04-17-2013, 02:14 AM
Martinez blew through his first witness's rebuttal testimony in one day. In that short time, Dr. Demarte (clinical psychologist who evaluated Arias) completely demolished months of bullshit testimony by Arias, Samuels and LaViolette. Demarte is smart, direct, not pandering to the jury, completely objective... She tested and retested Arias and interviewed others. She diagnosed Arias as having borderline personality disorder, stated that Arias chose to lie in creating her defense, and proclaimed with certainty that Arias does not have PTSD.
Imo, the borderline personality diagnosis may create some sympathy in the jury. It's a mental illness/disorder. But, it was an honest expert assessment which was determined by scientific testing and objectivity, AT LAST. Don't think it will help Arias get off the hook, but it could help her get LWOP instead of the death penalty, unless Martinez has something up his sleeve to negate that possibility during re-direct.
Willmott is cross-examining Demarte again tomorrow. So far, Willmott's clearly been attacking Demarte's youth. The defense needs to make LaViolette's testimony seem more relevant than that of Demarte, so they're fighting for experience over education/science. Unlike LaViolette, Demarte is a PhD and a clinical psychologist. But, she's the same age as Arias and though she's been practicing since 2004, it was under a licensed psychologist until she obtained her doctorate and then her license in 2009.
Demarte's better than I expected when I read her CV and website; really sharp and experienced for her age. She's also supervised other psychologists and worked with DV perps, victims, sexual offenders, criminals and civilians. Willmott is outmatched so far, imo.
Getting closer to closing arguments; hope this pace continues.
Imo, the borderline personality diagnosis may create some sympathy in the jury. It's a mental illness/disorder. But, it was an honest expert assessment which was determined by scientific testing and objectivity, AT LAST. Don't think it will help Arias get off the hook, but it could help her get LWOP instead of the death penalty, unless Martinez has something up his sleeve to negate that possibility during re-direct.
Willmott is cross-examining Demarte again tomorrow. So far, Willmott's clearly been attacking Demarte's youth. The defense needs to make LaViolette's testimony seem more relevant than that of Demarte, so they're fighting for experience over education/science. Unlike LaViolette, Demarte is a PhD and a clinical psychologist. But, she's the same age as Arias and though she's been practicing since 2004, it was under a licensed psychologist until she obtained her doctorate and then her license in 2009.
Demarte's better than I expected when I read her CV and website; really sharp and experienced for her age. She's also supervised other psychologists and worked with DV perps, victims, sexual offenders, criminals and civilians. Willmott is outmatched so far, imo.
Getting closer to closing arguments; hope this pace continues.