The Jodi Arias Trial--Fatal Attraction – The Murder of Travis Alexander

[HairOfTheDog]

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.

[thekid65]

I don't get the whole youth thing. 8 years experience is nothing to be taken lightly. Well spoken, easy to understand. Great witness for the prosecution. Clearly was waving the bullshit flag all day when it came to LaViolette's testimony. She actually made sense with her diagnosis by relating it to events that Jodi has described.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't get the whole youth thing. 8 years experience is nothing to be taken lightly. Well spoken, easy to understand. Great witness for the prosecution. Clearly was waving the bullshit flag all day when it came to LaViolette's testimony. She actually made sense with her diagnosis by relating it to events that Jodi has described.

I agree, Demarte pegged Arias, accurately and concisely.

Demarte is the antithesis of LaViolette, who went down in flames. Wilmott's not scoring any points towards bolstering LaViolette's 30 years of experience and subjective assessment by attempting to minimize Demarte's education, objectivity and accomplishments.

It's also kinda fascinating that Demarte is the same age and similar physcially to Arias. You probably noticed too that Jodi tried to act completely uninterested in Demarte's testimony and didn't even look at her. SC (silent chuckle). Two intelligent young women who chose to use it in polar opposite ways.

Jodi's no Enstein like she sees herself though. 116 IQ, meh. Above average, but not soaring. Her narcissism and belief that everyone else is stupid caused her to make a lot of idiotic mistakes.

[thekid65]

I'm just gonna hit the pause button on the discussion of this trial, to make a an observation. Don't worry, you won't miss a thing.

One more thing about Demarte.....lordy, lordy she has the sexiest pair of lips. Perfect!

And we're back....you may now hit the play button.

[username]

I listen to or watch HLN if I'm driving or working around the house but I want to kill those fuckers. Pause/play...and could they take any more breaks?

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm just gonna hit the pause button on the discussion of this trial, to make a an observation. Don't worry, you won't miss a thing.

One more thing about Demarte.....lordy, lordy she has the sexiest pair of lips. Perfect!

And we're back....you may now hit the play button.

Demarte's cute; she drinks and licks her lips a lot. I think she's doing that just for you, Kid.

Willmott drives me crazy though. She's so chirpy and her attempts to squash Demarte come across as childish; she's not good at cross-examination, imo.

I listen to or watch HLN if I'm driving or working around the house but I want to kill those fuckers. Pause/play...and could they take any more breaks?

Wish there was a fast forward button for the whole trial.

Really hoping Jodi is headache-free and able to attend court today.

Anxious for Willmott to wrap up her cross and get through Demarte's redirect. Would like to see Demarte finish redirect and jury questions so she can be off the stand by end of week (sorry, Kid). She's done her job well and I'm curious about the prosecution's other rebuttal witnesses.

There's no official list published that I can find, but lots of speculation regarding who Martinez might call to tie up some of the loose ends he left regarding the coded magazines, the gas receipts, the closet shelving, the pedophilia claims, the emails from Travis's friends, etc... He might try to do it all in closing, but betting there are one or two more witnesses for the prosecution coming up.

[thekid65]

Demarte's cute; she drinks and licks her lips a lot.

Yeah...wouldnt go so far as to call her hot, but for some reason, those lips of hers just "do it" for me. One of the sexiest things a woman can do is the lip bite

I think she's doing that just for you, Kid.

I've found that women just can't help themselves in that aspect. You're right, she knows I'm watching.

Willmott drives me crazy though. She's so chirpy and her attempts to squash Demarte come across as childish; she's not good at cross-examination, imo.

She sucks. She tries at times to be a bitch, but it's not in her personality. She did a lousy job on cross, IMO. Really got nothing out of Demarte

[HairOfTheDog]

She sucks. She tries at times to be a bitch, but it's not in her personality. She did a lousy job on cross, IMO. Really got nothing out of Demarte

Willmott doesn't strike me as effective. She did make some minor points yesterday though (for example, with Demarte stating "patterns" of name calling in Travis's written communications). Just didn't think the point was significant to the case anyway, and Demarte probably trounced that point by getting in that she felt Travis was reacting to Jodi not respecting boundaries. Mostly, Willmott's cross was a big fail, I thought.

Was surprised when Demarte testified that Jodi stole a ring from Travis; that was a new and significant example of Jodi's boundary crossing. Although it wasn't in the testimony, the HLN talking heads claim it was an engagement ring intended for one of his former girlfriends.

Didn't really get a feel for the jurors' positions through their questions to Demarte like I did with the questions posed to other witnesses. Not clear how credible they found her expert opinion and testimony. I thought she was a sold B or B+.

[HairOfTheDog]

Anybody following the trial and feeling good about the defense or aspects of it?

Haven't seen Heartbreaker or Barbara or some of the earlier case followers weigh in for a while. Wondering how others are perceiving things as the trial draws closer to closing arguments.

[Duchess]

Anybody following the trial and feeling good about the defense or aspects of it?

I tried watching it one day but became frustrated with all the breaks & a lot of the ridiculous commentary so since then I've been getting all my info from you, Tiki and a couple of others that post in this thread.

[username]

I don't think the defense got anywhere with the psychologist. I'm not sure how it will play if the jury believes that Jodi has borderline personality disorder. One talking head said something to the effect that BPD isn't treatable etc. so they'd be more inclined towards the death penalty.

Really? Is BPD not considered a mental health disease? Not treatable? If you google medications for BPD, there are some which seems to dispute that.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't think the defense got anywhere with the psychologist. I'm not sure how it will play if the jury believes that Jodi has borderline personality disorder. One talking head said something to the effect that BPD isn't treatable etc. so they'd be more inclined towards the death penalty.

Really? Is BPD not considered a mental health disease? Not treatable? If you google medications for BPD, there are some which seems to dispute that.

Borderline Personality Disorder is indeed recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

It's very very difficult to treat, from all that I've read. Intense long-term psychotherapy is really all there is, with mixed results.

The meds you saw listed are probably those for depression, anger, and some of the symptoms associated with BPD, but they don't treat/cure the disorder itself.

A 2010 review by the Cochrane collaboration found that no medications show promise for "the core BPD symptoms of chronic feelings of emptiness, identity disturbance and abandonment." However, the authors found that some medications may impact isolated symptoms associated with BPD.

In terms of Arias's chances of avoiding the death penalty, IMO:
- If the jury believes that Jodi was a battered woman (with or without believing self defense), she's in good shape to avoid the needle.
-If they also believe she is now suffering from PTSD (even if they don't believe the trauma was born of self defense), she's in even better shape.
- If they don't believe either of those defense claims and instead believe that Jodi has BPD, she's probably in a weaker position, but the BPD diagnosis will still give Jodi a kind of excuse for her actions in the minds of some jurors (even though it shouldn't; she's not claiming mental defect and BPD doesn't mean someone can't control their actions anyway).

I think that Jodi will get the death penalty only if the jury agrees to disregard LaViolette, Samuels, and Demarte altogether and just figure she was a crazy jealous bitch who felt justified in making and executing a plan to kill the perceived source of her anger/rejection, without trying to determine why she felt that way.

[Duchess]

I'm going to be eligible for a senior discount by the time this trial finally ends.

[thekid65]

I already am.....

[heartbreaker6713]

i am here I have been watching it through an online live feed. I can't stand the pause unpaused crap. I think the last witness was professional and was able to stand her own with cross. I found her reliable especially given that the defense wanted to use scales that aren't usually used and tried to make her look incompetent, which clearly isn't the case. I also like that she used language that is clearly in her every day world and then when asked to clarify she did for the jury.

I haven't been around as much posting wise because I saw you had it covered, I've been peeking but no sense in posting things multiple times. things go unnoticed and then repeated at later times so I just figured if something of importance popped up then I'd speak up but you have had it all covered!

I really like the live feeds if anyone needs the link let me know I can get it for you. there are some I don't like because they lag or crap out in the middle and the one I found once in a while needs to be reset but that takes 5 seconds. I can take 5 seconds versus 5 minutes of commercials and hearing the commenters voices.

[username]

Heartbreaker, beyond the facts, your opinions are valuable. At this point, what are your thoughts with regards to a conviction/sentencing? I'll be absolutely floored if she's not convicted of murder. I'm not sure she'll get the dp though.

[HairOfTheDog]

I haven't been around as much posting wise because I saw you had it covered, I've been peeking but no sense in posting things multiple times. things go unnoticed and then repeated at later times so I just figured if something of importance popped up then I'd speak up but you have had it all covered!

Good to see you. Like username, I'm interested in reading other people's opinions on what's going down too.

Wondering if I'm alone in thinking that the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosis is probably a death penalty quasher?

I think the prosecution had to put Demarte on the stand to rebut LaViolette's claim that Jodi was a battered woman + Samuels's claim that her lying/cover-ups were due to PTSD. BPD, if explained to the jury again in closing, will likely garner less sympathy, but I think it will still prevent some jurors from agreeing to put her to death.

Back tomorrow with the next rebuttal witness for the prosecution. Anxious to see who Martinez calls to the stand.

No trial today (and none on Friday 4/26) - short week.

[Duchess]

The world is filled with people who are bi-polar, people who are successful, productive individuals and I'd really hate to see that used as an excuse for her fucked up mentality, she's just a fucker and I don't think that disorder has anything to do with all the terrible things she's done.

[HairOfTheDog]

From what I've read, people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are often misdiagnosed as bi-polar.

Here are the 3 main differences between the disorders, from Psychology Today.

1. People with BPD cycle much more quickly, often several times a day.

2. The moods in people with BPD are more dependent, either positively or negatively, on what's going on in their life at the moment. Anything that might smack of abandonment (however far fetched) is a major trigger.

3. In people with BPD, the mood swings are more distinct. Marsha M. Linehan, professor of psychology at the University of Washington, says that while people with bipolar disorder swing between all-¬encompassing periods of mania and major depression, the mood swings typical in BPD are more specific. She says, "You have fear going up and down, sadness going up and down, anger up and down, disgust up and down, and love up and down."

Ref:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stop...-disorders

"Fear of abandonment" connects to Martinez's motive theory. In his opening, he made the case that Arias planned and executed Travis's murder because he was shutting her out of his life more and moving on with other women.

He was taking another woman to the PPL event in Cancun and had posted in his blog about giving up casual dating and focusing on finding a wife.

[aussiefriend]

she's just a fucker and I don't think that disorder has anything to do with all the terrible things she's done.

I have seen her on the stand on Whorealdo. She just comes across to me as a deliberate manipulative evil person. I really hate it when people try to play the psychiatric card. I would think she would need a strong psychiatric history to support that defence. Such as, inpatient records, treatment and pre-existing diagnosis.