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The trial of Jodi Ann Arias, which began Jan. 2, has captured headlines around the world, as court watchers turn to the media for daily updates.
The case -- which initially appeared to be a straightforward murder trial, has become somewhat of a daytime drama, with sex, lies and ultimately, a brutal homicide.
Arias, a 32-year-old photographer is accused of shooting her lover, Travis Alexander, in the face, stabbing him 27 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear in the shower of his Mesa, Ariz., apartment.
- Jodi Arias Crime Scene Photos (GRAPHIC)
- Who's Who In The Jodi Arias Case (PHOTOS)
- Jodi Arias Personal Photos
- Jodi Arias Timeline: Key Dates In The Case
- More Jodi Arias Coverage
Arias claims self-defense in the killing. Prosecutors allege she was a jealous and vengeful ex. Whatever the case may be, new details are being released everyday, requiring The Huffington Post to revise the initial timeline that was posted in the case.
In the slideshow below you will find an up-to-date slideshow with key details and photos from the case. The slideshow will be updated on a regular basis. Readers are warned that some images in the slideshow are graphic.
The trial of Jodi Ann Arias, which began Jan. 2, is one of the biggest court proceedings to take place since Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her child. The 32-year-old photographer is accused of shooting her lover, Travis Alexander, in the face, stabbing him 27 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear in the shower of his Mesa, Ariz., apartment. The case, which has been more than four years in the making, has routinely captured headlines around the world, especially as the details became public.
September 2006 – Travis Alexander met Jodi Arias at a conference in Las Vegas. At the time, Alexander was a 30-year-old motivational speaker and legal-insurance salesman. Arias, then 28, was living in Yreka, Calif., and was trying to make it as a saleswoman and an independent photographer. The two had an instant connection and spoke on the phone every day. Court records indicate that the couple exchanged 82,000 emails.
November 26, 2006 – Because Alexander was a Mormon, Arias chose to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. February 2, 2007 – Alexander and Arias began dating. June 29, 2007 – Alexander and Arias broke up. Although they were no longer dating, the couple maintained a physical relationship. December 2007 – Alexander began dating another woman. He allegedly told friends that Arias was so jealous that she slashed the tires on his vehicle twice. After those incidents, his new girlfriend received a harassing email from a "John Doe." Alexander suspected that Arias was responsible.
January 8, 2008 – Arias, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Alexander: "Ahhh!! I fell asleep! But to answer your question, yes I want to grind you. And I want to be LOUD. And I want to give you a nice, warm 'mouth hug' too. :)" January 18, 2008 – Arias, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Alexander: "My p---y is SO WET." March 2008 – Arias and Alexander visited several states together, including Oklahoma and Texas.
April 2008 - Arias moved from Arizona to California. That same month, Alexander posted a blog entry stating, "This Year will be the Best year of my life. This is the year that will eclipse all others. I will earn more, learn more, travel more, serve more, love more, give more and be more than all the other years of my life combined." April 20, 2008 - Alexander, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Arias: "I am at a night club right now and it helped me to come to the conclusion that you are one of the prettiest girls on the planet." April 21, 2008 - Alexander, according to prosecutors, sent this text to Arias: "Send me a naughty picture."
May 10, 2008 - Arias posted the last entry to her online blog. It reads, in part: "I cannot ignore that there is an ever-present yearning and desire that pulses within me. It throbs for gratification and fulfillment." That same day, according to prosecutors, Alexander sent this text to Arias: "Why don't you have him come and f--k you in the woods, I can only imagine you are so worried about me reading. You are paranoid because you have no respect for people privacy and you dare insult me of all people. Someone you should through your actions you hate more than love by denying me a human right of privacy countless times. You have a lot of freaking nerve. We are all not like you in that aspect."
May 18, 2008 - Alexander posted the last entry, titled "Why I want to marry a Gold Digger," to his online blog. It reads, in part: "I did a little soul searching and realized that I was lonely ... I realized it was time to adjust my priorities and date with marriage in mind ... This type of dating to me is like a very long job interview and can be exponentially more mentally taxing. Desperately trying to find out if my date has an axe murderer penned up inside of her."
May 28, 2008 - Kevin Friedman, a police officer with the Yreka, Calif. Police Department, investigated the reported theft of a .25 caliber gun, $30 in cash, a stereo and a DVD player from Arias' grandparents' home.
June 2008 - During the first week of June 2008, Alexander told friends that he suspected Arias had hacked into his Facebook account. He allegedly said that he told her to stay out of his life forever. June 2, 2008 - Arias, according to police, picked up a vehicle from Budget Rent-a-Car in Redding, Calif.
June 4, 2008 - Arias allegedly went to Alexander's home in Mesa, Ariz. That same afternoon the last outgoing call was made from Alexander's phone.
June 5, 2008 - Arias went to visit Ryan Burns, a once-budding love interest and co-worker at PrePaid Legal Services, at his home in West Jordan, Utah. June 7, 2008 - Arias, according to police, returned her rental car to Budget Rent-a-Car in Redding.
June 9, 2008 - Alexander's friends, concerned because they had not heard from him for several days, went to his home in the 11,400 block of East Queensborough Ave. and found him dead inside his standup shower. A state of advanced decomposition suggested that he had been dead for several days. Large amounts of blood were discovered throughout the master bathroom, including on the floors, walls and sink area. It was ultimately determined that Alexander had been shot in the right brow with a .25-caliber gun -- the bullet was found lodged in his left cheek -- and that he had been stabbed 27 times. Someone had also cut his throat from ear to ear.
Investigators found several vital clues inside Alexander's bedroom and bathroom. A spent .25-caliber shell casing was located on the floor near the sink, and a hair and a small latent print in blood were found near the entrance to the bathroom hall. Also, a digital camera was found in the washing machine in the downstairs laundry room. The camera appeared to have been run through the wash cycle.
When questioned by police, Alexander's friends and family members indicated that Arias should be questioned. "[Arias] was totally obsessed with him," Alexander's close friend Sky Hughes told The Huffington Post. "She wouldn't let him go. Whenever he would try to sever all ties, she would threaten to kill herself ... He would tell her he didn't want anything to do with her, and she would show up at his house. We knew it was her. We didn't want it to be her, but [we] just knew it was."
June 13, 2008 - Arias posted a photo gallery on her MySpace page titled "In Loving Memory of Travis."
June 17, 2008 - Arias went to the Mesa Police Headquarters and was voluntarily fingerprinted. She also gave investigators a sample of her saliva for DNA testing. While waiting for the lab test results to come back, investigators were notified that several shocking images, some of which had been deleted, were recovered from the memory card of the camera found in Alexander's washing machine. The deleted pictures were of Alexander, naked in the shower, just before his death. He appeared to be posing in some of the photographs. However, other photos, which were dark and grainy, "were of a subject on the floor of the bathroom bleeding profusely," police said.
Six other photos, time-stamped that same day, allegedly showed Arias on Alexander's bed. According to police, "all were nude pictures," and in some she was in "provocative sexual poses." Based on the photos, an investigator wrote: "Jodi was lying about not seeing Travis since April of 2008. This also proves that Jodi was the last person I can prove had contact with Travis prior to his death."
June 19, 2008 - Police contacted Arias and questioned her about Alexander's murder. "Jodi stated she last saw Travis in April of 2008," a police officer wrote in a document to establish probable cause. "She admitted they had been seeing each other as boyfriend and girlfriend for over five months but had officially broken up in June of 2007, after some jealously issues on the part of both of them. After they broke up, they continued to have a sexual relationship, but kept it quiet from people they knew. She said she last spoke to Travis on Tuesday 6-03-08."
June 19, 2008 - At 10:54 p.m., Arias posted this message to her MySpace page: "misses Travis. See you soon, my friend, but not soon enough."
June 21, 2008 - Travis Alexander was laid to rest in Olivewood Memorial Park in Riverside, Calif.
June 26, 2008 - Investigators were notified that hair and a bloody print found inside Alexander's home belonged to Arias. DNA typing results also indicated that the bloody print was a mixture of Arias' and Alexander's DNA. The same day, Arias attended a memorial service for Alexander.
July 9, 2008 - Arias celebrated her 29th birthday. That same day, a grand jury in California indicted her on first-degree murder charges in the death of Alexander. July 15, 2008 - Mesa police detectives and Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies arrested Arias at her Northern California home. Arias was booked in the Siskiyou County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
September 5, 2008 – Arias was extradited to Arizona. September 9, 2008 – A public defender was assigned to represent Arias. September 11, 2008 – Arias entered a not-guilty plea at her arraignment.
September 12, 2008 - In a jailhouse interview with The Arizona Republic, Arias denied killing Alexander but refused to discuss how she would refute the DNA and photographic evidence that police claimed linked her to the crime. "God knows I'm innocent. I know I'm innocent," said Arias. "I had nothing to do with his murder. I would never hurt him. He was my friend."
September 24, 2008 – Arias was interviewed by the TV show "Inside Edition" and said publicly for the first time that she was present when Alexander was attacked by two intruders.
October 31, 2008 - The Maricopa County Attorney's Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Arias. The notice, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, accused Arias of committing first-degree murder "in an especially cruel, heinous or depraved manner."
June 23, 2009 – Following her arrest, Arias expanded on her second story about the day of Alexander's death. In an interview with "48 Hours," she admitted that she was present when he was murdered, but she said that his death occurred during a home invasion. Arias reported that the two were having fun playing with his new camera when things took a sudden turn. "I heard a really loud pop. And the next thing I remember, I was lying next to the bathtub and Travis was screaming," Arias told "48 Hours." "At that point, I sort of was just trying to come around and kind of orientate myself to what was going on," she continued. "And I looked up and I just -- I saw two other individuals in the bathroom. And they were both coming toward us." The intruders, whom she described as a man and a woman dressed in black, were armed with a knife and a gun. At one point, she said, the man pointed the gun at her, but she was miraculously spared. "He pulled the trigger. And nothing happened with the gun. And so I just grabbed my purse, which was on the floor at that point, and I ran down the stairs and out of there and I left [Travis] there ... I pushed past him and -- and his gun. And I just didn't look back." Arias said that she kept driving and never called the police. "It was -- I was terrified. And I was scared for my life. And I think there was a naive belief that I could pretend like it didn't really happen," Arias said.
August 8, 2011 - Arias told Judge Sherry Stephens of Maricopa County Superior Court that she wanted to represent herself. Stephens granted the request but had Arias' public defenders, Victoria Washington and Kirk Nurmi, remain on as advisory counsel. August 16, 2011 – A request to admit letters that Arias claimed Alexander sent her prior to his death was denied. In the letters, Alexander allegedly admitted to being a pedophile. Prosecutor Juan Martinez told the court that the letters were tested and found to be forgeries. After the ruling, Arias told Judge Stephens that she was "over her head." The judge then reinstated her defense counsel.
Arias' third story about Alexander's death was detailed in court documents as part of the request that she made to admit electronic copies of Alexander's alleged letters. "Defendant had previously attributed the crime to intruders. She now argues that all of the letters must be admitted to support her domestic violence defense," prosecutors wrote in a motion to preclude the letters. "Defendant argues that the letters are relevant to her claim of self-defense and that she was a victim of previous 'sexual and physical abuse' by Mr. Alexander." Arias, according to prosecutors, claimed that Alexander "became angry when she dropped his camera" and that she was forced to kill him in self-defense.
December 16, 2011 – Washington filed a motion to withdraw from Arias' defense. December 21, 2011 – Washington's motion was granted. December 27, 2011 - Arias' younger sister, Angela Arias, said that her sister's statements during the "48 Hours" interview were lies and that Alexander's death was an act of self-defense on her sister's part during an incidence of domestic violence. "She was not under oath when she spoke on TV and yes, she lied," Angela Arias wrote on Facebook after The Huffington Post sent her a request for comment. "But, it was because she was so in love with that man she did not want people to know what a monster he really was. She wanted everyone to believe that he was as amazing as they thought he was ... My sister is innocent of the crime they are accusing her of ... She did kill Travis but it was not in cold blood, it was not for revenge, it was because she was afraid for her life."
January 2012 - Jennifer Willmott, a death penalty-qualified defense attorney, was assigned to represent Arias.
February 9, 2012 - Judge Stephens denied a motion by Arias' defense lawyers to remove the death penalty as a punishment option. The defense argued that Arias should not face death because she had not planned to kill Alexander. His death was an act of self-defense, her attorneys argued. December 10, 2012 - Jury selection for Arias' trial began. The court summoned 375 potential jurors. December 20, 2012 - A panel of 12 jurors and six alternates -- seven women and 11 men -- were sworn in for Jodi Arias' trial.
January 2, 2013 - Opening arguments began in Arias' trial. Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez cited the various stories that Arias had told law enforcement before she finally settled on a self-defense motive. Martinez described Alexander's murder as violent and said there were three different ways Alexander could have received a death blow: He was shot, he was stabbed in the heart, and his throat was slit from ear to ear. Alexander also had defensive wounds on his hands, according to Martinez. In wrapping up his opening argument, Martinez played part of a media interview conducted after Arias' arrest, in which she said, "Mark my words, no jury will convict me." Martinez asked the jury to mark Arias' words and concluded his opening statement. During the defense team's opening argument, lawyer Jennifer Willmott acknowledged that Arias had killed Alexander, but said that the key questions is what motivated her to do it. Willmott alleged Alexander had pressured Arias into having vaginal, anal and oral sex with him. Willmott also said she planned to call to the stand an expert who would testify about how Arias' relationship with Alexander fit the mold of domestic violence. Willmott concluded her opening argument by saying that Alexander had become enraged when Arias dropped his camera and that she had had to defend herself or she would not be alive today.
At the close of the opening arguments, the prosecution called their first witness, Maria Hall, to the stand. Hall testified she had attended church with Alexander and had gone on a few dates with him. Hall said she felt safe in Alexander's company and never saw his temper.
Prosecutors then called their next witness, Sterling Williams. A patrol officer with the Mesa Police Department, Williams described what he witnessed when he responded to the crime scene, as well as the condition of Alexander's body. Shortly afterward, court was recessed for the day.
January 3, 2013 – At the start of day two of Arias' murder trial, the prosecution called Esteban Flores, a Mesa homicide detective to the stand. Flores had investigated the crime scene and mentioned a phone call he had with Arias on June 10, 2008. The prosecution then played an audio recording of the conversation in court. During the recorded call, Arias described herself as a good friend of Alexander's and said she wanted to help police in any way that she could. She told Flores she had heard that Alexander had passed away and that there was a lot of blood at the crime scene. She asked what type of weapon was used or recovered at the scene, but Flores told her he was unable to discuss that information with her. Asked about her relationship with Alexander, Arias said that they had not dated long. "We dated for like five months, and we broke up and actually did not see each other for quite a bit," Arias said. "[We] tried to remain friends, more like buddies. We were intimate but I would not say romantic as far as a relationship goes." In regard to the couple's breakup, Arias said she had a suspicion Alexander was cheating on her. She said she could not trust him and claimed he would get "upset real easily." During the phone interview, Flores told Arias that Alexander's friends had alleged that she had hacked into Alexander's email. Arias denied the allegation. "People felt you were taking advantage of him or hanging out when you weren't wanted," Flores said. Arias dismissed the opinion of Alexander's friends and said she felt they talked about her because she was an ex-girlfriend. "We need to know who had some type of beef with him or why they would want to do this to him. It was an angry situation. Somebody went in there to hurt him, and they did –- hurt him really bad," Flores said at one point in the recording. Arias said Alexander was quite strong and she could not understand how anyone could overpower him. She also said she was concerned because "he never locked his doors." When the recording ended in the courtroom, Martinez turned the witness over to defense attorney Kirk Nurmi for cross-examination.
Nurmi asked Flores if he had ever seen a picture of a French maid outfit that Alexander allegedly wanted Arias to wear when she would clean his home. Flores testified that Arias told him she had cleaned Alexander's house, but said he had never seen a picture of the French maid outfit. The defense attorney then questioned Flores about emails Alexander allegedly sent to Arias. Nurmi asked Flores if Alexander had called Arias names in the emails, like "slut" and "whore." Martinez objected, citing hearsay and speculation, but Judge Stephens allowed the question. Flores then confirmed that Alexander had sent messages to Arias calling her those names. After a short recess, Flores read from a Facebook message that he said Alexander sent to Arias. "I was nothing more than a dildo with a heartbeat for you," the message read.
Later, a fingerprint examiner with the Mesa police, Heather Connor, took the stand and unveiled evidence found at the crime scene. Forensic teams took a total of three days to complete processing the scene at Alexander's house and found evidence in his washing machine, Connor said. The contents included clothing and a broken digital camera, which contained a SIM card. The clothing items, as well as a towel, appeared to have bleach stains, she said. Shortly afterward, court was recessed until January 8.
January 8, 2013 – Connor, the Mesa Police Department fingerprint examiner, continued her testimony on day three. Connor took the court through photos of Alexander's hallway, master bedroom and bathroom. The jury was also shown a photo of a bloody handprint on a wall. Prosecutors said the handprint contained a mixture of Alexander's and Arias' DNA. When Connor finished her testimony, the prosecution called Dr. Kevin Horn, of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office, to the stand.
Dr. Kevin Horn described how Alexander was stabbed 27 times, shot in the right brow with a .25-caliber gun, and nearly decapitated when his throat, voice box and arteries were cut. As Horn spoke, jurors looked at photos of the dead man, whose body, Horn said, was decomposing and starting to mummify by the time it was found. According to Horn, Alexander's stab wounds were very deep and inflicted with major force. It was, Horn testified, impossible to determine if Alexander was dead before he was shot due to the amount of decomposition. The cause of death was excessive blood loss from the victim's body, he said, and Alexander had multiple self-defense wounds to his palms and fingers.
Elizabeth Northcutt, a forensic firearms examiner with the Mesa police, was called to the stand next. Northcutt testified that she had examined a cartridge casing found at the crime scene and identified it as a Winchester .25-caliber casing. She said she also examined the bullet removed from Alexander's cheek. During cross-examination, Northcutt said she was not able to match the casing or the bullet to a specific gun because no weapon has been recovered. Shortly afterward, court was recessed for the evening.
January 9, 2013 – Ryan Burns, a once-budding love interest of Arias' and her co-worker at PrePaid Legal Services, was called to the stand by prosecutors on day four of the trial. Burns testified he had a heated make-out session with Arias just a day after Alexander was murdered. "We were talking and we kissed ... Every time we started kissing, it got a little more escalated," Burns said. He said that the couple never removed their clothes during the encounter and that he "never touched her breasts or anything." Burns testified that he first met Arias at a PrePaid Legal convention in Oklahoma in April 2008. A few weeks after that initial meeting, Burns and Arias were chatting on the phone three to five times a week. Toward the end of May 2008, he and Arias had made plans for her to visit his home in West Jordan, Utah, Burns testified.
According to Burns, Arias was several hours late arriving at his home on June 5, 2008. She told him that she had gotten lost and had stopped to rest. Arias had apparently dyed hair since the last time he had met with her and had cuts on her hands when she arrived, Burns said. "She had two small bandages on a couple of her fingers," he testified. Arias explained away the injuries by saying that while working at a Margaritaville restaurant, she had broken a glass and cut her finger, Burns said. The prosecution questioned Burns about Arias' strength. Burns said she was fit and had "close to a six-pack." "[She's] a lot stronger than she looks," Burns testified.
Burns was followed on the stand by two latent-print examiners for Mesa police, Maureen Smith and Kevin Biggs. The two witnesses described taking Arias' fingerprints and a DNA sample.
Latent-print examiner Heather Connor was called back to the stand to testify about a palm impression found on a wall at the crime scene, as well as items recovered from the drying machine inside Alexander's apartment and a bloody carpet stain.
Police detective Esteban Flores was also called back to the stand during day four. A recording of a June 25, 2008, phone interview he conducted with Arias was played for the court. During the interview, Arias told Flores she was afraid of guns. "That is one of the things I am scared of. [Guns and] public speaking," Arias said. "That was one of the things [Alexander] was trying to get me to do -- get out of my comfort zone." Arias' comments about guns arose during a discussion with Flores about the trip she took to visit Burns in Utah on June 5, 2008. Arias said she slept in her car during the lengthy drive from Yreka, Calif., to West Jordan, Utah. "I am not shy about sleeping in my car," Arias told the detective. Flores mentioned the practice could be dangerous and suggested she needed protection. "I was thinking of that," Aria said before detailing her fear of guns. But, she added, "Handguns are expensive [and] not in my price range." After discussing her thoughts on guns, Arias said she wanted to know if Alexander had cashed a check for $200 that she had given him for a car payment before he died. She said she had emailed his sister to ask about the check and to offer her condolences after she found out about Alexander's death. His sister had never replied, Arias told the detective. Court was adjourned for the day shortly after that excerpt of the audio recording was played.
January 10, 2013 – Day five of Arias' trial began with testimony by Nathaniel Mendes, a former detective with the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office in California. Mendes testified that there is no restaurant called Margaritaville in Yreka -- a fact that suggested Arias had lied about her place of employment, which undermined her explanation of how she had injured her fingers around the time Alexander was murdered. Mendes also testified about receipts found in Arias' bedroom, which show that she had rented a car in Redding, Calif., on June 2, 2008, and returned it six days later, after she put 2,834 miles on the car.
Lisa Perry, a forensic scientist for Mesa police, was called to testify after Mendes. Perry said that over two days at the crime scene, she had collected blood evidence for DNA analysis. She spent a significant amount of time on the stand detailing the blood splatter and stains that were found throughout Alexander's apartment. She also testified that a .25-caliber bullet casing was lying in a pool of congealed blood, suggesting that the bullet inside the casing had been fired after the blood was on the floor.
Mesa detective Esteban Flores returned to the stand after Perry completed her testimony. Flores testified that he had a conversation with Arias in which she acknowledged she had Alexander's ATM personal identification number and the security code to enter the garage of his apartment. Flores also testified he was aware of the interview Arias had given to "Inside Edition." "No jury is going to convict me ... because I'm innocent, and you can mark my words on that one: No jury will convict me," Arias had told "Inside Edition." The interview was conducted in 2008 after Arias was indicted for murdering Alexander. "I understand all the evidence is really compelling," Arias said in the interview. She added, "I've never even shot a gun. That's heinous. I can't imagine slitting anyone's throat." During cross-examination, Flores acknowledged that testimony he had given at a hearing on August, 6, 2009, was incorrect. During that hearing, Flores had testified that Alexander was shot before he was stabbed. "So your testimony that the gunshot occurred first was inaccurate ... Your testimony was a mistake," defense attorney Kirk Nurmi said. "No, my testimony wasn't a mistake. It was a misunderstanding of what [the medical examiner] said," Flores replied.
The final witness called by the prosecution on January 10 was Jodi Legg, a DNA analyst with the Mesa police crime lab. Legg testified she had analyzed a piece of wall cut out of Alexander's apartment and found DNA belonging to both Alexander and Arias. After Legg's short testimony, court was recessed until January 14.
January 14, 2013 – Prosecutors called to the stand Kevin Friedman, the police officer with the Yreka, Calif., who investigated the reported theft of a .25 caliber gun and other items from Arias' grandparents' house on May 28, 2008. During his testimony, Friedman noted that several other guns, stored in the same cabinet as the .25 caliber gun that was stolen, were left untouched, as well as a large amount of quarters that were on top of the cabinet. "I believed it was unusual that small items worth money, for instance the change, was not taken," Friedman testified. "I also felt it was strange that only one of the firearms was taken from the cabinet." When Friedman stepped down from the stand played for the jury Arias' recorded interrogation interview with police from July 15, 2008.
Michael Melendez, a Mesa police officer assigned to computer forensics unit, was called to the stand by prosecutors. Before court was recessed for the day, Melendez explained how one creates mirror images from computer hard drives and digital memory cards.
January 15, 2013 – Excerpts of the July 15, 2008 video recorded interrogation of Arias were again played in court during day seven of her murder trial. "I would never want to hurt him … If I did that, I'd be fully ready to face the consequences. I'm all for the Ten Commandments – thou shall not kill," jurors heard Arias say on the video. The second interrogation video, the one filmed the following day, in which Arias blames intruders for Alexander's murder, was also played in court.
Also on day seven, nude photos of the victim and defendant were put on display for the jury. Jurors were shown photos of a pigtailed Arias' breasts, as well as explicit front and rear angles of her genitalia. Photos of a nude Alexander in his bed were also shown in court. The nude photos, as well as photos of Alexander in the shower just prior to his murder, were initially shown during testimony by Michael Melendez, a member of the Mesa Police Department who analyzed electronic devices collected during the investigation. Melendez said the photos were recovered from a memory card that was found inside a digital camera in Alexander's washing machine after his murder. The naked photos were taken around 1:45 p.m. on June 4, 2008, the day Alexander was murdered. The photos of Alexander in the shower were taken that same day, from about 5:22 p.m. to 5:29 p.m., Melendez testified. Those photos were followed by a snapshot of the ceiling in Alexander's home and a photo of his body in the shower at about 5:32 p.m.
January 16, 2013 – Excerpts of Jodi Arias' police interrogation video was played in court again on day eight of her murder trial "I'm not the brightest person, but I don't think I could stab him, I'd have to shoot him … The least I could do is make it as humane as possible," Arias told a police detective in the July 15, 2008, taped interview that was played for the jury.
Jurors also heard testimony on day eight from Michael Galieti, a former police officer in West Jordan, Utah. Galieti testified that he pulled Arias over on June 5, 2008, because the license plate on her vehicle was upside down. She attributed this to someone playing a joke on her, Galieti testified.
Michael Galieti was followed on the stand by Raphael Colombo, a gentleman who runs the Budget car rental shop in Redding, Calif. Colombo testified he rented a car to Arias on June 2, 2008. He said when she returned the vehicle, the floor mats were missing and there were stains on the front and rear seats that he assumed were caused by Kool-Aid.
January 17, 2013 – Prosecutors rested their case after brief appearances by Mesa, Ariz., police detective Esteban Flores, Sprint representative Jeff Strohn, and an acquaintance of Arias, Leslie Udy. Flores took the stand long enough for the prosecution to play a voicemail recording of a phone call Arias placed to the detective after Travis Alexander's murder. In the message, Arias requested to speak with him about Alexander. After Flores stepped down, Strohn, an employee of Sprint Nextel Corp., took the stand to briefly discuss phone calls made from Arias' cell phone after Alexander's murder. The most interesting part of the day came with the final state's witness, Leslie Udy. A resident of Utah, Udy testified that she met Arias in September 2006 at a work-related conference in Nevada. Udy said Arias expressed concerns that Alexander was cheating on her. Later, when she met with Arias in Utah after Alexander's murder, Udy said she observed cuts on Arias' hand, which the defendant attributed to a broken glass. Udy said Arias never told her she had killed Alexander. During cross-examination by public defender Kirk Nurmi, Udy testified that Arias was a soft-spoken, gentle person and that she had trouble believing Arias could have killed Alexander. The prosecution testimony lasted less than an hour on day nine of Arias' murder trial.
Once the jury was escorted out of the courtroom, Nurmi filed a motion asking for dismissal of the premeditation charge. According to Nurmi, prosecutors had failed to present evidence of premeditation and therefore a reasonable jury could not convict Arias on a charge of premeditation. Martinez voiced his disapproval of the motion, arguing that Arias had gone to great lengths to plan Alexander's murder. Martinez said Arias staged a burglary of her own home, rented a car, and brought a gun and a knife to Alexander's home. Judge Sherry Stephens said she would review the motion. It was ultimately denied.
January 29, 2013 – Day 10 of Jodi Arias' first-degree murder trial highlighted some of the defendant's sexual preferences and a boob job she got prior to meeting Alexander. Testimony regarding Arias' sex life and breast surgery was delivered by her ex-boyfriend, Darryl Brewer, a 52-year-old divorcee with a teenage son. Brewer, who requested he not be video taped or photographed, testified he met Arias in 2001, when she was about 22, and dated her for about four years. They were in love, he said. Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez asked Brewer whether he had told investigators that Arias "was pretty aggressive during sex." Brewer said he didn't recall the statement, but acknowledged having anal sex with Arias when they were dating. He said he couldn't remember how many times they did so. The testimony showed that Arias was no stranger to anal sex before she met murder victim Travis Alexander. Brewer said he and Arias purchased a house together in 2005, in Palm Desert, Calif. Brewer said they had discussed marriage, but he was not ready to commit, given his recent divorce. Around that time, Brewer said, Arias had breast surgery. Brewer testified that he never saw Arias act jealous or show a violent temper. Brewer said he did, however, believe that Arias had taken photos of him, without his consent, while he was in the nude, sleeping and in the shower. Brewer said that as the couple's relationship deteriorated, Arias began acting differently. During the fall of 2006, they stopped having sexual relations "because she was saving herself for marriage," Brewer testified. Their house was foreclosed in 2007 and Arias moved to Arizona.
Darryl Brewer testified the couple remained in contact after the breakup. She contacted him in May 2008 to borrow gas cans for a long trip, he said. Brewer said he loaned her the cans on June 3, 2008. He said he never got them back. Brewer said Arias contacted him again later that month, hysterical. He said she told him her friend had been murdered. Public defender Kirk Nurmi returned to Brewer's sex life with Arias. "Did your sex life involve her wearing little boys' underwear, wearing pigtails and schoolgirl outfits, bending her over a desk, ejaculating on her face, calling her a whore, or a slut, or a three-hole wonder?" Nurmi asked. "No," Brewer replied.
Earlier on day 10, Gus Searcy was called to the stand. He was a mentor and friend of Arias when she worked for Pre-Paid Legal. Searcy testified they met in 2007 or 2008 and became friends. Searcy testified Arias dressed feminine, but conservative, and was never sexually inappropriate.
January 30, 2013 – Jodi Arias' lawyers spent day 11 of her trial attacking the character of Alexander, calling to the stand an ex-girlfriend who said she felt cheated and lied to after they dated. During questioning by defense attorney Jennifer Willmott, Lisa Andrews Diadoni said she met Alexander at a church function and they dated on and off beginning in July 2007. Diadoni said she was 18 and Alexander was 29 when they met. The first time she broke up with Alexander, Diadoni said she believed he was cheating on her with Arias. A former roommate of his told Diadoni's sister he was cheating, and she shared the information with Diadoni, she testified. Following the breakup, Alexander emailed and texted Diadoni, and they got back together when she felt she could trust him again, she testified. However, they again broke up, Diadoni said, because she felt Alexander was pressuring her to get married and she did not feel ready.
Jennifer Willmott questioned Lisa Andrews Diadoni about an email she sent to Alexander on Sept. 23, 2007. In the email, Diadoni told Alexander she did not want him to text or email her anymore. It says when they were together, they would make out "for too long" and that Diadoni felt Alexander wanted her just for her body. She felt Alexander had a lot of sexual tension, which made her feel used and dirty, the email says. Diadoni wrote in the lengthy email that she had asked Alexander not to "grab her butt," especially in public, but she did not feel he was really listening to her. She said she also asked him not to talk about sex so much "but he did anyway," and she did not feel like he cared how she felt. Alexander, according to Diadoni's email, asked for compliments often and did not share the same values that she embraced. She also said he overreacted a lot. Diadoni testified that she later discussed the email with Alexander, who said he wanted to show Diadoni that he cared about her and to address the issues in the email. Diadoni said Wednesday that she had written the email in anger, and that the couple soon felt the issues were resolved and began dating a third time. The reunion, however, did not last long and the couple's last breakup -– a mutual one according to Diadoni -– was in February 2008. Willmott asked Diadoni if she was shocked to discover after Alexander died that he was not a virgin, to which she replied, "Yes."
Following an afternoon recess on day 11, Arias' lawyers continued to attack Alexander's character. Desiree Freeman testified that she went on two trips in 2007 with her brother, Arias and Alexander, to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Freeman said Alexander treated Arias "very well," but recalled an incident during one of the trips, when Arias got out of the car to take pictures and Alexander drove forward as a joke, preventing her from getting back into the car. Freeman said this upset Arias, but Alexander's reaction toward Arias was "over the top." She could not remember exactly what was said.
Desiree Freeman's brother, Daniel Freeman, was the next witness called to the stand. He testified he had been friends with Alexander for about two or three years, and met him through his work at PrePaid legal services. He recalled one incident, when Aria packed too many items in her backpack before a hiking trip, and Alexander became angry with her. Freeman testified that Alexander raised his voice, Arias ran upstairs crying and they continued to argue. When everyone got into the car to start their trip Alexander and Arias were not talking to each other, but within 30 minutes all was forgotten and they were joking and talking.
At the end of the day 11, Judge Sherry Stephens discussed an issue regarding a juror at the trial complaining that a reporter had approached them. The incident apparently happened during the afternoon recess on the previous day. Judge Stephens said an escort had been arraigned to walk with the jury to and from lunch, and when they leave the courthouse at the end of each day. "[The] media has been approached and they are aware they are not to contact any jurors," Stephens said.
January 31, 2013 – Daniel Freeman was called back to the stand on Day 12. Freeman testified that Alexander had shielded Arias from his Mormon friends and apparently did not invite her over to his home when they were there. Freeman also testified about a trip to the Grand Canyon that Alexander invited him on in 2007, so that he could act as an apparent sexual buffer between Alexander and Arias. "I don't know that I can say he didn't want to be alone with her, but he liked when I was there and … They weren't as physical," Freeman said in court. Freeman said he was aware Alexander and Arias spent time together but did not know they were having sex. He said that it would have gone against the virtues of the Mormon religion, of which all three were members. During cross-examination by Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez, Freeman was asked if he knew Alexander and Arias engaged in oral sex at the time of her baptism. Freeman replied, "No." The defense was apparently attempting to use Freeman's testimony to attack Alexander's character and insinuate he was not living up to the principles of his church. How the testimony ultimately sat with the jury remains unclear, however Freeman was asked if he had ever seen Alexander physically harm Arias, to which he said, "No."
Following a lengthy afternoon recess on day 12, Lonnie Dworkin, a computer forensic examiner, was called to the stand. He highlighted YouTube activity that occurred on a computer recovered from Alexander's home and was asked to view two photos of a penis, taken from another laptop that was found to be damaged. It remains unclear what gave rise to the admittance of the penis photos as court was recessed directly thereafter
February 4, 2013 – On day 13 of her first-degree murder trial, Jodi Arias took the stand to defend herself in the stabbing murder of her boyfriend.
During her first day on the stand, Arias admitted killing Travis Alexander. "Yes, I did," she said under oath. "The simple answer is that he attacked me and I defended myself." Arias went on to describe her childhood in California, which she said was full of abuse starting at 7 years old. She claimed that beatings by her parents became more frequent and intense over the years. She said her mother would carry a wooden spoon in her purse to punish her.
Jodi Arias' mother sat in the front row of the courtroom as Arias described her childhood.
Jodi Arias testified she made false statements early in the investigation about not being at the scene of the crime because she planned to commit suicide and never have a trial. "At the time, I had plans to commit suicide. So I was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because I didn't expect any of you to be here," Arias said. "I planned to be dead." Arias said the abuse she alleges she suffered from her parents continued into her high school years. At the end of her senior year, Arias said she dropped out of school and moved in with a boyfriend who was three years older than she was and lived outside of Yreka, Calif. Arias testified she moved out of her parents' home because she was tired of the way they disciplined her. Arias testified that her then-boyfriend had all kinds of "wild ideas" and he "entertained the belief in vampires." She said he wanted to move to San Francisco to look for vampires. The relationship soon soured, Arias testified, and she broke up with her boyfriend over the telephone.
Huffington Post senior crime reporter David Lohr discussing Jodi Arias' former boyfriend, who she testified "entertained the belief in vampires" and wanted to move to San Francisco to look for vampires.
Travis Alexander's family, seated in the front row, look on as Jodi Arias' testifies during her trial. Arias' mother is seated behind them.
February 5, 2013 – Jodi Arias, dressed in a baby blue polo shirt during day 14 of her trial, testified about how she met Travis Alexander at a PrePaid Legal Services convention at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, in September 2006. "There was just a crowd of people everywhere, and out of the corner of my eye I saw somebody walking towards me, kind of fast-paced, and I noticed it was a guy, and I thought he was going somewhere, because he looked like he had a purpose," Arias said. "So I stepped out of the way because I thought he needed to walk past me. But, he stopped right in front of me and stuck his hand out and introduced himself." Arias testified she went to an executive director banquet at the convention with Alexander. She said she liked him, but did not want to become romantically involved with him because she was involved in another relationship at the time. "I'm kinda like a one-guy-at-a-time kind of person," Arias said. "So, I didn't want to have anything overlapping and I knew there was an interest with Travis. And I was beginning to sort of develop the seeds of interest with Travis. And I didn't want to be in a relationship when I went there."
Jodi Arias testified she broke up with her boyfriend when she returned to California from the Nevada convention. That same week, she went with Alexander to stay with some of his friends for a few days, she testified. While there, Arias said Alexander came into her bedroom. "We all went to bed and he came into the bedroom I was been staying in," Arias testified. "I assume there was probably going to be some kissing or some kind of talking or hanging out. We had talked every night that entire week. So, that's when we kissed." Arias testified Alexander removed her clothes while they were kissing and she didn't stop him. "I didn't want to tell him no. So, I just kept going with it," said Arias. Arias said Alexander performed oral sex on her, and she on him. After the liaison, they fell asleep together, but Arias said she was somewhat bothered by the experience. "If felt like too much too soon," Arias testified. "It was uncomfortable."
After her first sexual encounter with Travis Alexander, Jodi Arias said the couple went to church together and then parted company. Jodi Arias testified she met with Travis Alexander again in September 2006, at a California coffee shop. During the California meeting, Arias said they retreated to her car, where things got heated. Alexander was "horny," Arias testified, and wanted oral sex. "I felt an attraction to him and the feeling was mutual and I wanted to, I just wanted to, I don't know. I wanted to do what he wanted to do," Arias said. Arias said after Alexander ejaculated, he pulled his pants up and they parted company. "He refused to kiss me because he said it was gross ... maybe because I had been performing oral sex, but he kissed me on the cheek and then left," Arias testified. Arias testified Alexander later left her a voicemail message in which he voiced, "displeasure with himself."
Jodi Arias said she continued to speak with Travis Alexander on the phone every night and later had a rendezvous with him at a hotel in Ehrenberg, Ariz. "At this point in time, based on what you told us, our understanding you had no penile/vaginal sex with Mr. Alexander?" defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias. "No," Arias replied. Nurmi then asked, "And it would also be our understanding that you had not had anal sexual intercourse with Mr. Alexander?" "Yes, that is correct," said Arias. With that the judge recessed court for the evening.
February 6, 2013 – During the third day of testimony at her first-degree murder trial, Jodi Arias told a packed courtroom about the evolution of her sexual relationship with ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. Arias said Alexander construed what was and wasn't "sex" as narrowly as a former U.S. president. "To me sex is sex, they are just different ways to have sex. And it seemed like Travis was, kind of -- I don't know how to put it, but it seemed like he had the Bill Clinton version, whereas over here it seemed like oral and anal were also sex to me. But not for him," Arias testified during direct examination by her defense attorney, suggesting that Alexander did not consider those activities to be sex. Arias reference to the 42nd president was apparently focused on Clinton's statements in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his admitted extramarital relationship with the then-White House intern. When the affair was revealed in the late '90s, Clinton initially denied the affair -- "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time." -- but later admitted he had an "improper physical relationship" with Lewinsky that was "not appropriate." The testimony arose during a discussion of a September 2006 rendezvous at a hotel in Ehrenberg, Ariz. Arias, wearing a black blazer and green shirt, said she did not have sexual intercourse with Alexander at the hotel, but did engage in what Alexander called "grinding" and the "Provo push." She said they also engaged in oral sex. Arias testified she felt like a prostitute after the hotel encounter. "I felt a little bit used, but I knew I had gone there on my own, willingly," Arias said. Arias testified Alexander did not return her calls for several days after the hotel encounter. She said she felt "bummed out" and "stupid." It was not until the following week that he left her a voicemail. Then, on Nov. 11, 2006, Arias said he texted her two photos of an erect penis. Both photos were entered into evidence and shown to the jury.
Huffington Post senior crime reporter David Lohr discussing Jodi Arias' testimony about the "Bill Clinton version" of sex.
Travis Alexander baptized Jodi Arias into the Mormon faith on Nov. 26, 2006. After the baptism, Arias said she and Alexander went back to her house and began kissing. "I was in my church clothes. He was in his church clothes. The kissing got more passionate, more intense. Then he spun me around ... he bent me over the bed and he was just on top of me. I thought he was just going to keep kissing me," said Arias, saying that he then started to have anal sex with her. Arias testified the anal sex was too painful so she repeatedly asked him to stop. She said, "I probably would have let him continue, but it was too painful." Arias testified that afterward she felt like "a piece of toilet paper." Court was recessed for lunch shortly afterward.
After spending the first part of February 6 describing her sex life in graphic detail for the jury, Jodi Arias detailed a package she allegedly received from Travis Alexander that contained several gifts, including boys' underwear. "There were a variety of things … there were some chocolates ... beneath that was a shirt ... pink shorts [and] boys' underwear," Arias testified during questioning by her attorney during her third day on the witness stand. "They were Spiderman underwear ... I was confused … They were still in the package." Arias said she received the package in the mail from Alexander on Valentine's Day 2007, more than a year before Alexander's slaying. The shirts and the pink shorts both had the text "Travis Alexander's" screen-printed on them, Arias said. She said there was a letter inside the box, but didn't get a chance to describe it before court ended for the day. Arias' defense team has been trying to portray Alexander as a sex-obsessed abuser who was only interested in Arias for sexual gratification. The underwear testimony bolsters allegations made by Arias in court documents that Alexander had admitted in letters to her that he was a pedophile. Those letters have been deemed forgeries by prosecutors. Jodi Arias' trial was scheduled to resume on Feb. 11.
February 7, 2013 – Jodi Arias has a new man in her life, according to a report by Azcentral.com. The man, identified by the news network as Bryan Carr, said he has been visiting Arias behind bars for more than a year. He said the couple met through a mutual friend prior to her arrest and connected on Facebook. Carr told Azcentral.com that Arias is not the person she is portrayed to be by the media. "She's not that person at all. She's the nicest girl you'll ever meet," Carr told the news network in an exclusive interview. Carr did not detail the nature of his relationship with Arias, so it remains unclear if they are just friends or are romantically involved. Carr did however, say he has spoken to Arias since the start of her trial and she has indicated the explicit sexual details that have been revealed in court are taking a toll on her. "She did admit it's very embarrassing for her -- the sexual part of it," Carr told Azcentral.com.
February 11, 2013 – Jodi Arias testified in court that she awoke to find Travis Alexander having sex with her when she spent the night at his house in 2007. "Did you want him to penetrate your vagina with his penis while you were sleeping," Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias. "It was nothing I had thought about," Arias replied. Arias testified the incident happened in the bedroom of Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home in May 2007. She said she was uncomfortable but did not tell Alexander to stop. "I felt like I was partially responsible because I went to sleep next to him. I was wearing a T-shirt, cute shorts," Arias said. "I just felt like being in his bed, sleeping there, it wasn't entirely his fault, like maybe it was invited." Earlier that night, before the alleged sexual encounter took place, Arias said she prayed with Alexander about the Mormon rule of chastity. "I wanted to [abide] with the law of chastity because I believed that our relationship would be blessed if we did that," Arias testified.
Jodi Arias also testified that she took a trip to New York with Travis Alexander in summer 2007. Prior to leaving on the trip Arias said she saw text messages from another girl on Alexander's phone that indicated he was cheating on her. "When I tried to talk to him about it, he blew up and got very defensive, even though I didn't accuse of him anything. It was kind of a red flag. He assured me that he was only dating me," Arias said. Asked by Nurmi why she did not immediately break up with Alexander, Arias said she had low self-esteem. "I was kind of a door mat," she testified. Court was recessed shortly thereafter until 3:30 p.m. ET.
When court resumed on Feb. 11, 2013, Jodi Arias testified that she once caught Travis Alexander masturbating to a photograph of a young boy in underpants. "I walked in and Travis was on the bed masturbating and I got really embarrassed," Arias told jurors, answering questions by her lawyer. "He started grabbing at something on the bed and I realized they were papers ... one fell face up near my feet and it was a photograph -- a picture of a little boy." Arias said the incident happened at Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home in January 2008. The child in the photo, Arias testified, was a boy of 5 or 6 dressed in underwear. "I did not know how to react … I ran. I got in my car and I started driving home," Arias said, adding that she felt nauseated and threw up. Arias said she returned to Alexander's home that evening after he had asked to explain. She said Alexander told her he had a sexual interest in children, but preferred sex with women because it made him feel "more normal." After hearing the explanation, Arias said she and Alexander had sex. "It's hard to describe," Arias testified. "It's very embarrassing. He seemed very ashamed with himself and he didn't want to be that way. It was something he struggled with. ... He was trying to deal with it and when he had sex with a woman, he felt like a normal heterosexual man and that's what he wanted to be. … It was preferable to his other deviant urges," Arias said.
Arias testified that in April 2008 she gave Alexander a pamphlet about mental health services and he got upset with her. "It led to an argument," she said. "It started off verbal and then it became physical." Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias to describe an assault at Alexander's house in October 2007. Arias said she argued with Alexander and he pushed her down and called her brother a homosexual slur. Arias said Alexander kicked her in the ribs once. She said she blocked a second kick with her hand. The blow broke the ring finger on her left hand, she said, and it never healed properly. Nurmi then had Arias hold up her hand so the jury could see her still mangled finger.
February 12, 2013 – Jodi Arias' defense team played a graphic sex tape for the jury during the fifth day of testimony from the defendant. The graphic recording, according to the defense, was of a phone conversation Arias recorded some months before prosecutors say she killed Alexander. "I am going to tie you to a tree and put [my penis] in your a-- all the way," Alexander is heard saying on the tape. He added, "I am going to tie your arms around the tree." Arias sounded excited by Alexander's proposed sex play and replied, "Oh my God that is so debasing, but I like it." In the steamy back and forth, both admitted they were masturbating while they spoke on the phone. "Before I met you I would never [masturbate], but now I do it two to three times a day," Alexander said. The jury listened as Arias' breathing intensified on the tape and she appeared to reach sexual climax. "The way you moan, Jodi, sounds like a 12-year-old girl having her first orgasm -- So hot," Alexander said. Following the graphic sexual conversation the two discussed the merits of KY jelly, movies and music before Alexander said he was tired and wanted to turn in. "Let's try to astral project and we can find each other while we are sleeping," Arias said before hanging up.
February 14, 2013 – Jodi Arias trial was postponed because the trial judge was suffering from an illness. News of the delay was announced by Maricopa County Superior Court. According to a courthouse spokesperson, Judge Sherry Stephens was out sick.
February 19, 2013 – Jodi Arias began her seventh day on the witness stand testifying about text messages -- one of them highly sexual -- sent to and from Travis Alexander, prior to his 2008 murder. Setting the tone for the rest of the morning's testimony, Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi admitted into evidence an explicit text exchange from Feb. 25, 2008, that referenced Alexander's preferences with regard to Arias' intimate grooming habits. Another text message exchange took place on March 30, 2008, during which Alexander told Arias he did not want to get another text message from her unless she gave him an apology for exposing him to all the drama in her life. Arias said she felt intimidated by Alexander and apologized because she wanted the fight to end. Another text conversation that was examined in court took place in April 2008, after Arias moved from Arizona to California to, according to Arias, escape Alexander's alleged abuse. During that conversation, Alexander told Arias to not contact him and warned her that things could get "real bad for her." "Bitter feelings brewing in me towards you," Alexander wrote in an April 2008 text message to Arias. "I'm sick of having days ruined by you. If it keeps up, I fear I'll have a genuine dislike for you. I'm asking you before it gets to that, to stop doing it, before I start seeking revenge." Another April 2008 text message exchange revolved around a request by Alexander that Arias send him photos she had taken of his dog, Napoleon, for a Facebook page he wanted make. "He was trying to start a Facebook page for his dog," said Arias. "And I took pictures of Napoleon, and he wanted those pictures so he could have pictures on the Facebook page." Arias testified Alexander got angry when she told him she was busy with work and could not send the photos to him at that time. "Sounds like a clever story for not doing it ... Just forget it. I know how you operate," Alexander texted Arias. Arias said Alexander later apologized for getting mad and complimented her. "You are one of the prettiest girls on the planet," Alexander texted Arias. Another text message exchange involved Alexander's texts about Arias going on a date with another man. Alexander told Arias she should have a sexual encounter with the man in the woods. "Why don't you have him come f*** you in the woods," Alexander wrote. Arias said Alexander later apologized. "I'm sorry ... I love you," Alexander texted. Shortly thereafter, court was recessed for lunch.
When court resumed on Feb. 19, 2013, Jodi Arias finally began testifying about the hours leading up to the killing of Travis Alexander. Arias spent much of her time on the stand discussing her activities leading up to June 4, 2008, the day Alexander was killed. During direct examination from her defense attorney, Kurt Nurmi, Arias said she had been planning a trip to Utah in June and Alexander had asked her to come see him. "Travis was being very sweet … He wanted me to come to see him … and I said all right I am going," Arias testified. Arias said she left Pasadena, Calif., on June 3, 2008 and drove to Alexander's home, in Mesa, Ariz., arriving there on June 4, 2008, at about 4 a.m. "It was still dark but it was early morning … I parked it in the same spot I always parked when I went to his house -- which was the center spot in the driveway," Arias said. Arias said Alexander was watching "really dumb videos" on his laptop when she arrived and then showed her a new punching bag he had recently purchased. "He was really proud of it, punching it [and] showing off," Arias said. The two then went to sleep in Alexander's bed, she testified. It was about 12:30 p.m. on June 4, 2008, when Arias said she awoke. Alexander woke up about 30 minutes later and they engaged in bondage play she said, with Alexander tying her up with a decorative rope. Arias said he cut the rope with a knife he retrieved from the kitchen. Asked by Nurmi if she wanted to be tied up, Arias said, "It's not my favorite [thing to do] but it is not unbearable." Arias said she was naked when Alexander tied her up, but he was dressed in his Mormon temple garments. Alexander performed oral sex on Arias, according to her testimony, but she asked him to stop because it was painful. "I asked him to stop because he hadn't shaved and it was scratchy," Arias said
After the short bondage session, Arias said the couple had sex and took sexual photos and a video of each other, which they later deleted. Arias said she took a shower and got dressed to continue her road trip to Utah. Afterward she said she gave Alexander some CDs that contained photos of previous trips the couple had taken together, but the CDs were scratched and would not work. "He was getting mad [about the CDS] … He opened CD disc, he flung it at the wall [and] it ricocheted off the wall and landed on my head," Arias said. "I thought I had done something stupid again and he was getting angry," Arias added. Arias said Alexander looked "pissed off." She said he grabbed her arms, smacked her near her face and spun her around. "He pressed his groin up against my butt … He had my right arm and bent me over … I could feel he had an erection," Arias said. Arias said Alexander removed her pants and they had sex again. She said he ejaculated on her back when he was finished and told her to go get washed up. "I felt a little used when he said go clean yourself up," Arias testified. After cleaning herself up, Arias said she went back to Alexander's bedroom with him and they took more photos of each other. Arias said Alexander was proud of his body and she offered to take photos of him in his bedroom. It was during this part of Arias' testimony that court was recessed for the day.
February 20, 2013 – Jodi Arias testified she remembers "almost nothing" about June 4, 2008, the day she killed Alexander in his Mesa, Ariz., apartment. Testifying in a generally calm tone with moments of emotion and tears, Arias said under direct examination by her defense attorney that an argument about Alexander's camera sparked a fight that resulted in his death. She said that Alexander became enraged and body slammed her to the floor because she had dropped his camera while taking pictures of him the shower. "It was like mortal terror. I pissed him off the worst I'd ever seen him pissed off," Arias said. She said she ran to a nearby closet to escape Alexander. "I was scared ... He's freaking out. I'm freaking out ... I could hear his footsteps chasing me. I didn't want him to grab me again," she said. Arias said she took a gun Alexander had in his closet so that she could protect herself. "He ran chasing me. I turned around and pointed it at him so he would stop chasing me," she said. "I thought [pointing the gun at him] would stop him," Arias continued.. "He grabbed my waist. The gun went off. I did not mean to shoot him or anything. ... I didn't even know I shot him."
Alexander's body was found with 27 stab wounds and his throat had been slashed from ear to ear, but Arias said she did not remember inflicting those wounds. "I remember I was in the bathroom, I remember dropping the knife and it clinked to the tile and it made a big noise. And I just remember screaming. I don't remember anything after that," Arias said. Arias said she might have put the knife in the dishwasher after Alexander was stabbed. She said she then fled Alexander's home and drove into the desert, where she disposed of the handgun. "I was scared and I couldn't imagine calling 911 and telling them what I had just done," Arias said. "I was scared of what would happen to me." Following her arrest, Arias said she did not know what to say to police. "I just denied it. I guess I didn't understand that I could be quiet and not say anything at all," Arias said. Arias went on to discuss plans she had to commit suicide and interviews she gave to the media, but did not provide any further details of Alexander's murder. Following a brief afternoon recess, her defense attorney, Kurt Nurmi, announced he was done with his direct examination.
February 21, 2013 – Jodi Arias, on the witness stand for a ninth day, faced her prosecutor's questions for the first time with prosecutor Juan Martinez attacking her credibility during six hours of cross-examination. Arias, during eight days of questioning by her own lawyers, told jurors intimate details of her sex life with ex-lover Travis Alexander, including catching him masturbating to pictures of boys. But Martinez, finally beginning his cross-examination, often drew blanks. "You had a lot of memory for a lot of events involving sexual instances with Mr. Alexander, but you seem to be having problems with your memory here today," Martinez said, trying to cast Arias as a liar. "What factors influence you having a memory problem?" Martinez asked. "Usually, when men like you are screaming at me or grilling me, it makes my brain scramble," Arias replied.
Martinez, a veteran prosecutor with a reputation for courtroom hardball, aggressively questioned Arias about her finger, which she said Alexander broke during a January 2008 argument. Martinez displayed a May 2008 photo of Arias, with her hand on her sister's shoulder, showing fingers that do not appear injured. "This picture shows you and your sister, with your left hand, on May 15, 2008. Show us how bent it is again," Martinez said. When Arias lifted her hand, Martinez said, "Higher, so we can see the damage." The fight "was five months before this picture, and you don't have a bent finger" in the picture, Martinez said. Arias stuck with her original story. "The injury to your finger happened on June 4, 2008, not Jan. 22 of 2008, didn't it?" Martinez asked. "That's not correct," Arias replied.
Martinez highlighted a Jan. 24, 2008, entry from Arias' journal, where she wrote, "I haven't written because there has been nothing noteworthy to report." Martinez pounced on the journal entry again when he pointed out that Arias had previously testified she caught Alexander masturbating to a photo of a little boy on Jan. 22, 2008. Martinez asked if that was "noteworthy." Arias said it was, but didn't explain why she didn't note it in her journal. "The way you make it sound is that he had a problem, right?" Martinez asked. "He did have a problem," Arias insisted. Martinez said, "That's what you claim." "That's the reality," Arias retorted. Arias testified earlier that Alexander sent her repeated text messages and phone calls after she discovered him masturbating. Martinez, however, vigorously questioned Arias about the claims, pointing out that there were discrepancies in text message timing and that none of the texts mentioned masturbation. The prosecutor said he doubted Arias' claim that Alexander had called her multiple times after being caught. He said phone records show Alexander called Arias only five times that entire day.
A final highlight of Thursday's cross-examination was display of magazines that Martinez said Arias tried to smuggle to a friend visiting her behind bars in August 2011. Secret messages were written on the magazine pages, the prosecutor said. The messages, when combined, read in part: "You f--ked up. What you told my attorney next day directly contradicts what I've been saying for over a year. Get down here ASAP and see me before you talk to them again and before you testify so we can fix this."
February 25, 2013 – During cross-examination, Arias faced Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez's questions about her activities following her July 2008 arrest for Alexander's murder. During this line of questioning, Arias claimed God was the only witness to what went through her mind at the time. "God's not here. We can't subpoena him," Martinez replied. Martinez pointed to what he called Arias's multiple lies to police following her arrest, specifically her initial story that two intruders were responsible for Alexander's murder. "The whole interview was a lie," Martinez said. When Arias suggested she may have been confused by some of the questions police asked, Martinez seemed skeptical. "He was speaking English to you right?" he asked. "Yes," Arias replied. At one point Martinez briefly lost his composure and showed his obvious annoyance with Arias. Throughout his cross-examination, she has tried to side-step his questions. "Can you imagine how much you must have hurt Mr. Alexander when you stuck that knife in his chest? That must have really hurt, right?" Martinez asked. Arias's attorney, Kurt Nurmi, objected to the statement, calling it argumentative. Judge Sherry Stevens sustained the objection. Martinez spent much of the remainder of the day going over details of alleged abuses Arias previously testified to suffering at Alexander's hands. Martinez pointed out that for each alleged instance, there were no witnesses, police or medical reports to substantiate any of Arias's claims.
February 26, 2013 – Accused murderer Jodi Arias' 11th day on the witness stand was dominated by testimony about sex and memory problems. Less than five minutes after the first-degree murder trial in Phoenix resumed, Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez called out Arias for failing to remember details of the case. "Do you have a problem with your memory?" Martinez asked. "I don't think I have a problem," Arias replied. Tuesday's first reference to Arias' questionable memory came during questioning about her high school boyfriend, Bobby Juarez. Arias testified she had visited a library in 1998 to use a computer. Arias said she snooped into Juarez' Hotmail email account, then confronted her former boyfriend about messages she had read. "In your personal dealings, you don't waste any time do you?" Martinez asked. "No, I'm a procrastinator," Arias replied. Arias appeared confused by some of Martinez follow-up questions, prompting him to ask, "Are you having problems understanding?" Arias replied: "Sometimes, because you go in circles … You're making my brain scramble." Martinez' aggressive questioning and posture was a distraction, Arias said, adding, "I'm not having a problem telling the truth." Later, Martinez entered into evidence a message Arias left in a guestbook at Alexander's memorial service. The message read, in part: "Travis, you're beautiful on the inside and out." Martinez asked: "So you think somebody who masturbates to pictures of little boys is beautiful on in the inside, right?" The prosecutor was referring to Aris' earlier testimony in which she alleged she had once caught Alexander masturbating to a photo of a little boy. "I don't think that aspect of him is beautiful at all. I think it's sickening," testified Arias. "He hated those parts of himself. It's not who he wanted to be ... I believed that he could get better ... I believe he had aspects of himself that are beautiful and ugly, just as I do," Arias said.
February 27, 2013 – During direct examination, Jodi Arias' lawyers tried to depict her as a sexually exploited woman, intimidated by her abusive boyfriend. On Feb. 27, prosecutors fought back, confronting Arias with her own texts to prove to the jury that this was just part of the couple's foreplay. The trial was in session less than an hour before prosecutor Juan Martinez entered into evidence a raunchy text message Arias sent to Alexander on Feb. 25, 2008. "Maybe u could give my ass a much-needed pounding," the text message read. Another, sent from Arias to Alexander, read in part: "I want to f--k you like a dirty, horny little school girl." The text messages were intended to show the jury that Arias was an enthusiastic and willing participant in the sexual activities she engaged in with Alexander. Later, Martinez finally got to the activities that occurred at Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home on June 4, 2008, the day he was killed. Specifically, Martinez began by questioning Arias about a bondage session she alleges she participated in that day with Alexander. Arias described for Martinez the rope she claims Alexander allegedly used during their sex play. "The rope had to be a certain length ... for [this] to take place," Martinez asked. "He wasn't going to hogtie you right?" "No," Arias replied. "You were free to move, right," Martinez asked. "Yes," Arias replied. "The purpose of this rope was purely decorative for the fantasy, right," Martinez asked. "Yes," Arias replied. Martinez then showed the jury a photo of Alexander's bed. He pointed at the center of the bed and said, "You were sort of spread-eagled there, right." Arias replied, "Yes." Martinez had Arias review nude photos taken at Alexander's home that day and pointed out there is no rope visible in any of the photos. "You took a shower in the same place where you placed his body after you killed him, right," Martinez asked Arias, referring to her activities after the photo session. "Yes," Arias replied. The line of questioning ended shortly thereafter, with court recessing.
February 28, 2013 – Jodi Arias underwent more fiery cross-examination with Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez demanding to know if she was crying when she shot, stabbed and cut the throat of her ex-boyfriend. Arias sobbed as the prosecutor showed her a picture of Travis Alexander's crumpled body. Martinez, grilling Arias for a fourth day of cross-examination, showed no sympathy. "Were you crying while you were shooting him?" Martinez asked. "I don't remember," Arias said. "Were you crying when you were stabbing him?" Martinez asked. "I don't remember," Arias replied. "How about when you cut his throat, were you crying then?" Martinez asked. "I don't know," Arias sobbed. The exchange was one of many that left Arias looking haggard and beaten by the close of court. Martinez also questioned Arias about her activities on June 4, 2008 -- the day of the killing. Who deleted photos on Alexander's digital camera, later found in his washing machine? "I might have deleted them ... It could have been me," Arias said. Later, during a follow-up question, Arias said, "I believe it was probably" Alexander who deleted the photos. Arias memory problems caused obvious frustration for Martinez. "We're here because you killed him, right?" Martinez asked. "Yes," Arias replied. Arias said Alexander became enraged when she dropped his camera on the bathroom floor. "I dropped it ... It landed on the mat ... and sort of did a little double bounce on the tile," Arias said. "He said that I'm a f--king idiot." Alexander was so upset that he slammed her to the bathroom floor, Arias said. "I got the wind knocked out of me and I hit my head," Arias said. Alexander chased after her and she ran to a walk-in closet, Arias testified. She said she grabbed a .25-caliber pistol off a shelf. "You chose to escalate this didn't you, even though you had the … head start, didn't you?" Martinez asked. "No, I didn't choose to escalate it. I was trying to deescalate it," Arias replied. "And you chose to deescalate the situation by … getting a handgun, right?" Martinez asked. "Yes," Arias replied. Arias said she ran to the bathroom with the gun and held it out with both hands as Alexander charged her like a "linebacker." "He's lunging at you and he's almost on you and the gun goes off, right?" Martinez asked. "Something like that," Arias replied. "The last memory you have of him is after you shot him, right?" Martinez asked. "Yes," Arias replied. Arias said that her mind went into a fog after she shot Alexander and that she has no memory of stabbing him 27 times or cutting his throat from ear to ear. She acknowledged she was likely the killer. "You say you went into a fog ... This gun, you tell us you took it out to the desert ... If you were in a fog ... would you agree there would be no need to take the gun?" Martinez asked. "I would not agree with that," Arias replied. "Why would you even think of taking the gun unless you really knew what was going on?" Martinez asked. "I can only speculate ... I don't remember taking the gun," Arias said. Arias said the next thing she remembers is being in the desert, about an hour from Hoover Dam. She said she tossed the gun and cleaned herself with bottled water. Martinez then played a recording a message Arias left on Alexander's voicemail after the killing. "This fog is not so deep that it stops you from attempting to fabricate evidence, right?" Martinez asked. "That would be correct," Arias replied. "All of these lies ... are meant for your benefit, so that you can escape responsibility," Martinez said. "Yeah, so I could escape whatever for the time being," Arias replied. Martinez then played a recording from a 2008 interview with the CBS news show "48 Hours." Arias said in the interview that no jury would convict her of killing Alexander. "You believe you're going to be acquitted because you came in and told those stories, don't you?" Martinez asked, referring to Arias' claim that Alexander sexually exploited and abused her. "I can't predict the future," Arias replied.
March 4, 2013 – A lot of time –- too much time, some might argue –- was spent by the defense questioning Jodi Arias about her sexual encounters with Travis Alexander. Anal sex, oral sex, candy in the bedroom, were just some of the subjects covered as Arias was questioned by defense attorney Kurt Nurmi. After numbering how many times she had anal sex prior to meeting Alexander –- approximately four times –- Arias said the first time Alexander had sex with her she had not asked for it and it hurt. The defense has been trying to prove that Arias was humiliated and bullied by her ex-boyfriend, whom she is accused of murdering. Her lawyers say she acted in self-defense. Asked by Nurmi if Alexander had used lubricant, Arias replied: "Not to my knowledge. I think he might've spit on his hand … it was painful." Nurmi asked Arias if she enjoyed it when Alexander used Tootsie Pops in their sexcapades. "When he was using the tootsie pops on you, was it physically pleasurable to you?" Nurmi asked. "There was some physical pleasure I guess. It wasn't uncomfortable," Arias replied. "What other pleasure did you derive from that?" Nurmi asked. "His attention I guess. It sounds simple, but it was just about us. We shut the door and it was our own space and our time together. So I enjoyed that," Arias said. Arias then testified about receiving facials from Alexander during oral sex. "Sometimes it hurt if it got in my eyes," she said. While the sex testimony may have been of interest to some, the momentum in the trial slowed significantly throughout Nurmi's redirect. There was, much to the chagrin of court watchers, more recesses and sidebars than actual testimony in the case Monday. One of the few highlights of the day was a demonstration defense attorney Kurt Nurmi had his co-council, Jennifer Willmott, participate in with Arias. Nurmi had Willmott and Arias stand side-by-side and instructed Arias to place her arm around Willmott's neck. Nurmi was recreating a pose seen in a photo that was previously submitted by the prosecution, in which Arias had her arm around her sister's neck. Prosecutor Juan Martinez had shown the jury the photo of Arias and her sister during cross-examination and pointed out Arias finger did not appear injured at the time. Martinez was attempting to show Arias finger was actually injured on June 4, 2008, the day Alexander was killed inside his Mesa, Ariz., home. Nurmi then spent much of the afternoon session detailing Arias' journal entries about her relationship and her suicidal thoughts.
March 5, 2013 – Defense attorney Kurt Nurmi finished his questioning of Arias on after spending two lengthy days going into into great detail about Arias' sex life with Alexander -- a persistent defense theme. The lawyer's questions dwelled on anal sex, including Arias' introduction of K-Y personal lubricant to Alexander. "There were several reasons," Arias said. "The main reason being that some of the activities that he wanted to do were painful without it and he was not willing to go to the store and buy it." "Anal sex was not a passion of yours, is that correct?" Nurmi asked. "It had never been a regular part of" my sex life, Arias replied. Nurmi also touched on Arias' inability to remember answers to some prosecution questions, which the defense lawyer called a "condition." "The events of June 4, 2008 -- Do you want to remember those?" Nurmi asked Arias. "There is a part of me that does not want to remember it ... [but] I feel like I am the person who deserves to sit with those memories that I don't have right now," Arias replied.
March 6, 2013 – Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial asked more than 100 questions that show they're skeptical of testimony the accused boyfriend-killer has given during more than two weeks on the witness stand. The jury's questions were put to Arias by Judge Sherry Stephens. Arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to pose questions to witnesses after prosecution and defense lawyers have finished their questioning. The questions -– many of which Arias answered in rapid succession -- covered subjects that included her sex life and the murder. Jurors asked Arias to recount events of June 4, 2008, that led to Alexander's killing. "It started where Travis was in the shower," Arias said. "I was taking photos of him [and] the camera slipped ... It fell onto the ground. He got very angry. He stepped out of the shower and lifted me up and body-slammed me … I ran down the hallway ... into the closet. I grabbed the gun [and] ran out ... I just wanted him to stop, so I pointed the gun at him ... He lunged at me right around the time the gun went off. I didn't mean for it to go off ... I have no clear memories after that at all." Some of the other questions about the killing, and Arias' answers, included: Q: After you shot him why not run out of the house? "After the gun went off ... He lunged at me ... It's hard to describe the fear ... I really thought he had intentions to kill me ... I don't remember any specifics of what happened after that point," Arias said. Q: Did you try to clean up the scene? "Based on the evidence, I believe I did," Arias said. Q: Why delete photos off camera after you killed Travis? "I don't have specific memory of it at all," Arias said. Q: Why did you put the camera in the washer? "I don't have memory of that," Arias said. Q: Why did you take the rope and gun with you? "I knew that something bad had happened and I felt I had done something wrong," Arias said. Q: What happened to the knife? "I just know. It didn't go with me in the car," Arias said. Q: Why didn't you call 911 after the shooting? "I was very scared of what would happen to me. I was scared at that point of what was going to happen. I knew that ... well I felt that I had done something wrong. I don't have really an adequate explanation for my state of mind after that. I just know that I knew something really bad had happened and I was scared," Arias said. Q: Why no memory of killing Travis? "I can't explain why my mind did what it did ... I really don't know," Arias said. Q: How is it that you remember so many of your sexual encounters, including your ex-boyfriend's, but you do not remember stabbing Travis and dragging his body? "Well, as far as what happened on June 4, I don't know how the mind works necessarily, but I know that that was the most traumatic experience of my life ... I don't have other blackouts that I can recall, when memories get foggy when I get stressful. I think that I actually have a very good memory. I can remember tons of things. But when I'm under a stressful situation, it's as if my mind, if you can imagine a computer that freezes, it's turned on but it's not functioning. You can hit the keys, but nothing's happening, just like the sound waves are hitting my ears, but the brain is not computing," Arias said. Arias' memory problems were the subject of several juror questions. The panel asked if she had ever seen a doctor for treatment and whether she has ever taken medication. She answered no to both questions. "I don't believe I have memory issues that are really persistent," Arias explained. Asked if she had ever sought help for her "mental condition," Arias appeared taken aback before she replied, "I'm not sure what mental condition that refers to." Jurors wanted to know why Arias waited so long to go forward with her latest version of events in the case. She had told several versions before the trial. She explained she was ashamed of her actions and it took her time to process everything. A juror also wanted to know why Arias sent flowers to Alexander's grandmother after his death was discovered. "In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea," Arias said. "But I felt that it would be more insensitive to not do anything at all." The jurors' questions and Arias' answers may prove pivotal to her fate. Arias faces the death penalty if convicted.
March 7, 2013 – Jodi Arias found herself in the hot seat again when jurors in her murder trial asked pointedly why they should believe her self-defense claim after her repeated lies about her ex-boyfriend's brutal slaying. "After all the lies you have told, why should we believe you now?" the jury asked Arias in one of more than 100 questions posed by the panel and read aloud in court over the last two days by Judge Sherry Stephens. "Lying isn't typically something I just do," said Arias, 32, on trial in the 2008 killing of Travis Alexander. "The lies I've told in this case can be tied directly back to either protecting Travis' reputation or my involvement in his death ... because I was very ashamed." "Would you decide to tell the truth if you never got arrested?" the jury wanted to know. "I honestly don't know the answer to that question," Arias replied. She told the jury on Wednesday she felt ashamed for killing Alexander. On Thursday, she was unable to say for certain she would have gone to the police unless they had zeroed in on her. The jury also appeared skeptical about Arias claims that she has a good memory, but can't remember much about the day of the murder. "How can you say you don't have memory issues when you can't remember how you stabbed him so many times and slashed his throat?" the jury asked. "I think that I have a good memory and June 4 is an anomaly for me," Arias replied. "Like I said yesterday, it's in a class of its own and I can't explain what kind of state of mind I was in. Most of the day was an entire blank and little pieces have come back, but not very many." When the judge finished reading the jury's questions to Arias, her attorney, Kirk Nurmi, launched a new round of examination. Nurmi aggressively repeated what the jury wanted to know, giving Arias another chance to explain. "Given all these lies ... why should anyone believe you now?" Nurmi asked. "I understand that there will always be questions," Arias said. "If I am convicted, it is because of my bad choices in the beginning." Prosecutor Juan Martinez zeroed in on Arias' earlier answers about a gasoline can she said she had returned to Walmart before the killing. The gas can purchase is a crucial piece of evidence the prosecution contends helps proves she premeditated the murder. Arias borrowed two gas cans from an ex-boyfriend and purchased a third at a Walmart in Salinas, Calif., on June 3, 2008, so that she could travel to Alexander's home without making fuel purchases that police could later track, the prosecution has said. "Would it surprise you that Walmart does not have any record of any refund for a gas can on … June 3, 2008?" Martinez asked. "Yes, because I did return it and received cash," Arias replied. The prosecutor also hammered Arias about cuts on her hand when she turned up in Utah after Alexander's murder. Arias previously testified she cut her hand while working in a restaurant. "You didn't tell the manager about the way this occurred, even though it occurred on the job?" Martinez asked. "I don't recall if it was discussed in detail or not," Arias replied. Martinez racheted up his questioning with this exchange: "And you're the same person that previously testified today that you have a very good memory for details right?" he asked. Arias: "Yes." Martinez: :Except for that, right? You don't remember that, right?" Arias: "I didn't say it was perfect. I said it was good." Martinez: "I'm not saying you said it was perfect. You yourself admitted that you have a good memory for details." Arias: "I don't even know that I used details. I just said I think I have a good memory," Arias said.
March 13, 2013 – Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez showed Jodi Arias two photographs that were taken inside Travis Alexander's home on June 4, 2008. According to Martinez, the first photo was of a live Alexander in his shower. The second photo, taken 62 seconds later, was of Alexander's bloodied body sprawled out on the floor, with Arias's foot next to his head. During previous testimony, Arias said she had been taking photos of Alexander showering when she dropped his camera, causing him to become enraged and attack her. She testified that she shot and stabbed Alexander in self-defense. "Your scenario is impossible," Martinez said. "You drop the camera ... 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 ... You shoot him, he goes down and then, after you're able to get away, you go get the knife and you end up at the end of the hallway -- all of this in 62 seconds?" Martinez asked. "No, that's not what I'm saying ... after the gun went off ... it started to get more confusing at that point," Arias replied. "You didn't have the knife in your hand when you shot him. So that means, if you didn't have the knife in your hand, you had to go get it from somewhere, right?" Martinez asked. "I don't know," Arias replied. Much of the remainder of the day was spent in a dozen or so sidebars and some additional questioning from the jury about Arias's actions on the day of the killing. "If you still felt threatened after shooting Travis, why didn't you just shoot him again rather than stab him?" Judge Sherry Stephens asked Arias, on behalf of the jury. "I know that I dropped the gun when he hit me ... I don't remember picking up the knife," Arias replied.
March 14, 2013 – Jodi Arias was depressed and in denial after the gruesome slaying, a psychologist told the jury on March 14. Defense expert Richard Samuels testified at Arias' trial about her mental state before and after the June 2008 shooting, stabbing and slashing of Travis Alexander. "She was not able to tell her family about what happened," Samuels said. "She was not able to tell anybody about what happened. And this is a classic symptom of an acute stress disorder." Samuels said he met with Arias 12 times after her arrest and reviewed her murder case file and psychological test results. Arias was afflicted with acute stress disorder when she killed Alexander, Samuels testified. That disorder developed into post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, he said.
March 18, 2013 – Psychologist Richard Samuels admitted under cross examination that he should have reexamined Jodi Arias after she admitted to lying about her involvement in her ex-boyfriends' slaying.. Psychologist Richard Samuels earlier testified that Arias suffered from acute stress disorder, which developed into post-traumatic stress disorder. Samuels said he came to this conclusion after reviewing evidence in the case, examining Arias, and administering a test to diagnose PTSD. During cross-examination, Juan Martinez pointed out Arias was given the test for PTSD before she admitted killing Travis Alexander. At the time the test was given, in January 2010, Arias was claiming two unknown intruders had killed Alexander. "After this testing was done ... the story changed and the defendant told you that this story about the strangers was fiction ... and yet you did not administer another [test] correct?" Martinez asked Samuels. "That was an oversight and I should have done that," Samuels replied.
March 19, 2013 – Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez was cross-examining psychologist Richard Samuels, the defense's first expert witness, when he brought into question Samuels opinion that Arias has PTSD and dissociative amnesia. How, Martinez wanted to know, could the diagnosis be accurate when Arias later admitted she had lied about her role in the killing of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. "They can lie to about 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 things that you consider irrelevant ... and that still would not affect your opinion in this case, right?" Martinez asked. "If there were 50, 60 points, yes, of course, it would raise an alarm to me," Samuels replied. Arias' lies, according to Samuels, were not relevant to his diagnosis because her answers to the post-traumatic stress test reflected how she was feeling at the time she took it. "The results of the [test] do not reflect whether someone is telling one story or another. What it does reflect is the internal state of the individual. She experienced the trauma even though she was telling a story that was different from what actually happened. So this test reflects her internal struggle, her internal emotional state and, in my opinion, is perfectly valid," Samuels said. The expert added, "It's not critical to the outcome of the test." When Martinez pointed out that Samuels could only speculate about how Arias' lies would impact her diagnosis, the defense expert admitted that was what he was doing. "I'm speculating," Samuels said. The response sparked an immediate and pointed response by Martinez. "Right, made it up right now. Speculating," Martinez shouted. "No, clinical judgment, sir," Samuels snapped back. Later, Martinez pointed out that Samuels' report on Arias only mentions that she met two of the criteria for PTSD, when the guidelines require three criteria for a diagnosis. Samuels said there was a typographical error in the report. "Isn't it true that – it's a counting kind of thing – three are required to be found in order for there to be PTSD, correct?" asked Martinez. "That's correct," Samuels replied. "You only listed two, right?" asked Martinez. "That was a typographical issue," Samuels said. "Is that yes or no?" asked Martinez. "Yes, it is," responded Samuels. "Sir, with regard to this, you're getting paid. How much are you getting paid per hour?" asked Martinez. "I get paid per hour, $250," Samuels said. "And for $250 an hour you're saying that you weren't paying enough attention to put whatever else was needed?" asked Martinez. "I reviewed the report numerous times and I must admit I missed it," Samuels said. Martinez then ended his cross-examination of the witness, prompting the defense to again go over the PTSD results with Samuels.
March 20, 2013 – Jodi Arias' murder trial was delayed when a spectator became ill and vomited in the gallery. The unidentified spectator threw up as the trial in Phoenix was about to resume from the afternoon recess, prompting the judge to end the trial for the day. There were no details about the person's illness. Arias' defense attorney, Jennifer Willmott, wrapped up her examination of Richard Samuels before the illness incident cleared the courtroom.
March 22, 2013 – Jodi Arias' murder trial turned nasty when prosecutor Juan Martinez launched a bare-knuckle attack on psychologist Richard Samuels. "Isn't it true that ... you have compassion for the defendant ... Isn't it true that you have changed or done things ... because you have sympathy or bias toward the defendant?" Martinez asked Samuels. "Absolutely not," Samuels replied. Samuels said all the information he gathered on Arias, including her test results, support a diagnosis of PTSD. Samuels also said the condition likely explains why Arias has holes in her memory of the night she killed Alexander -- gaps exposed repeatedly by Martinez during an aggressive cross-examination of Arias. Martinez walked the jury through perceived inconsistencies in Samuels' test methods, bringing up two score sheets from Arias' post-traumatic stress diagnostic test. The score sheets indicate Samuels scored the same test twice and each sheet contains different results. Martinez accused Samuels of changing the test results to give Arias a higher score on the test. "Sir, that's a change, yes or no?" asked Martinez, pointing out that one score sheet, filed before the start of the trial, indicated Arias had a symptom severity score of 33, while the other score sheet -– provided to Martinez after the trial began -- gave her a score of 35. The latter of the two also had a handwritten note next to the score that stated the results supported a "moderate to severe" diagnosis. "I scored it twice," Samuels replied. "That's a change right?" Martinez asked. "That's a change," Samuels said. With the test scores as the main weapon in his arsenal, Martinez attacked Samuels' character and tried to accentuate the psychologist's supposed misconduct, which Samuels vehemently denied. "The first copy was sent in as part of my evaluation. But I didn't have access to it, so I recalculated it again so that I would have something to review when I was going through my reports," Samuels said. He calculated the scores twice because he misplaced the original test. When he scored it a second time, Samuels found it was higher, he said. He contended that regardless of the two differing scores, both meet the criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. "It did not change the utility of the test," Samuels said.
March 25, 2013 – Jodi Arias had such a violent relationship with her mother that she struck the woman for no reason, forensic psychologist Richard Samuels admitted under questioning by an Arizona prosecutor. "When [Arias] was a teenager, isn't it true that the defendant had such anger toward her mother Sandy, that she treated her like crap?" attorney Juan Martinez asked the accused murderer's psychologist. "Yes," forensic psychologist Richard Samuels replied. "Isn't it true that they argued all the time?" asked Martinez. "Yes," said Samuels. "And isn't it true that during that time, the defendant hit Sandy for no reason?" asked Martinez. "Yes," Samuels replied. The back and forth between Martinez and Samuels was sparked by Samuels' testimony about diagnosing Arias with PTSD. One qualifying symptom Samuels said he observed in Arias was her bouts of irritability and anger. Martinez revealed Arias' alleged abuse of her mother in an attempt to show Arias had bouts of anger long before the alleged trauma of killing Alexander. "And this was all before this June 4, 2008 incident?" Martinez asked Samuels, in regard to the incidents involving Arias' mother. "But it's irrelevant for the diagnosis," Samuels contended. Martinez's comments on Arias alleged abuse of her mother had not previously been discussed during the trial. It remains unclear where he received the information. Following Samuels on the stand was domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette. LaViolette spent about 30 minutes on the stand discussing her education and professional experience as a psychotherapist before court was recessed for the evening.
March 26, 2013 – Defense lawyers again attempted to push the theory that it was Jodi Arias, rather than the ex-boyfriend she is accused of murdering, who was the victim in the couple's on-again-off-again relationship. The Arias legal team questioned psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette about various forms of abuse in relationships. "Woman generally say psychological and verbal abuse [is more hurtful] than physical abuse," LaViolette said. LaViolette, who was paid $300 per hour by the defense to study the case and $250 per hour to testify, said incidents of domestic violence are not typically reported to police. "Many of the women don't make police reports. Some of the ones that do may change their mind ... It sort of depends on where they are in that whole progression of the relationship," LaViolette said. LaViolette explained that such behavior is typical of a battered woman because they don't want people to dislike their partner "They don't want anybody to think they have lousy taste," she told the jury.
March 27, 2013 – The Jodi Arias trial was canceled for unexplained reasons. "We are unable to proceed today, court will resume … tomorrow," the judge's assistant announced 30 minutes after the trial was scheduled to begin. No reason was given for the delay.
March 28, 2013 – Alyce LaViolette testified about previously undisclosed emails from Travis Alexander's close friends that indicate he had a history of being abusive. "They have basically advised [Jodi]. Arias to move on from the relationship ... that Mr. Alexander has been abusive to women." the psychotherapist testified. LaViolette was referencing email exchanges between Arias, Alexander and his longtime friends Chris and Sky Hughes. LaViolette was not allowed to quote from the emails and they were not shown to the jury, but she was allowed to paraphrase the content and offer her opinion on it. "The question with regard to whether or not the Hugheses thought Mr. Alexander had previously been abusive with women, is that important to you?" Arias' defense attorney, Jennifer Willmott, asked LaViolette. "Yes, it is," LaViolette replied. "Does that help you to formulate an opinion ultimately about the type of relationship this ended up to be?" asked Willmott. "Yes it does," said LaViolette. "And so, in this e-mail, is there information about whether or not Mr. Alexander's closest friends thought he had issues with women?" Willmott asked. "Yes, there is," said LaViolette. Within the email exchange, Sky Hughes also wrote, according to Laviolette, that she would not allow Alexander to date her sister. "They [the Hughes] thought he needed counseling, they also indicated that they thought he was greatly affected by his childhood and he was afraid to look at it because he was afraid it would make him look weak," said LaViolette. "There was reference to a particular woman and his manipulation of that woman." LaViolette said. "There was information about Mr. Alexander calling Ms. Arias a skank and then acting like it was a joke. There was information about the way he ignored her in public places and would not allow her to put pictures of them up in places where other people could see them. Just basic ways he treated her, or they felt he mistreated her ... that they indicated were abusive." Prosecutor Juan Martinez objected to much of the defense expert's testimony, calling it was hearsay. However, the judge overruled the majority of the objections. The jury could view LaViolette's testimony as crucial in determining whether there is merit to Arias' claim that she was a victim of domestic violence. Shortly after the testimony about the emails the trial was recessed for the evening.
April 03, 2013 – Judge Sherry Stephens dismissed a juror after a meeting in her chambers with the prosecution and defense. When the parties emerged from the meeting Stephens announced Juror Five had been removed and an alternate had been seated. Stephens did not explain the dismissal in court and told the jury panel not to speculate on the reason for the woman's dismissal. On Sunday, Arias' defense team filed a motion for a mistrial. They accused Juror Five of misconduct, but they did not cite any specifics in their motion. According to CNN, Juror Five, a woman in her 30s, had been gossiping about the case. She was seen sobbing when she left the courthouse, the news network reported. After the incident with the juror, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette returned to the stand and again detailed her impressions of emails and journal entries in regard to the relationship between Arias and Alexander. "He treated her badly but he didn't feel badly about it," LaViolette said of her assessment based on Alexander's alleged statements. "They have basically advised Ms. Arias to move on from the relationship ... that Mr. Alexander has been abusive to women," she testified.
April 04, 2013 – The prosecutor in Jodi Arias' murder trial attacked a defense expert who said Arias is a victim of domestic violence, saying the expert once concluded Snow White was a battered woman. Arizona prosecutor Juan Martinez challenged domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette's opinion that Arias was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her former boyfriend, slaying victim Travis Alexander, 30. LaViolette gave a presentation in 2012 that found Snow White was a battered woman, which the prosecutor said shows the expert can find abuse in situations she knows very little about, including "myths." "What this shows us is that even if it's a myth -- all made up -- you can come up with the opinion that the person is a victim of domestic violence," Martinez said. Robust jousting between Martinez and LaViolette consumed much of the day's testimony. "Basically, a clinical interview is you sitting across from the person that may or may not be a victim of battering and ... you interview them?" Martinez asked of LaViolette's evaluation techniques. "You ask questions you do an assessment," LaViolette replied. "So when you're interviewing then you're not talking, right?" Martinez asked "Mr. Martinez," said LaViolette before being interrupted. "Yes or no? My question is are you talking -- yes or no?" Martinez snapped. "Mr. Martinez are you angry at me?" LaViolette asked suddenly, prompting laughter from the gallery. The judge admonished spectators for laughing, but the back and forth between Martinez and LaViolette continued to get heated. "Is that relevant to you ... is that important to you whether or not the prosecutor is angry … does that make any difference to your evaluation whether or not the prosecutor is angry -- yes or no?" Martinez fired back. LaViolette replied, "It makes a difference to me the way I am spoken to and I would like you to speak to me the way I speak to you." "Just because the prosecutor is angry at you, is that going to make you change your answer with regard to whether or not this is a battering situation?" asked Martinez. "No, certainly not," LaViolette said. LaViolette snapped again when Martinez demanded she give yes or no answers, rather than lengthy explanations. "Do you want the truth Mr. Martienz or do you want a yes or no?" LaViolette asked. Earlier, defense attorney Jennifer Willmott ended her questioning of LaViolette by asking about physical and emotional abuse Alexander allegedly inflicted on Arias. LaViolette said Arias' previous boyfriends described her as "generally happy, sweet, creative -- lots of positive things." But when she was with Alexander, Arias became depressed and pulled away from other relationships, LaViolette said. "So there was a lot of change in who she was," she added.
April 08, 2013 – A key expert witness for murder defendant Jodi Arias admitted under cross examination that she wrote a manifesto behind bars. Prosecutor Juan Martinez mentioned the alleged manifesto for the first time, stunning a packed courtroom audience. "Do you remember when the defendant was in jail up in Yreka, [California] and the defendant's manifesto ... Do you remember that was in your notes?" Martinez asked Psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette. "I remember hearing about it [but] I've never seen it," she replied. "Isn't it true that the defendant was signing or autographing copies of the manifesto?" asked Martinez. "I believe those were my notes," LaViolette said. Martinez interjected that Arias' writing of a manifesto appears to go against the idea that she lacks self-esteem – something LaViolette previously testified to. The domestic violence expert disagreed with his assumption. "No, I don't think it does at all ... She may think she's a good writer ... but it doesn't mean [she has] high self-esteem," LaViolette said. Martinez pointed out that Arias had asked someone to print out copies of the manifesto because she wanted them signed "in case ... she became famous." The manifesto attributed to Arias was not entered into evidence. The contents of it remain unclear. The Huffington Post filed an official request with the prosecutor's office for a copy of the manifesto, but an official there said it could take some time for the request to be approved. "In light of the prosecutor's ethical duties under ER 3.6, the State is seeking guidance from the Court on the nature and degree to which future public records requests could or should be fulfilled for the duration of the trial. Accordingly, the County Attorney's Office will cease fulfilling public records requests for materials in this case until such determination is made. While County Attorney Bill Montgomery fully respects the fundamental rights of a free press in our community, he is equally compelled to ensure a fair trial for Ms. Arias and any other defendant in similar circumstances. We'll follow up with you when we get a ruling and let you know what we're able to release," Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesman Jerry Cobb told HuffPost.
April 09, 2013 – Domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette and she told veteran prosecutor Juan Martinez he needed to "take a time out." "If you were in my group, I would ask you take a time out Mr. Martinez," LaViolette said. Martinez did not respond, and asked the judge to admonish LaViolette. "Yes, ladies and gentlemen please disregard the witnesses' last statement," Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors. The back and forth between Martinez and LaViolette continued to get heated when he quested her about Arias' journal entries. In a September 2007 journal entry about a trip with Alexander to the Grand Canyon, Arias wrote that the two fought. She said Alexander was largely responsible and later apologized. Martinez asked LaViolette if her professional opinion of Arias would change if there was evidence the story Arias wrote in her journal was a lie. Martinez referred to earlier testimony by Alexander's friend, Dan Freeman, that the argument began when Arias got upset that Freeman had removed items from her hiking bag to make it lighter before they went on the trip. LaViolette said that would not necessarily change her mind. "Aren't you providing an excuse and siding with the defense?" Martinez asked. "No, I'm not saying that. ... What I am saying is I like to look at the big picture," LaViolette said.
April 10, 2013 – Juan Martinez got a key defense witness to admit Travis Alexander was "extremely afraid" of Jodi Arias, the former girlfriend accused of brutally murdering him. "Isn't it true that Mr. Alexander was extremely afraid of the defendant, Jodi Arais, based on her stalking behavior?" Martinez asked Alyce LaViolette, the defense team's domestic violence expert. "He was afraid of her, yes," LaViolette replied. "Because of her stalking behavior, correct?" asked Martinez. "Correct," LaViolette said. The acknowledgement of the alleged behavior by a key witness for the defense could be seen as a big win for the prosecution. LaViolette had spent eight days on the witness stand detailing her opinion on the dynamic of Alexander and Arias' on-again-off-again relationship. She testified it was her opinion that Arias was physically and emotionally battered by Alexander and feared for her life when she shot him, stabbed him nearly 30 times, and cut his throat from ear to ear in his Mesa, Ariz., home on June 4, 2008. Despite her admission under cross-examination that Alexander was afraid of Arias, LaViolette said she wasn't convinced Arias had actually stalked Alexander. Following the back and forth on the alleged stalking behaviors, Martinez finished his cross-examination of LaViolette.
April 11, 2013 – Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial asked dozens of questions showing they're skeptical of a defense expert's diagnosis that Arias had been abused by the man she's accused of killing. The jury's questions, put to domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette, asked about LaViolette's assessment that Arias was a victim of domestic violence and whether LaViolette has affection for Arias. One juror wanted to know why LaViolette often looked at Arias in the courtroom and smiled. "I have done that on occasion just to acknowledge her, but no other reason," said LaViolette, a psychologist. "I've actually tried to avoid looking at Ms. Arias." The jury's questions were read by Judge Sherry Stephens. Arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to pose questions to witnesses after prosecution and defense lawyers have finished. The jury's questions, paraphrased below, included: Is there any reason to believe Arias has not manipulated you, as she has others? "I didn't use Jodi as my evidence. I didn't. I used so many other things to look at, so I don't believe that Jodi manipulated me because the areas I looked at were corroborated by other people," LaViolette said. How confident are you that Arias did not lie to you? "I don't believe she lied to me about significant things. I don't have reason to believe that she lied to me," LaViolette said. Do you think Arias exaggerated when she spoke to you about the abuse she claims to have suffered? . "She could have exaggerated ... [but] she tended to minimize more than exaggerate," LaViolette said. Hypothetically, if you determined Arias had exaggerated, would that change your opinion? "I would certainly re-look at things because that would be important," LaViolette said. Do you have personal feelings for Arias? "I have liked Jodi in terms of working with her ... but we have not had a relationship other than the [time] we spent in jail" for the interviews, LaViolette said. Could Arias be guilty of psychological abuse toward Alexander? "I just don't have any evidence of it," LaViolette said. Is it possible for the survivor to be the perpetrator? "Its very possible for somebody to lash back. ... When someone has been a victim of domestic violence, they sometimes hit back," LaViolette said. Could the reason Alexander said negative things to Arias be because he was afraid of her stalking him? "No, I do not believe that," LaViolette said. Is the level of violence, "which was extreme and way beyond neutralizing a threat," consistent with what a victim of abuse would do? "When they are afraid for their lives they would not know when to stop," LaViolette said. LaViolette's opinion that Arias was a victim of domestic violence was the subject of several juror questions. The panel asked if she had proof Alexander physically abused Arias and whether she was concerned that she was only getting one side of the story. "The only thing I saw was a broken finger," LaViolette said of the alleged abuse. "I wish I could get a complete story from Travis, but I can't." . Jurors wanted to know if a female could "abuse, batter or terrorize a man" to the point of killing him. "Yes, women can be perpetrators," LaViolette said.
April 12, 2013 – Jodi Arias' murder trial turned nasty again as an Arizona prosecutor accused a defense expert of misrepresenting herself. The allegation was made by prosecutor Juan Martinez when the judge finished putting the jurors questions to domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette. Martinez zeroed in on LaViolette's response to a question about how many men she has testified on behalf of in criminal court. She had told the jury she thought she had done so once or twice. When she was unable to remember the name of either man, she relented and said she had wrote a report in one of the cases and did not actually testify in court. "So you misrepresented something to the jury, didn't you?" Martinez asked. "I did not testify, I wrote a report on his behalf to go to criminal court," LaViolette replied. "That's different than testifying in court, isn't it?" asked Martinez. "Yes, it's different than testifying in court," said LaViolette. Hammering the point home with the jury, Martinez said, "There was no second man that you testified in criminal court on his behalf, isn't that true?" LaViolette replied, "I said one or two because I don't remember Mr. Martinez." LaViolette said all the information she gathered on Arias, including interviews and the review of case materials, support her opinion that Arias was physically and emotionally abused by Alexander. Earlier in the day, LaViolette was grilled by the jury about her opinion on domestic violence in the case. The jury's questions, paraphrased below, included: Is there any reason to believe Arias has not manipulated you, as she has others? "I didn't use Jodi as my evidence. I didn't. I used so many other things to look at, so I don't believe that Jodi manipulated me because the areas I looked at were corroborated by other people," LaViolette said. Other than what Arias has told you, what evidence have you seen that Alexander was physically abusive? "I actually didn't see other evidences of physical violence by Travis," LaViolette said. How can Arias remember the alleged physical abuse so clearly when she never wrote about it in her journals? "I know that people remember things that they don't write down," LaViolette said. Is it possible your definition of manipulation differs from others? "Yes," LaViolette said. Is it possible your definition of manipulation is wrong? "Yes," LaViolette said. Would someone with low self-esteem say, "No jury will ever convict me?" "It sounds like a really foolish statement to me," LaViolette said.
April 15, 2013 – The prosecutor in the Jodi Arias murder trial told the judge he is aware a Twitter account attributed to Arias has been tweeting about the trial and his height -- and he wants it to stop. "There's been allegations that she's been tweeting ... I've been told she indicates something about the prosecutor and how tall he is," prosecutor Juan Martinez said in court Monday. "One can't forget that she's a witness in this case and she's actually violating the courts rule by discussing her testimony ... I'm asking the court to issue an order that she desist from that," said Martinez. The tweet about the prosecutor's height is no longer on the Twitter page attributed to Arias. The tweet read, "Those afflicted with Little Man's Syndrome taint society's perception of genuinely good men who happen to be vertically challenged." Arias' defense attorney, Kirk Nurmi, told the judge, "This isn't second grade, this is a court of law." Nurmi added, "Regardless of Ms. Arias' Twitter account and comments on his height ... it does not change the game ... She has freedom of speech rights." Martinez did not have a copy of the tweets for judge Sherry Stephens to review. The judge said she would need more information in order to consider issuing a ruling. "Without more specific information ... the court is not going to take any action with regard to the defendant allegedly tweeting from jail ... she is in custody of the sheriff's office and that is within their jurisdiction to set rules and limits with regard to her behavior," Stephens said. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said they are aware of Arias' Twitter account but are unable to do anything about it because she is not breaking any rules. According to Fox 10 News, Arias has been communicating with her 27,000 plus followers via Twitter since February. The account, according to the news network, is managed by Arias' friend, Donavan Bering. Bering told Fox 10 that she talks to Arias on a daily basis and updates the account with messages told to her by Arias.
April 16, 2013 – The defense rested its case in the murder trial of Jodi Arias and the prosecution began their rebuttal case. The defense team in the Phoenix courtroom rested at the start of the day without calling any additional witnesses to testify. "At this point, the defense rests," attorney Kirk Nurmi told the judge. The decision came after about 2 1/2 months of testimony. Prosecutor Juan Martinez started the states rebuttal by calling Arizona clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte. DeMarte testified she conducted an evaluation of Arias and administered several tests on reading, intelligence and memory. "She performed well on it," DeMarte said of the memory test she gave Arias. In regard to the IQ test, DeMarte said Arias scored a 119. DeMarte said she reviewed an evaluation of Arias by Dr. Cheryl L. Karp, the Vice-Chairperson for the State of Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners. DeMarte said Arias indicated more episodes of alleged abuse to Dr. Karp than she did to herself and the other defense experts. "She told me there were four distinct episodes of alleged abuse," Demarte said of her evaluation of Arias. Martinez then asked DeMarte how many incidents of alleged abuse Arias recounted to Dr. Karp. "I can't even count [them] ... there was numerous reports of frequent abuse and threatening behavior," DeMarte said. DeMarte said she diagnosed Arias with borderline personality disorder. She also testified she found no evidence to believe Arias' claims about her memory problems or that she was a victim of domestic violence and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. "There wasn't symptoms that were consistent with that diagnosis," she said of the PTSD. During cross-examination by defense attorney Jennifer Willmott, DeMarte stood her ground. She did not flinch when the attorney suggested she was too young or lacked experience. At one point Willmott asked DeMarte about her knowledge of Alyce LaViolette, the defense teams domestic violence expert. Willmott pointed out that DeMarte had not been born when LaViolette got her Masters degree in 1980.
April 19, 2013 – Jodi Arias' defense attorney and a clinical psychologist retained by the prosecution went head-to-head again, as the defense tried to poke holes in the expert's findings that Arias was not a victim of domestic violence. Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott repeatedly questioned Janeen DeMarte about her interpretation of the results of several psychological tests Arias was given. The defense maintains the test results indicate Arias is, among other things, a battered woman who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. DeMarte stood firm on her opinion throughout the line of questioning. "There was not a pattern that suggested she was a victim of abuse," DeMarte said. Despite the findings of the defense experts, DeMarte said she found no evidence that Arias suffers from PTSD. Instead, she said, tests she administered to Arias indicate the defendant suffers from borderline personality disorder. The psychologist found a number of traits of BPD during her evaluation of Arias, she said. Those traits included efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment; unstable and intense interpersonal relationships; identity disturbance; suicidal behavior; affective instability; chronic feelings of emptiness and inappropriate, intense anger. When Willmott finished her cross-examination of DeMarte, the jury had a few questions for the witness. Arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to pose questions to witnesses after prosecution and defense lawyers have finished. The jury's questions, paraphrased below, included: Why didn't you give Arias the same tests the defense experts did? "I felt the tests I gave, gave the answers I needed and it wasn't necessary to administer the other tests," DeMarte said. Do you think the deleting of pictures on the camera and the washing of that camera was an attempt to destroy evidence? "That's the impression it gives," DeMarte said. The question was in reference to Alexander's digital camera. It was found inside a washing machine in his home. Photos on the camera – including nude photos of Arias and Alexander taken just prior to his murder – had been deleted but were later retrieved by law enforcement experts. Would a person be answering questions the same if they lied on the PTS test? "They would be answering them very different," DeMarte said. The question was in reference to a test Arias was given to determine if she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. At the time Arias took the test she was maintaining her innocence and claimed two intruders killed Alexander. Defense experts contend the results are still valid, even though she later admitted lying about her involvement. Shortly thereafter, court was recessed for the day.
April 23, 2013 – Travis Alexander's ex-girlfriend, Deanna Reid, was put through pointed and embarrassing questions by Jodi Arias' lawyers. Defense Attorney Kirk Nurmi wasted little time during his cross-examination of Reid –- a rebuttal witness called by the prosecution -– in turning the attention of the court to her relationship with Alexander, 30, who was slain in 2008. The state contends that Arias, 32, killed her ex-boyfriend in a jealous rage. Reid, a teacher and active member of the Mormon Church, testified that she began dating Alexander in 2000 -- years before Alexander and Arias met. Soon afterward, Reid said she went on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission to Costa Rica and the two split up, but reconciled in 2002. Reid said they dated exclusively from 2002 to 2005, when Reid broke up with Alexander because she was interested in marriage and he was not yet ready. She said they remained friends after the split. Nurmi pressed Reid about intimate details of her relationship with Alexander, forcing her to admit she had sex with him several times. She said both later confessed their indiscretions to church bishops. "That was our private business," Reid said when Nurmi asked if she had discussed the sexual relationship with other people. Nurmi then asked Reid a series of further embarrassing questions about Alexander. "Did he ever use phrases with you like, 'You're the ultimate slut in bed?'" Nurmi asked. "No," Reid replied. "Did he talk to you about blowing enormous loads every time?" Nurmi asked. "No," Reid replied. Alexander had once sent a text message to Arias that said, "U puts me on another planet. You are the ultimate slut in bed. No wonder I blow enormous loads every time." Nurmi continued asking questions that made Reid noticeably uncomfortable on the witness stand, evoking raunchy exchanges between Alexander and Arias that have already been described to the jury. "Did he ever ejaculate on your face?" Nurmi asked. "No," Reid replied. "Did he ever call you a whore ... a slut ... a three-hole wonder?" asked Nurmi. "No," she replied. Nurmi then referred to a recorded sex talk session between Alexander and Arias, previously played in court. On the recording, Alexander tells Arias he wants to tie her to a tree and have sex with her. "Did he ever tell you how he wanted to tie you to a tree and quote, 'put it in your ass?'" Nurmi asked. "No," Reid said. You two "must have had a different relationship than he did with Ms. Arias, correct?" Nurmi asked. Reid never got a chance to answer. Prosecutor Juan Martinez objected, citing a "lack of foundation," and Judge Sherry Stephens sustained it. Nurmi plunged ahead with more sexually explicit questions. "Did he ever tell you that the way you moan is like a 12-year-old girl having her first orgasm?" asked Nurmi. "No," Reid replied. "Did he ever tell you about wanting to cork the pot of a little girl?" Nurmi asked. "No," Reid repeated. Martinez focused his questions on whether Alexander ever abused Reid. "Would he ever call you names?" Martinez asked. "No, he did not," Reid replied. "Did he ever strike you or physically advance on you or inflict any physical violence on you?" Martinez asked. "No, never," said Reid.
April 24, 2013 – Judge Sherry Stephens drew a line in the sand when she announced attorneys would begin delivering their closings arguments on May 2. "I'm going to ask that you arrive so that we may start at 9 a.m. [On May 1] … We are going to stay here until we finish," Stephens said. "Final jury instructions will be read on [May 2] and the attorneys will give their closing arguments on [May 2 and May 3]. Then the case will be submitted to you for decision." Arias trial has been going since Jan. 2. The case was initially scheduled to go to the jury on April 11. However, there have been several delays throughout the proceedings and the trial typically only runs Monday through Thursday. With news of the fast approaching end date, testimony went somewhat quickly, with the prosecution calling two rebuttal witnesses to the stand. The first witness called by prosecutor Juan Martinez was Robert Brown, a detective for the Mesa, Arizona Police Department's forensic computer division. Brown testified he examined Arias' cellphone and found several photos that had been taken on June 3, 2008, one day before Arias' ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, was killed. The photos, which were shown to the jury, show Arias with brown hair. Earlier in the trial, a California rental car agent testified Arias had blonde hair when she came to his agency and rented a vehicle for her road trip to Arizona. When Brown finished testifying, Martinez called Mesa Police Detective Esteban Flores to the stand. Flores detailed the inspection of Alexander's home and the closet where Arias claims she retrieved the handgun used to shoot Alexander. Flores said he did not find a holster, bullets, cleaning kit or any other items that would indicate Alexander owned a gun. Flores testimony was important, as the defense has claimed Arias used Alexander's gun to shoot him. During cross examination by the defense, Attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Flores if Arizona requires gun owners to register their guns. Flores said the state does not. Shortly thereafter the judge recessed court for the day.
April 25, 2013 – Prosecutors in Jodi Arias' murder trial finished the rebuttal portion of their case. Arias entered the courtroom wearing a black shirt with green sequins. She wore her glasses and had her hair down. Her mother and grandmother were both in the courtroom. Prosecutor Juan Martinez began his rebuttal with testimony from Dr. Kevin Horn, of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office. Horn was among the first witnesses to testify for the prosecution on day three of Arias' murder trial in January. Horn again testified in graphic detail about the violent death of Alexander and extent of the injuries he suffered when he was killed on June 4, 2008. According to Horn, Alexander was stabbed before he was shot in the head, which is contradictory of Arias' earlier testimony that she shot him before he was stabbed. "Would he have gone down? Would he have stood there? Would he have crawled? What would have happened?" Martinez asked Horn in regard to the gunshot wound. "He may have been able to take a step or two [but] probably would have collapsed or lost consciousness within seconds," Horn said. Because Alexander would have been incapacitated almost immediately after the bullet entered his brain, he would not have been able to attempt to defend himself against a knife attack -- something he had obviously done because of defensive wounds found on his hands at autopsy, Horn said. During Horn's testimony, Martinez displayed photos of Alexander's hands with the defensive wounds on a large screen inside the courtroom. Arias and members of Alexander's family cried as the photos were shown. During cross-examination, Arias' defense attorney, Jennifer Willmott, offered the opinion that because Alexander's body was in a state of advanced decomposition when it was found, it would have been impossible for the medical examiner to retrace the exact path of the bullet. Horn said he was confident in his findings. "It had to have gone through the brain. It's simple geometry," Horn said of the bullet. When Willmott finished her cross-examination, Judge Sherry Stephens asked Horn a few questions on behalf of the jury. Arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to pose questions to witnesses after prosecution and defense lawyers have finished. The jury wanted to know if Alexander would have bled immediately after he was shot, to which Horn answered yes, and if it was possible the medical examiner could be wrong about Alexander not being able to move after he was shot. "I don't believe so. No," Horn said in regard to the latter question. When the prosecution finished its rebuttal, Stephens called a brief recess and then announced Juror 8 had been dismissed. The judge did not elaborate on the man's dismissal. Juror 8 is the third juror to be dismissed from proceedings since the trial began in January. Stephens also said the trial would be in recess until May 1, when the jury will hear from one final defense psychologist before closing arguments begin. The judge has permitted Arias' defense team to call Dr. Robert Geffner to the stand. He will essentially be the defenses rebuttal to the states rebuttal case. The judge said court will proceed as long as it takes to get through Geffner's testimony. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin the following day.
May 1, 2013 – Jodi Arias' defense team attempted to launch the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass during a marathon day of testimony by their final expert witness. Psychologist Robert Geffner (pictured) was called to the stand by defense attorney Jennifer Willmott, in what was another attempt to convince the jury Arias was abused by her ex-boyfriend and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Geffner said he based his opinion on materials that were provided to him by the defense, including the results of an MMPI psychological test. Those test results, Geffner said, are consistent with someone who was traumatized or in an abusive relationship. "Based on just these objective tests, what kind of working hypothesis would you be looking at?" Willmott asked. "I would be looking at anxiety disorder, PTSD and trying to find out what potential traumas may have occurred either currently or in the past. What types of things are going on that would produce those kinds of symptoms and try to define and get more clarification on what these are related to," Geffner said. Geffner made it clear he has not diagnosed Arias with any disorders and is basing his opinion on her test results. "I focused on the records ... that was my role," he said. "I tried to explain those records. I've not evaluated her, I've not met her, I've not reviewed her case, I've not seen the testimony, I don't know the interviews of her by others, I haven't met with her myself." Willmott asked Geffner if it should matter that Arias had lied about killing Alexander at the time she took the test resulting in her PTSD diagnosis. At the time of the test, Arias was claiming two intruders had killed Alexander. "If a person says they were attacked by a tiger but in reality they were attacked by a bear -- either way, they're telling you that they've suffered trauma. Is it going to matter one way or another?" Willmott asked. "No, not for this test or for a diagnosis of PTSD. It's the reaction to the event that is assessed and goes into the diagnosis along as there is some type of traumatic event. The diagnosis requires there to be a traumatic event it doesn't require what it is. So either one of those would qualify but the test is focusing on the reaction to it," Geffner said. Willmott asked Geffner about his expertise in neuropsychology and whether he agreed with the report by the medical examiner that Alexander would have been incapacitated moments after he was shot. "A bullet that goes through -- even if it did go through the frontal area here and out the other side, it would likely cause some things happening but nothing in that part of the brain would incapacitate a person. That's not the area of the brain that does that. So there's no evidence from the report that that would cause that affect unless something else happened that we don't know about," said Geffner. During cross-examination, prosecutor Juan Martinez pointed out that Geffner was basing his opinion solely on medical examiner's report. "You're telling us that your opinion, as a neuropsychologist, is based on the reading of a report?" Martinez asked. "And my knowledge of the brain," Geffner replied. "And your knowledge of the brain ... if you really wanted more explanation, as to this particular issue, you would go to an expert yourself, wouldn't you?" Martinez asked. "Yes sir," Geffner replied. "I don't have anything else," Martinez said. When Geffner stepped down Martinez called Dr. Kevin Horn, the medical examiner who performed Alexander's autopsy, to the stand. Horn said Alexander's brain was like "tapioca pudding" when he examined it due to an advanced state of decomposition. "With regard to this issue about blood in the trajectory of a bullet ... What does that indicate to you?" Martinez asked. "It means a person may have already bled out from another injury or may have actually been deceased," Horn replied. Horn's testimony is important to the prosecution in establishing Alexander was stabbed first and not shot, as the defense team contends. The final witness called to the stand on May 1, 2013 was psychologist Jill Hayes. Testifying on behalf of the prosecution, Hayes said she disagrees with Geffner's assessment that Arias lies would not have affected her test results. Hayes said she would be very concerned about the validity of the test if someone was lying to the extent Arias was at the time they took it.
May 2, 2013 – Jodi Arias committed "a very orchestrated killing," and her only defense has been to attack the credibility of her victim, the prosecutor in her four-month murder trial said during his closing argument. "She planned to come and kill Mr. Alexander ... that's what the evidence shows," prosecutor Juan Martinez told jurors. "She premeditated the murder." In a packed courtroom, Martinez used images of Alexander's mutilated body to show the gruesome nature of the slaying. "As she's stabbing him, he is alive," Martinez said. "The more he bleeds, the quicker he dies." The veteran prosecutor described in great detail how evidence at the crime scene suggested Alexander tried to get away from Arias, and stood at his sink in front of a mirror while she stabbed him in the back. "He could see the defendant delivering the strikes to his back," Martinez said. Martinez said many of the stab wounds could have been fatal, yet Arias cut Alexander's throat from ear to ear and shot him in the head. "She's killed him three times over," Martinez said. After the killing, the prosecutor said, Arias attempted to clean up the crime scene and remove any trace of her visit. "The knife wasn't found anywhere ... The gun, it was taken," Martinez said. "She was cleaning up because she did not want to get caught ... She walked out and on that hot summer [day], got into the car and [drove] away." Arias wept off and on throughout the day -– something that did not go unnoticed by the prosecutor. "She may cry now, but the jury instructions tell you sympathy is not to be considered in this particular case," Martinez said. Arias' defense, the prosecutor said, is based entirely on lies and attacks on the credibility of the victim. He said the defense lawyers and their expert witnesses failed to deliver on promises during opening statements that Arias was a victim of domestic violence. "Her defense really is based on lies," Martinez said. "She's a very sophisticated liar in that she adds all these extra details." Martinez told jurors that Arias should be found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder. "What the state is asking you to do is your duty and the judge has indicated that your duty is to follow the law as she's given it to you and apply it to the facts," Martinez said. "In asking that, the state is asking you to return a verdict of guilty -- a verdict of guilty as to first-degree murder. Not only as to premeditated murder, but also as to felony murder, for no other reason than it's your duty, and the facts and the law support it." Martinez' closing argument came four months to the day after he gave his opening statement in the case.
May 3, 2013 – Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi gave a three-hour-long closing argument. Nurmi focused his final remarks on trying to disprove the prosecutions assentation that Arias premeditated Alexander's slaying. "Why, if somebody is there to commit a murder, do you hang out and let the intended victim of this murder take pictures of you, at what you assume will be a crime scene?" Nurmi said. "If this is a preplanned murder ... why create this crime scene of chaos," Nurmi said in regard to the exceptionally bloody crime scene. "It doesn't make any sense as it relates to premeditation." Nurmi also addressed Arias' memory problems. "If she's lying ... wouldn't she have actually made up a lie she remembers?" Nurmi said. The defense attorney said it is clear the case is full of sex, lies and dirty little secrets, but there is no evidence to support the contention that Arias planned to kill her ex-boyfriend. It is, according to Nurmi, a case of self-defense. Arias was forced to kill Alexander when he attacked her after she dropped his camera, he said. "The one thing that is clear ... this scenario of Jodi Arias being forced into doing something -- into defending her life ... is a much more plausible scenario then premeditation," Nurmi said. During his rebuttal closing, prosecutor Juan Martinez made it clear to the jury that the State has little doubt Arias killed Alexander in cold-blood. "Her intent was to kill, not to defend herself," Martinez said. "The defendant is a liar and a killer." The veteran prosecutor said there is no evidence to support self-defense in Alexander's slaying. He pointed to the killing as proof and said Arias "gutted" Alexander. "She stabbed him first, he wasn't dying fast enough ... for good measure she shoots him in the face," Martinez said. "Jodi Ann Arias killed Travis Alexander ... She just gutted him." When he finished his rebuttal, Martinez asked the jury to return a verdict of premeditated first-degree murder. "It is the State's view that nothing indicates it was anything other than a slaughter," Martinez said. Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens turned the case over to the jury at about 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, after giving final instructions. "All twelve of you must agree on each verdict," Stephens said.
May 6, 2013 – After a weekend break, the Jodi Arias jury began its first full day of deliberations. The eight-man, four-woman panel, which heard four months of testimony and final arguments, deliberated from noon to 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
May 7, 2013 – Casey Anthony's attorney had harsh words for a woman who dressed up like a bunny in an effort to draw attention to the issue of homelessness in the final days of the Jodi Arias trial. Patricia Taylor sat outside the courthouse of the Arias trial as "Positive Bunny." Taylor, who told The Huffington Post she works with the homeless, said she's been coming to the courthouse "to see justice for Travis [Alexander]." "He was a kind-hearted man and I wanted to show my support," Taylor said. But Casey Anthony attorney Jose Baez was unimpressed. When sent a photo of "Positive Bunny," Baez texted HuffPost, "That's just sick. I hope Travis Alexander's family doesn't see that." Baez also opined on the Arias case. When asked, why the jury had not returned a verdict yet, Baez texted, "Because it's a death penalty case. The decision is irrevocable." Baez declined to speculate on what the outcome of the Arias case would be. "I never make those calls," he texted. "That's for the jury." Deliberations resumed at 1 p.m. Eastern time. No reason was been given for the late start.
May 8, 2013 – The eight-man, four-woman jury, which heard four months of testimony and final arguments, deliberated over four days before returning the verdict of first-degree murder. Jodi Arias, wearing a black blazer and shirt, appeared to hold back tears as the guilty verdict was read. At one point, she turned to look at the gallery, where the family and friends of murder victim Travis Alexander were seated. Five jurors voted Arias was guilty of premeditated murder and seven voted that she was guilty of premeditated felony murder.
May 8, 2013 – Jodi Arias gave a post-conviction interview to Fox affiliate KSAZ and said she would prefer the death penalty over life in prison. Arias said in the interview that she would "prefer to die sooner than later" and that "death is the ultimate freedom."
May 13, 2013 – After a jury convicted her of first-degree murder, Jodi Arias told Fox affiliate KSAZ she would prefer the death penalty as opposed to spending the rest of her natural life in an 8' x 10' prison cell. Friends of the man Arias murdered think her interview shows that she's up to her old deceitful tricks. "There are three things we know with certainty about Jodi Arias. 1- She lies, 2- She lies, and 3- She lies. This is not up for debate, it's what she does," Chris Hughes, a close friend of Travis Alexander's at the time of his death, told The Huffington Post. "I think Jodi's request for the death penalty is Jodi doing what she does; lying and manipulating," Hughes said. "Jodi is scared to die. She has been threatening to kill herself since high school. She has had access to guns and knives [and] she is still here. If Jodi wanted to be dead, she would be." Dave Hall, another close friend of Alexander's who has been vocal about his feelings since the verdict came down, has a similar take. "I think Jodi Arias loves herself too much to actually want that," he told HuffPost. Both Hall and Hughes, along with Hughes' wife, Sky, have stood by the Alexander family since Travis' slaying. In December 2011, Sky Hughes told HuffPost that Arias deserved to die for what she did. "I can't think of anything scarier than her being let out," Sky Hughes said. "She would date again -- someone's son, brother, friend. She slaughtered an innocent person because he didn't want to be with her. She has no soul, no accountability. As long as she is alive, those she has contact with are not safe. She is extremely evil, and she deserves the death penalty." Arias was put on suicide watch right after the verdict. Alexander's friends said that her threats of suicide are just that, threats. "She has been threatening to kill herself since junior high or high school. She has had access to guns and knives [and] she is still here. If Jodi wanted to be dead, she would be," Hughes said. Hall added that the threats are likely more self-preservation. "If she tells people, give me death and then they do, it's a way of protecting her[self] and acting like she's not hurt ... since the outcome was what she said she wanted."
May 14, 2013 – Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott asked a judge for permission to withdraw from the case. The detail was contained in court minutes and provides no information about why the two defense lawyers asked to withdraw. Judge Sherry Stephens denied the request.
May 15, 2013 – The same Phoenix jury that convicted Jodi Arias declared she is eligible for the death penalty. The jury returned the eligibility verdict after less than three hours of deliberation. In Arizona, the jury must first decide whether or not someone is eligible for the death penalty. In this case, the jury said, according to the law, Arias is eligible because she killed Alexander in an "especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner" -- all criteria that must be met to impose a death sentence. Lawyers on both sides spoke before the jury deliberated. "The last thing he saw before he lapsed into unconsciousness ... was that blade coming to his throat," prosecutor Juan Martinez said. "And the last thing he felt before he left this earth was pain ... She made sure she killed him by stabbing him over and over and over again." At one point Martinez pointed out that it would have taken about two minutes for Alexander to die. "Let's just sit here for two minutes," Martinez said. No one in the courtroom spoke for two minutes. Afterward, Martinez said: "Does that seem like a short period of time? No." Arias' defense team had little to say during the proceeding. Its opening and closing statements were short. "This isn't a matter of cruelty ... the question is does it meet the definition of especially cruel," Arias defense attorney Kirk Nurmi said. "Is it beyond this normal cruelty that is inherent in first-degree murder?" Nurmi reminded the jury of the instructions provided by the judge and said the state had failed to prove Alexander suffered a cruel death. "This aggravating factor was indeed not proven," Nurmi said.
May 16, 2013 – Travis Alexander's siblings stood in open court and sobbed as they described the emotional devastation caused by his murder at the hands of his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias. Nearly five years of anger, frustration and grief were shared in court by Alexander's brother, Steven, and his sister, Samantha, when they read their emotional victim impact statements. "I cannot sleep alone in the dark anymore. I've had dreams of my brother all curled up in the shower -- thrown in there to rot for days ... Now when I want to talk or see my brother ... I have to go to a hole in the ground," Steven Alexander said. "I don't want these nightmares anymore," he said. "I don't want to see my brother's murderer anymore." Travis Alexander's younger brother read from a blog post he had posted online in April 2008 –- less than two months before he was brutally murdered. The blog post read, in part: "This is the year that will eclipse all others. I will earn more, learn more, travel more, serve more, love more, give more and be more than all the other years of my life combined … This year will be the best year of my life." Travis Alexander's sister, Samantha, spoke of the brutality of the killing in her heartrending statement, and the pain of seeing the crime scene photos that were shown in court during Arias' 19 week trial. "I am a police officer and some of these photos are more gruesome than any I have ever seen in my 11 years of law enforcement," she said, as friends and family quietly cried in the courtroom. "Our minds are permanently stained with images of our poor brother's throat slit from ear to ear. Our minds are stained with images of Travis' body." Samantha Alexander added, "To have Travis taken so barbarically is beyond any words we can find to describe our loss." With the verdict and aggravating phase both complete, the jury will next determine whether Arias deserves the death penalty or a life sentence. Arias' defense lawyer, Kirk Nurmi, acknowledged his client's fate is in the jury's hands during Thursday's court proceedings. "The verdict you render at this phase of the trial will determine whether Jodi Arias spends the rest of her life in prison or if she's sentenced to be executed ... That is the decision before you," Nurmi said. He suggested the sentence should not be death. "Life is the appropriate penalty," Nurmi said. The defense lawyer pointed to Arias' lack of a prior criminal record and said she was a talented artist. Prosecutor Juan Martinez was unmoved by Nurmi's plea for leniency. "What does that have to do with what happened on June 4, 2008? ... The fact that she's talented ... indicates nothing more than the defendant trying to gain sympathy ... The only appropriate sentence is death," Martinez said.
May 20, 2013 – Attorneys representing Jodi Arias announced they would not be calling a single witness to plea for her life in the penalty phase of her trial. Arias was expected to take the stand after her lawyers were to call a former boyfriend and childhood friend. However, that plan failed when one of the witnesses backed out at the last minute. In a last ditch effort, the defense asked the judge for a mistrial in the death penalty phase. The motion was filed after Patricia Womack, a childhood friend of Arias, decided she would not testify. She complained that she had been receiving death threats. "This is constitutionally unacceptable," defense attorney Kirk Nurmi told Judge Sherry Stephens. According to the defense motion, the threats Womack received included "threats on her life if she were to testify on Ms. Arias' behalf." Nurmi also complained to the judge about prosecutor Juan Martinez, whom he alleged intimidated defense witnesses throughout the trial. "This cannot be a modern-day version of stoning or witch trials. When you have a prosecutor that this court allows to personally attack witnesses and counsel, it breeds this sort of environment where intimidating can take place," Nurmi. "And this has been happening throughout trial." When the judge denied the motion for mistrial, Nurmi renewed a previous request for himself and co-counsel Jennifer Willmott to withdraw from the case. "We are in a position where we cannot provide effective assistance ... We cannot present the complete picture," Nurmi said. Stephens denied the motion. Upon hearing the judge's decision, Nurmi announced the defense would not be calling a single witness to speak on behalf of Arias. "Given the court's ruling, and the incomplete picture, we will not be calling witnesses in the defense case," attorney Kirk Nurmi told Judge Sherry Stephens. Following the announcement, the attorneys went into chambers with the judge for a private meeting. Afterward, Stephens announced the trial would resume May 21. She did not elaborate on the reason for the delay.
May 20, 2013 – The ex-boyfriend of Jodi Arias was willing to testify on her behalf in the penalty phase of her trial, according to Azcentral.com. Darryl Brewer told the news network he was ready and waiting to be called to the stand when he was told the defense had decided not to call any witnesses to speak on Arias' behalf. "I was shocked," Brewer told Azcentral.com. "I needed to tell the jury there was a whole other life to Jodi Arias ... It wasn't until the spring of 2006 that this girl started to change ... It's important that they know," Brewer told Azcentral.com. Arias former boyfriend also said he did not believe Arias should be sentenced to death for killing Alexander. "No one can condone this heinous crime [but] I don't believe in state killing," Brewer said. "Jodi needs some help and she should not be let back into society."
May 21, 2013 – Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott asked the jury to save Arias' life. "Jodi took Travis away. She took him away from his family and she took him away from this world, but two wrongs do not make a right ... You have a choice ... We are asking you to find that Jodi's life is worth saving," Willmott said. But prosecutor Juan Martinez demanded death. "Mr. Alexander was only 30 and will forever be 30," Martinez said. "Mr. Alexander is no longer going to have any more yesterdays ... You have a duty ... the difficult thing under these circumstances -- the only thing you can do -- is return a verdict of death," Martinez said. The 32-year-old defendant, dressed in black, pleaded with the jury to spare her life. "I loved Travis and I looked up to him. At one point he meant the world to me," Arias said. "To this day I can hardly believe I was capable of such violence." Arias maintained she was a victim of domestic violence, whether anyone believed it or not, and said she had a lot to offer other inmates if she received a life sentence. She said she could teach people to read and write, and could help raise awareness about domestic violence. Arias also referenced a statement she made to the media on May 8, that she would prefer the death penalty. "I've made many statements I would prefer the death penalty over life in prison ... To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome ... but as I stand here now, I can't in good conscience ask you to give me death," Arias said. The jury began deliberating Arias' fate around 6 p.m. ET.
May 21, 2013 – Jodi Arias told The Associated Press that her family influenced her decision to ask the jury for life behind bars. "I felt like by asking for death, it's like asking for assisted suicide and I didn't want to do that to my family," Arias said in a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate. Arias repeated many of her past claims and testimony to the AP. However, she did insist she was against having cameras in the courtroom for her murder trial. "The prosecutor has accused me of wanting to be famous, which is not true," she said.
May 22, 2013 – The eight-man, four-woman panel notified Judge Stephens that they were stuck. They were called into the courtroom, where she offered some suggestions. "You may want to identify areas of agreement and disagreement and discuss the law and the evidence as they relate to the areas of disagreement. If you still disagree, you may wish to tell the attorneys and me which issues, questions, law or facts you would like us to assist you with," Stephens said.
May 23, 2013 – The jury deciding Jodi Arias' fate said it could not reach a decision on her punishment. The "non-unanimous agreement" verdict was reached after the jury deliberated for more than 13 hours. Under Arizona law, a new jury will be selected to decide whether Arias should be put to death or serve life in prison. If the second panel can't reach a unanimous verdict, the judge will have to decide whether to put her in prison for life or make her eligible for parole in 25 years. After the hung jury was announced, some jurors were crying. One appeared to mouth, "I'm sorry," to Travis Alexander's family in the courtroom gallery.
A conference with the judge and attorneys has been set for June 20, 2013, to determine how both sides will to proceed with a retrial. CHECK BACK FOR REGULAR UPDATES