themselves.

On the other side, we`ve got another surprise for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey little Rico, as you know because you`re here every Friday with me, we cover a lot of animal welfare stories on this show. And people love it. And Mercy for Animals, a prominent group that really goes out of its way to investigate animal cruelty at factory farms is giving our show an award tomorrow night.

Basketball legend and vegan entrepreneur John Sally will be presenting me with an award in the Hamptons for our coverage. We are so honored and proud and I speak for little Rico too. Thanks you Mercy for Animals for the award and for all you do to give voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

For more information go to MercyforAnimals.org or hlntv.com/jane. They can`t speak for themselves, we all have to join together to speak for these voiceless factory farm animals. I know you will.

Nancy Grace is next.

END