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Nancy Grace

Jodi Arias Death Penalty Retrial Opens

Aired October 21, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED OF MURDER (singing): O holy night, the stars are brightly shining...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putting a bullet in his head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander.

ARIAS: I really don`t remember the day at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) lots of blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she slit his throat as a reward for being a good man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would either live or she would die.

ARIAS: If Travis were here today, he would tell you (INAUDIBLE) I have to maintain my innocence. I can`t admit to doing something I haven`t done.

I can`t, in good conscience, ask you to sentence me to death.

I`m not guilty. I didn`t hurt Travis. If I hurt Travis, if I killed Travis, I would beg for the death penalty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Welcome back, everyone. This is HLN, and we are live outside the Phoenix courthouse, bringing you the latest. The Jodi Arias

death penalty retrial has commenced in the courthouse right behind us. We have just walked out of the courtroom to be on the air with you, to tell

you what`s happening in that courtroom.

What an extraordinary day, both sides delivering serious, devastating at some moments, opening statements to that jury, the jury riveted on both

sides, every word. Then Martinez begins with the first witness. He wastes no time putting up photos, starting with Travis Alexander`s home, how did

Jodi Arias get in, showing a keypad, a security keypad, claiming that she snuck in without Travis Alexander knowing she was coming, showing the alarm

that had been on, that she cut off when she comes in.

She entered into an area where there was a laundry. And there was state`s placard number one, A and B, Travis Alexander`s diluted blood on the

washing machine, inside, sheets, bedding, towels, all covered in blood, also a digital camera. She had taken photos of wild sex between the two

that afternoon. And then it all ended in that bloody bathroom with Travis Alexander`s throat slit ear to ear.

In the courtroom, you could have heard a pin drop as opening statements commenced. I noticed the defense, Kirk Nurmi, kept interrupting with

objections. Nearly every single one was overruled. So why was he doing it? To break Martinez`s flow of his opening statement.

And I noticed Martinez has a trick. When Nurmi interrupts with an objection, Martinez doesn`t even turn and look at him. He pauses like he`s

frozen. He says nothing. He waits until he hears the judge say "Overruled," then he quickly launches back into the same sentence he was in

so as not to disrupt the flow of his opening statement. It was consummate. And of course, Nurmi`s doing his job, trying to break the flow.

We are live outside the courthouse, and we are taking your calls. I want to go back to Valerie Paraso, anchor with KFYI. What a day in the

courtroom! Tell me what you thought of those opening statements, Valerie.

VALERIE PARASO, KFYI: Well, opening statements, obviously, Kirk Nurmi trying to portray Jodi Arias as not a monster, saying that she was abused

by her mother, abused by her father, and then abused by a former boyfriend, and then Travis Alexander. Juan Martinez comes out like a bulldog and

tries to shoot that down, obviously, by laying out Travis Alexander`s death photo.

GRACE: Joining me right now, Jason Lamm, defense attorney here in Phoenix. We`re all taking your calls. This is the non sequitur -- Latin for "it

doesn`t follow," it doesn`t make sense. If she is abused, then why is that immediately after slaughtering Travis Alexander, she drives straight to the

home of her next boyfriend and literally physically hops on top of him.

Explain that. I`ve never seen an abuse case like that.

JASON LAMM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, the reality is, people who have mental problems do things that just don`t make sense. And the reality is,

Juan Martinez is actually hurting his own case because by showing those nude photos, he is abusing her. He is disgracing her in a completely

unnecessary way. He`s getting...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!

LAMM: ... sexcapades and he -- he`s doing as much as her abusers did.

GRACE: You know, if I didn`t know better, you say that with such sincerity, it has the ring of truth.

But you know, Sue Moss, the reality is those sex photos of her were taken by her, an afternoon of wild sex with Travis Alexander, and then after all

the sex and all the kinkiness -- not judging -- he then tells her, in answer to her question, is he still going to take his legitimate girlfriend

on a trip, I think, to Cancun -- and he goes, yes, the trip`s still on. And she realizes the whole afternoon of sex with this guy was for naught.

She took these photos. So how is Juan Martinez exploiting her by showing the photos that she had taken of herself?

SUSAN MOSS, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Oh, no, no, no! Juan has to show these photos! These jury members need to see the depravity of what was

going on in this room! But understand how premeditated this was. She came with a gun! She came with a gun with bullets! They were loaded! She knew

how to use it! She also had the knife, OK?

This was not just something spur of the moment. This was something planned. She went in. She undid the alarm. She took pictures throughout

as mementos, and she already had her exit strategy planned!

She came up with three separate excuses of why this wasn`t her fault. First she said she was in Mesa, totally away from the crime scene. Then

she said two people came in and that they were actually the abusers and the killers. And then finally, finally, when none of these others worked, now

she comes up with this new -- Oh, I was abused. I was abused.

You need to listen to the words of the best friends. They came in and they explained that she was stalking him. She slashed his tires. She break

(sic) into the Facebook account. This was no accident! This was no passion crime! This was premeditated, and she will pay the price!

GRACE: Out to Dave Hall, special guest joining us now and also take taking your calls, a very dear friend of Travis Alexander. Dave knows Jodi Arias.

He knew Travis Alexander very, very well.

Dave Hall, thanks for being with us. I want to hear your take on Nurmi painting Arias as the victim. And we just heard it again from attorney

Jason Lamm.

DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER: Well, of course, she`s not going to take accountability or responsibility for anything that she`s done. And

that`s his job to pain her as the victim. The problem is, none of the evidence matches up with her ever being the victim. She was never abused.

(INAUDIBLE) hang around them (INAUDIBLE) Travis always treated her like a lady. He never, ever laid a hand on anybody. And we`ve got lots of former

girlfriends of Travis`s who testify and to day, Listen, Travis never abused women in any way, shape or form. So just add this to the laundry list of

lies that Jodi Arias tells.

GRACE: You know what was interesting, Dave Hall? As I was sitting there in the courtroom, there was a break and the jury left. Everybody in the

courtroom stood up. Arias remained where she was. And she turned back to the gallery where we`re all sitting, and she locked eyes with a young man

sitting on the front row on her side of the courtroom. You know, it`s like a wedding, the groom`s side and the bride`s side. I was actually sitting

on Arias`s side, and I noticed her look at him.

And they were both doing stretches, turning back and forth like that in their places, and smiling at each other. And then she looked back a little

bit. And I was standing there, looking right at her. Her smile immediately vanished. She turned around and sat down and never turned

around again.

You knew Arias very well, as well, through Travis. What were your observations of her?

HALL: You know, we always encouraged Travis to cut that relationship off. Even though we didn`t know anything in particular was happening, we always

told Travis that he could do a lot better. There was always an evil vibe about her when she was around.

We just never trusted her -- intuition. We knew that when his tires were being slashed that she was behind that, that she was always snooping into

his private social media sites and e-mails. She was just -- she`s not, you know, mentally challenged or anything. I think that`s an insult to

everybody out there that has some type of, you know, PTSD or something like that. This woman is just plain evil. Let`s stop trying to diagnose it and

make it a disease. She`s evil.

GRACE: You know -- with me, everyone, and taking your calls, Dave Hall. And I`m going to go out to the calls in just a minute. But I`ve got a

question. And you know, as a trial lawyer, we learn early on, Dave, never ask a question you don`t know the answer to. But I`m going to do that

right now. I want to know what you think the appropriate sentence is. And then I want to know what you think Travis, in life, would have believed

would be the appropriate sentence.

HALL: Well, I believe that the appropriate sentence is the death penalty, and for -- if no other reason -- even if it takes 20 years of appeals

before it`s overturned, there`s a huge difference between the way somebody is treated that`s sitting on death row, where they`re in lockdown 23 hours

a day -- no family, no friends, no visitors, no privileges -- as opposed to somebody that`s in general population, that they`re getting college

degrees, they`re starting clubs, they`re doing all kinds of artsy projects with their friends.

Jodi loves the celebrity status in prison. I want her -- if she is in prison for the rest of her life, I want her locked down 23 hours a day.

And I honestly believe that Travis would want the same thing because she robbed Travis of his ability to have a wife, a family, and to be there for

his friends and to experience the joys we have in life today! She stole that from Travis, and she didn`t deserve another happy day on this earth!

GRACE: You know, Dave, when they were showing photos -- and there was a photo of Travis Alexander -- I don`t know how I`ve never seen it before.

And he was lying there, and he looked like a boy. He was lying there naked on the bed, and yes, you could see his whole body, but that`s not the part

that struck me. The part that struck me was, he was lying there so defenseless. And he had fallen asleep, Dave. He trusted her to the extent

he was lying there. I could see his shoulders and his face and his neck, completely happy and had fallen asleep, I guess right before he was killed.

He looked so young and so innocent, Dave.

HALL: Well, in addition to the knife and the gun that she used to kill him, another weapon, the trust and fake love. She used these as weapons

against my best friend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: You are body-slammed. You get away. You go down the hallway. You go in the closet. You get the gun. You go into the

bathroom again. You then turn around and you point the gun. You shoot him. He goes down. He`s still pawing at you and saying (EXPLETIVE

DELETED) kill you, bitch. And then after you`re able to get away, you go get the knife and he ends up at the end of the hallway, all in 62 seconds.

That`s what you`re telling us?

ARIAS: No, that`s not what I`m saying. And he didn`t say (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you, bitch, until I got away and...

MARTINEZ: Pardon?

ARIAS: He didn`t say (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you, bitch, until after I got away. You said he said it before I broke away, but he said it right as

I broke away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Behind me, the Phoenix courthouse. Welcome back, everybody. We are live here for the opening statements in the Jodi Arias death penalty

retrial. We have just seen statements go down, first from Kirk Nurmi, the defense lawyer, then from Juan Martinez, the lawyer for the state.

Martinez then goes on to put up his first witness.

We are live and taking your calls. Straight out to Brooke in Georgia. Hi, Brooke. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just want to know if there were any Jodi Arias supporters out there in front of the courthouse today.

GRACE: There were supporters both in and outside the courthouse. Interest in the case has not diminished. The entire family was there for Travis

Alexander, sitting on the front two rows, directly behind the state. Jodi Arias`s side was equally full. There is standing room only in the

courtroom. It`s hard to get a seat, as everyone sees opening statements today.

And interesting. We saw the defense attorney promise this jury they would hear from Jodi Arias. But hear what, this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS ALEXANDER, VICTIM: I`m going to tie you to a tree and put it in your ass, by the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to tie you to a tree and put it in your ass, by the way. We heard about prior instances of anal sex prior to May 10th.

So is this fantasy, or is this reality?

ARIAS: We`re kicking around ideas of what we might do. I hope that was fantasy because I don`t think I would have gone for that, but I`m not sure

whether or not he had serious intentions of doing that act or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever -- you said you don`t think you would submit to that, but did you ever do anything to try to make this fantasy

happen?

ARIAS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do?

ARIAS: He asked me to find a place that would be good, where we could do that. And so I hiked around a little bit and thought (ph), and this

Meredith (ph) Park, it`s mostly wooded, toward the south end of town. And I figured if we -- I was trying to think of the best time so that -- you

know, it`s kind of in public, so that nobody would stumble upon us. So just that, basically.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK. Jason Lamm, she doesn`t sound like a victim at all. This sounds like her doing.

LAMM: But Nancy, here`s the problem. When Juan Martinez puts this out there gratuitously, one of the first witnesses, he delivers this with,

You`re going to offend some of the 12 women on a jury. And you, as a woman, you can`t be happy with that, whether she consented or not. It

makes it seem like Juan Martinez is being a bully and not a bulldog. And he may alienate some jurors. That`s the point I`m trying to make. And if

even if one or two juries -- of the jurors, rather, latches on to that, we`re looking at a hung jury, which could be a life sentence.

GRACE: Actually, you got me all wrong, Jason.

LAMM: Do I?

GRACE: It does not alienate me. I don`t hold it against -- as I was trying to say, I don`t hold it against Juan Martinez for speaking the

truth.

LAMM: Well, I do.

GRACE: If anything, what alienates me is seeing crime scene photos of an innocent person with their throat slashed.

Joining me right now is Dorian Bond, a special guest joining us tonight. This is Jodi Arias`s private investigator, president of Bond

Investigations, Inc. Dorian, thank you for being with us.

DORIAN BOND, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Thank you.

GRACE: Dorian, we just saw a shot of Jodi Arias in court. And her sex life, the wild afternoon of sex just before she slashes his throat, is

coming into evidence. It`s already started. Does that match? Does that sync or jibe with Arias`s demeanor as you have come to know her behind

bars?

BOND: No, it doesn`t. A lot of things that happen in court -- when I see her privately in the jails, she`s focused on what her defense strategy is

going to be, and also looking forward to her appeal. As you know, she`s very unhappy with her first chair attorney, Kirk. And I question some of

the things that he does on defending her. But like I said, she`s concentrating on moving forward and going to the appeal process.

GRACE: Well, I don`t understand what it is about Kirk Nurmi, or Jennifer Wilmont (ph), for that matter. What is it about them she doesn`t like?

They managed to get a jury to hang on the death penalty sentence the last time around.

BOND: You`re right. She has to have a good relationship with the first chair attorney. He runs the defense team, so he is in charge of the

defense team. She had a better relationship with Jennifer Wilmont, and that`s why she wanted Jennifer to be the first chair. And she felt like

she wasn`t getting the attention and also getting support from Kirk to investigate the issues that she wanted investigated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAS: ... shaking all the days, but most prominently on the first day of cross.

MARTINEZ: Did you see Mr. Alexander inside that house? Yes or no.

ARIAS: Yes.

MARTINEZ: You`re saying you lied?

ARIAS: No.

My whole body trembles.

MARTINEZ: You were in love with him and didn`t want to let him go!

ARIAS: That`s not right.

MARTINEZ: You were being territorial about him, weren`t you.

ARIAS: No.

MARTINEZ: You ended up in his bed, right?

ARIAS: I think it was a love sack.

My teeth would have been chattering, I was shaking that much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. This is HLN. I`m Nancy Grace. And we are camped outside the Phoenix courthouse as the retrial in the Jodi Arias death

penalty phase commences. Thank you for being with us. We are live and taking your calls.

Back to Jodi Arias`s private investigator joining us tonight, Dorian Bond. Dorian, is it true that you have been trying to dig up witnesses that could

testify to Travis Alexander abusing Jodi Arias?

BOND: That`s not true. She contacted me three years ago because she was looking forward to hiring Dan Raynak (ph) as an attorney for her defense.

She was unable to afford him. So she knew of me, so fast forward two-and- a-half years, she called me again and she was unhappy with Kirk not directing her investigators to interview witnesses.

That`s when she first contacted me again, saying she would like me to do that. But then we quickly focused our attention towards appeal things. So

I was not involved with locating any witnesses at all.

GRACE: Everyone, the trial has commenced behind us. We are taking your calls.

Do you believe, Dorian Bond, that she will take the stand this time around?

BOND: I`m sure she`s going to do everything she can to defend herself, which is what she`s probably been told by her defense team. I do know that

she is very worried about what this outcome is going to be because it`s going to determine how her appeal is going to go, whether it`s going to be

a death penalty appeal or going to be a life in prison appeal.

GRACE: OK. The defense has promised the jury that they will hear from Jodi Arias. But will it turn out like this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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!

MARTINEZ: And you`re doing all of this to -- according to your version of events, you`re doing this as an individual after you have already shot him,

right?

ARIAS: Yes.

MARTINEZ: Correct?

ARIAS: I believe so.

MARTINEZ: No. Do you remember previously talking to us about how he was coming after you, and he was this horrible man with this mean face. Do you

remember telling me that?

ARIAS: Yes. I didn`t say he was horrible.

MARTINEZ: OK. Thank you for correcting me. But do you remember telling us that he was a mean man?

ARIAS: Not today.

MARTINEZ: Well, previously. Previously you did say that he was a mean man. Correct?

ARIAS: I think I did, yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIAS: I think that I have a good memory, and June 4 is an anomaly for me.

MARTINEZ: Is that the same as being in a fog?

ARIAS: Well, I had just woken up. So maybe I was a little bit.

JUDGE SHERRY STEPHENS, PRESIDED OVER ARIAS MURDER TRIAL: "How is it possible you remember such details if you had a foggy memory?"

ARIAS: The fog or the confusion only begins when he starts screaming. As far as the fog goes, it`s more -- again, just words that are being spoken.

STEVENS: "Were you in the fog when you were kissing Ryan?"

ARIAS: Yes.

MARTINEZ: He stayed down when you got up, right?

ARIAS: I don`t remember a lot after that.

STEVENS: "You have no memory of stabbing Travis?"

ARIAS: I don`t know.

MARTINEZ: It would be this shower, right?

ARIAS: I don`t remember.

MARTINEZ: The gun was unloaded, right?

ARIAS: I don`t remember the specific answer I gave on that.

I didn`t know who shot him.

I don`t recall clearly what happened in those moments.

I was a little, like, discombobulated.

The lunging and the gun going off, I don`t remember.

Lying isn`t typically something I just do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are live outside the Phoenix courthouse as the Jodi Arias death penalty retrial commences.

We are taking your calls. Straight out to Dee in Florida. Hi, Dee, what`s your question?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I just love the way you don`t take any bull from anybody.

GRACE: Thank you.

CALLER: But I was wondering, Nancy, has anyone given any thought to the fact that Jodi will be happy either way? Because I`ve heard her singing

religious songs. I`ve heard her make comments that everyone deserves a second chance. And I think the girl believes that, if she dies, that she`s

going to go to heaven and be with Travis. Has anyone really thought about this?

GRACE: My, I haven`t really -- no, I have not really thought about her immortal soul. That has not dawned on me yet.

Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, Jason Lamm, Parag Shah.

Sue, from what I know of Jodi Arias, her mind does not seem focused on the hereafter.

MOSS: Absolutely. Right now she`s focused on trying to trick some of those jurors so that she can live. But 27 stab wounds to this guy and she

wonders why we all think she should die?

I mean, the reality is, if she is so delusional that she thinks she`s going to trick these people and she`s going to maybe even end up with life with

the possibility of parole, which would be the worst possible thing.

GRACE: Well, I think a lot is going to depend on the forensics.

Straight out to Dr. William Morrone. Let`s take a look at the forensics, because already, we see the state bringing in crime-scene evidence. The

crime-scene photos that we`re showing you now.

Dr. Morrone, explain to me how the forensics are going to rule the day here.

DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The No. 1 thing is they`re going to point out weaknesses in her defense are just

flat-out lies.

The fact that she shot him in defense of herself and she shot him first. The first wound, they claim, would have been a gunshot wound to the top of

the head, left a bullet lodged down here in the left cheek. Entered in the right. Didn`t exit. Lodged down here. The only way you can get this

angle is she was standing over him when she shot him. That`s not defense.

The other thing is, this is the size of the knife that she used. Generally -- and people worry about self-defense, they use smaller knives. This

knife penetrated the back a dozen times or more in a small area, smaller than this tablet. That`s not self-defense. That`s over and over. And it

penetrated down to six or seven inches. That`s not self-defense.

And the final thing is, in order to cut the throat the way she cut the throat, she had to pull the head back to get from ear to ear, because the

throat was cut under the jaw, not down here. Under the jaw. These are very deliberate acts. And there`s a very good sequence.

And the fact that he has so many defensive wounds on his hands. This is called the thenar eminence. This is called the web. On both hands, that

just -- their whole case is lies. And the forensics prove it.

GRACE: As we take you through the crime-scene gallery, to Matt Zarrell. Explain to me the significance of this crime-scene photos Martinez has just

started to show the jury.

MATT ZARRELL, ATTORNEY: Well, part of it shows that the -- part of the evidence photos is about the premeditation and part of it is about the

sequence of the murder, that the state says that Arias stabbed him in the heart first, then slit his throat from ear to ear at the sink, and then

shot him in the head. The defense says it was the other way around, that the gunshot came first and the stab wounds came after.

But Nancy, remember at trial, Arias says she doesn`t remember any of the stabbing at all. She doesn`t remember anything after the gunshot.

GRACE: OK. Let`s go through the crime-scene photos. There are hundreds of them, including the bedroom, the bathroom, the hallway, the closet. The

layout of the room became very, very important. Why, Matt?

ZARRELL: The layout is very important, because she could have gotten away. And the jury asked that also during her testimony, that she had the

opportunity to run out of the house when she claims Travis attacked her. But instead, she claims she goes into the closet and grabs his gun that he

has hidden there and turns around and shoots him over this.

GRACE: We are showing you the crime-scene photos this jury is set to see. Martinez has already started off showing these to the jury. There you see

the hallway that we are talking about. This is connected to the bathroom. It goes through a closet. And it`s very, very important. The way that

Martinez showed the layout of the home today. How she entered the home, how she made her way up the stairs. It all is integral or pieces of a

puzzle fitting together.

We are taking your calls now out to Florida. Is it Jamie in Florida? It`s Ann in Florida. Hi, Ann. What`s your question?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. First off, I`d like to say my condolences to the Travis family, and I`m sorry that they have to go

through this. And I hope they can finally, you know, get the justice they deserve.

My question was, Jodi, she owes the taxpayers $2.6 million in Arizona. But meanwhile, she`s selling her glasses and doing her tracing artwork. And

why don`t they garnish that money and give it back to the taxpayers or to the Alexander family, who has lost time and effort, you know, to serve

justice? And it don`t seem right. She`s out there, and she`s got new glasses on today.

GRACE: You know, Sue Moss, Parag Shah, and Jason Lamm. Parag Shah, why not? She`s right. This has cost $2.6 million for the state to put this

case on. Why is she making money, blood money off Travis`s murder?

PARAG SHAH, ATTORNEY: Look, the Constitution requires that she have counsel and that she put on a defense. OK? It`s the state that`s trying

to put her to death. They should pay for it. If they`re going through all this to try to put her to death, they have to pay for it.

GRACE: Let me ask you, Parag Shah, a question. Why do you think the state is prosecuting the case?

SHAH: Well, I can tell you...

GRACE: It`s not because they`ve got nothing better to do. It`s because she killed Travis Alexander.

SHAH: And that`s the problem right now with this show.

GRACE: How do you make it a...

(CROSSTALK)

SHAH: The focus is on premeditation. The issue is, is there mitigating evidence? Is it reliable and credible? And we know it is, because the

first jury found it to be. That`s why there`s a mistrial. There`s no reason to think that it`s -- the same thing is not going to happen.

GRACE: They didn`t find it. They hung on it.

SHAH: Right.

GRACE: They couldn`t decide.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAH: Reliable and credible. Some of it was reliable and credible.

LAMM: She is leaving prison in a body bag, if she`s going to die of natural causes or she`s going to die because someone sticks a needle in her

arm.

Here`s the question. How many of my kids` teachers` salaries need to be cut for this woman? How many police officers and firefighters? The county

attorney`s office needs to exercise some fiscal responsibility. The woman will leave prison when she is dead. What sacrifice does this community

need to make?

GRACE: You know, it`s really interesting that -- it`s interesting that defense attorneys only want to cut the budget when it comes to the death

penalty.

Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, I never hear defense attorneys arguing, wow, you should pay public defenders or defense investigators less money.

It`s always they want to cut the budget and cut spending when the death penalty is at issue.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, not only that, Nancy. What I hear -- I don`t hear the defense talking about sociopathy and how that played a

role in this crime and the sexuality and how she used her sexuality to lure him into the shower so he was in a vulnerable position.

I think that`s what everybody should be talking about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTINEZ: Do you have problems with your memory, miss?

ARIAS: Sometimes.

I have a vague memory of putting the knife in the dishwasher.

I filled up the tank and I filled up the gas cans also.

It was in -- it was upstairs.

I just remember screaming. I don`t remember anything after that.

MARTINEZ: And so you lied to him at that point, right?

ARIAS: No.

MARTINEZ: Do you -- are you telling me that fabricating a text message is not a lie?

ARIAS: No, I`m not saying that.

MARTINEZ: So you can tell us, for example, what kind of coffee you bought at Starbucks back on June 3 of 2008?

ARIAS: I have a busy Starbucks. I got a strawberry Frappuccino.

MARTINEZ: But you can`t tell us what you said yesterday or the day before?

ARIAS: I always got the same drink at Starbucks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. We are live outside the Phoenix courthouse. Thank you for being with us. Straight to Jen Wood, reporter

in court today. Jen, what did you make of the opening statements?

JEN WOOD, REPORTER: I thought Juan Martinez did a great job. I thought he really hit it hard with premeditation. He showed that she planned to go to

his house. He showed that she was planning to murder him. I think did he a great job to spell it out for that heavily female jury, which is going to

definitely work in his favor.

GRACE: Why do you say that?

WOOD: I think that -- I think that women don`t like Jodi Arias, and he`s got a jury full of younger women that aren`t going to like her. They`re

not going to like the abuse excuse. Nurmi is throwing out that she`s a young mentally ill girl. I don`t think they`re going to buy it.

GRACE: Well, maybe this is why. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Nurmi: Mr. Alexander talks about how he wants to zip tie you through a tree and (EXPLETIVE DELETED), right? Remember that?

ARIAS: Yes. That was a reference to a photo shoot that he wanted to do out in the woods somewhere. He wanted me to dress up like Little Red

Riding Hood.

He wanted me to find a spot because he was coming up to Yreka. There is a lot of forest up there. So there are trails and things near a park called

Greenhorn. It`s toward the southern end of town. And it goes into the woods quite a way. And I figured if we went early in the morning or late

at night, we could find a spot there, and we wouldn`t have to worry about any hikers or anybody coming upon us, because that would have been

mortifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to the lines. Pat in Massachusetts. Hi, Pat. What`s your question?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy, I`m glad to have got -- finally got in. Yes, I was wondering, when Jodi was on the stand last year, you know, when all of this

was going on, she mentioned that while the fight was going on, Travis kicked her in the ribs and he body-slammed her. I was just wondering,

would she have needed to go to the hospital? Because I`m an abused women and I`ve had to go plenty of times and not for no major stuff like that.

GRACE: You know, Matt Zarrell, we never heard any evidence about her seeking treatment for that. As a matter of fact, everything led to

evidence of premeditation.

ZARRELL: Yes, in fact, Nancy, the evidence of premeditation is overwhelming. You`ve got the gun stolen from her grandparents` house weeks

before the murder. You`ve got her calling her ex-boyfriend in advance to borrow gas cans. She changes her hair color right before she leaves. She

rents a car in a different town. She wants a different color that doesn`t stand out. She buys three gas cans. She turns her cell phone off. She

couldn`t find her phone charger, and her license plate was upside down. That`s just to name a few.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: "How many times did you try to kill yourself?"

ARIAS: I believe that was in California when I took apart my razor and was going to do that, that was the only serious attempt I made. Other than

that, it`s just like ideation: thinking how I might be able to do this or that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. This is HLN. We are live outside the Phoenix courthouse. Opening statements have just commenced in the courthouse

behind me. First we heard from the defense. Then the prosecution. Then we hear Juan Martinez call the very first witness to the stand. Take a

listen to opening statements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTINEZ: This is not a case of who done it. The person who "done it," the person who committed this killing sits in court today. The defendant,

Jodi Ann Arias. And the person that she "done it" to is an individual by the name of Travis Victor Alexander. A former boyfriend of hers. An

individual that she was in love with. An individual that was a good man. An individual that was one of the greatest blessings in her life.

And this love, well, she rewarded that had love for Travis Victor Alexander by sticking a knife in his chest. And you know, he was a good man,

according to her. And with regard to being a good man, well, she slit his throat as a reward for being a good man. And in terms of these blessings,

well, she knocked the blessings out of him by putting a bullet in his head.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: There you hear Juan Martinez, the first go-around. Very, very much like what we just heard in the courtroom in the last hour.

Everyone, the opening statements have commenced in the trial. The retrial of Jodi Arias. Straight out to Dave Hall.

Dave, I saw the family exhausted already in court today. It`s day one. What are your feelings?

DAVE HALL, FRIEND OF TRAVIS (via phone): This is going to be a real gut- wrencher for them. I mean, it is for everybody. The horror of having to watch all those photos and see all this evidence again, just simply because

the jury last time didn`t come to the proper conclusion. It is very tough for them, and my heart breaks for them every time I see them.

GRACE: Everyone, we`ll be right back at the courthouse tomorrow night.

Now we remember American hero Army Sergeant Alberto Montrond, 27, Suffolk, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, buried Arlington. A hero square installed back

home in his honor. Parents, Alberto Sr. and Maria; widow, Crystal (ph); two children. Alberto Montrond, American hero.

Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 p.m. sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.

END