Jodi Arias Has Been Spared From Death But this Case is Far From Over!

Phoenix, AZ—The penalty phase of the Jodi Arias ended when jurors could not arrive at a unanimous verdict and any and all hope of putting Arias to death is over. 

The Alexander family members present were observed both angry and weeping which does not speak well for their character or humanity.   They only sought revenge, pure and simple. Even the execution of an accused never brings satisfaction or closure for those close to the decedent. 

Had Arias received a death penalty it would be decades before it,  if ever was carried out. 

This case at best was an obvious manslaughter case at best and Arias already served the maximum incarceration time prescribed by Arizona law.

The emotion and rage involved in the altercation was best displayed in the remains of Travis Alexander. The amount of wounds most of them superficial indicated there was an epic fight between Alexander and his killer.

The issue of the actual trial that was by far the worst example of a media circus I’ve seen in my four decade career in crime,courts and justice.  

The actions of the Mesa police homicide detective and prosecutor were lawless, vicious and contrary to a civilized society.  Now the higher courts will now be trying their actions and  this murder conviction is and should be in serious jeopardy.

Evidence tampering, perjury, witness tampering will be examined and I suspect there is more than sufficient reason to reverse the conviction and send Arias home. 

This is a tragic case for the Alexander family and that of Arias.  No court proceeding or penalty can bring Travis Alexander back to life.  I think everyone involved can agree that this homicide should have never happened.  It did, and Jodi Arias who had no previous history of crime of violence deserved the full benefit of the doubt.

Arias lied to police but is that somehow unusual for a human being under the stress of investigation for a capital crime?  Most people can’t tell the truth on why they were late for work in the morning.

As for the blood thirsty thugs that wanted to and still want to lynch Arias, I have nothing but contempt.  Those people are in serious need of mental health treatment.  That goes double for those that have never met Travis Alexander.

Jodi Arias Freed by Police Perjury, Evidence and Witness Tampering!

Phoenix, AZ—Okay I’m jaded.  I have investigated so many high profile cases over the decades and have learned one sad thing about them.  Integrity among witnesses, cops and prosecutors quickly vanishes.

Being a criminal defense investigator is not like what most people think or understand.  While investigating these cases I soon found myself trapped in a world of lies.  If I can expose the lies my client often goes free! Because of bizarre dynamics, this is anything but an easy task.

Let’s begin with a personal statistic I’ve established about my fellow humans.  A full one-third or more of people routinely lie.  As we know most people in fact can’t seem to tell the truth about something as simple why they’re late for work. 

If this percentage of people can achieve the same result by lying as telling the truth they will choose to deceive.  It’s best described as a form of narcissism or self-empowerment. 

In high profile cases deception is the rule, not the exception!  People lie from every possible side of a case skewing justice along the way!

Whether or not the accused is guilty, those arrested lie most of the time.  They think that lies will help them and they are desperate.  Their friends and family members that find themselves as defense witnesses want to help so they lie too.

For the cops interviewing those people separately, they can easily expose this deception.  Lies told by suspects and their family or friends will nearly always destroy any chance of escaping even an unjust conviction.

Unfortunately many cops have a terrible habit of guessing culpability first and then creating, shaping or forming the evidence to convict those they believe are guilty. 

The best example I can cite here is O.J. Simpson.  The case appeared weak and cops went about to frame a guilty man.  However in the end they got caught and Simpson was freed.    

Cops are in the unique position to remove, move or add physical evidences including DNA to any crime scene.  When they subsequently serve search warrants more opportunities are presented to place damning evidence inside the homes, offices or vehicles of the accused.

Motives for this behavior include seeking professional recognition, fame, or simply being driven to nail the coffin lids on the people they arrest.  Let me say that the percentages of this happening are so much higher than you would ever dare imagine.

We all have made ourselves believe that cops and prosecutors wear the white hats.  After all they are the good guys who can always be trusted never to mislead you, right? 

Ego’s, self-image issues and narcissism are no strangers to cops and prosecutors.  They love the attention they get by publicly demonizing some hapless perceived miscreant.

In high profile cases this begins at press conferences where cops and prosecutors pat each other on the back for the important arrest.  Thus the demonization of the accused begins and the defense is never able to challenge this with equal time. 

By the time the defense discovers any solid evidence they are subject to gag orders by the judges on the case!  Prosecutors often deliberately cross the line so that gag orders are issued.  That in effect insures the public will only hear one side of the case!

Once they bring in the TV cameras inside the courtrooms that suddenly guarantees that lies will become the new truth!  Bad behavior and deception go into high gear! 

Savvy cops know how to play the civilian witnesses by making them feel important.  The cops want to hear only the things that will bolster their cases.  So it’s very easy to ask questions that provide the answers they want to hear the witnesses repeat! 

This often begins with the first eyewitness identifications.  The witness was either a victim and saw a violent crime committed by a stranger.  Their eyes were fixed on weapons, the hands and shocking deeds of the perpetrator/s.

Soon a cop brings a suspect to the witness in a police car.  The witness assumes that the cop somehow found the right person and they want to help the cops. 

What happens next is horrible.  The witness will more than likely identify whomever the cops have brought! After all the witness wants to help the cops whether they recognize the suspect or not.

Identifications made outside of a proper line up suck in a big way.  The so-called, one-on-one identification method is excessively subjective and should be outlawed. 

A high percentage of people will exaggerate or outright lie if they think it will help the police take a criminal off of our streets.  Once the useful idiot/witness gets praise and recognition he or she will become locked into the lie forever. 

Thankfully the mass proliferation of surveillance cameras has stopped many false identification cases cold before they got out of hand.  

With the limelight of TV cameras, and recognition from the likes of TV commentators such as Nancy Grace witnesses abandon the truth and instead gravitate to what’s seems popular at the moment.  

It’s exactly like the intuitive Dr. Josef Goebbels infamously said, “If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.”  The media can be counted on to repeat each and every lie until they are set in stone!

When you allow a murder trial like the Jodi Arias case to become a media circus only bad things will happen.    

Today with the Internet and our instant communication keeping a jury away from sensational influence outside of the courtroom is impossible. 

Guilt or innocence is established by a lot of things in America.  Unfortunately too often the truth does not really matter.

This all takes me to my personal motto about the criminal justice system, “If justice happens it’s usually by accident and for all the wrong reasons.”

Jodi Arias Is A Free Woman!

Phoenix, AZ—The defense in the Jodi Arias case has filed a Poison Pill Motion that will end the prosecution of Arias.  She will be set free without as much as a jaywalking conviction!

According to the motion the computer belonging to Travis Alexander, while in police custody was tampered with.   Thousands of pornographic files were deleted in a very serious case of evidence tampering.

Arias claimed under oath during her trial that she discovered Alexander masturbating while looking at porn images of little boys.  Prosecutor Juan Martinez had repeatedly ridiculed Arias in arguments as a liar saying she made that up. 

This is bad as prosecutorial misconduct can get.  There is no other legal remedy now but to send Arias home.

I don’t anticipate Arias being held in custody beyond a week or two under the cataclysmic circumstances.

What remains are the federal and local investigations into the evidence tampering, violation of civil rights and obstruction of justice by cops and perhaps a prosecutor. 

As for the legions of trial watching trolls that demanded the death penalty for Arias emotional meltdowns are on the way!

Nancy Grace had better get some better medication from her shrink because this news will make her head explode!

I predicted this outcome long ago and it comes as no surprise to me.  I was criticized, condemned and castigated for telling it the way it was. 

As for Jodi Arias, I wish her luck and hope she makes good use of the life that’s being returned to her! 

Read Motion Below:

  Arias Motion to Dismiss Evidence Tampering

Arias Trial is Void Because the Government Facilitated Witness Tampering on a Grand Scale.

Judge Sherry Stephens and Prosecutor Juan Martinez 

Phoenix, AZ—Let me begin by saying I’m not now nor have I ever been retained as the defense investigator for Jodi Arias.  I’m not her friend or one of her supporters. 

I have however been greatly alarmed by the conduct involved with her journey through the Arizona criminal justice system. How the Arias case became such a high profile circus defies all logic.

This was a no more than passionate event of one lover killing another.  This is not really unusual as homicides go.  

How this became a Capital First Degree Murder Case makes no sense to me at all.  Had there been financial gain involved I may have supported a murder charge.

Arias has already been behind bars for over six years and has served adequate time for a more realistic crime such as Manslaughter. 

She’s been convicted of Capital Murder and now a second jury is going to be wangling with her punishment.  We now know that any attempt at fairness of her murder trial and sentencing phase has been terminally compromised

The prosecution and trial of Arias before Judge Sherry Stephens, was nothing less than a judicial nightmare.  The prosecutor Juan Martinez has substantially lowered the acceptable prosecutor's behavior bar and Judge Stephens has miserably failed to rein him in.   

Judge Stephens succeeded in raising her own celebrity star along with Martinez by making sure national TV cameras were unobstructed as they mugged for them.

The media circus created one more unintended monster; legions of pathetic trolls that formed a media fueled lynch mob.  The results were constant death threats to each and every witness that was called by the Arias defense.  Undoubtedly that influenced testimony and perhaps caused defense witnesses to restrain their testimony or refuse to cooperation.  

The threats were discussed today before the Arizona Court of Appeals and they are the apparent reason Judge Stephens has sealed the courtroom.  This sudden attempt to deal with this mess all comes too little and too late.

The decision to allow cameras into courtrooms for live and contemporaneous broadcast was a bad one.  Video is fine as long as it is broadcast or otherwise published after the trial is concluded.

Too many things and do go wrong including the now apparent unbridled witness tampering in the Arias proceedings.

Arizona has now more than adequately demonstrated that protecting Arias’ rights became impossible.  This cannot be somehow cured or remedied now.  Now there is only one fair thing to do and that’s to cut the losses and free Arias. 

There is a valuable less here for future trials. 

Expect More Surprises in The Jodi Arias Case

Phoenix, AZ—The second attempt to get a verdict in the penalty phase of the Jodi Arias murder trial is about be get underway before Judge Sherry Stephens. Will it be death, life without parole or a 25 calendar year sentence?   Arias would get full credit for her years in pretrial custody. 

Arias is understandably and desperately seeking some control over her defense and public relations matters.  The problem is that she’s woefully unqualified to make any of those decisions.

The lawyers assigned to defend Arias are not exactly heavy hitters.  They are lightweights with limited skills and resources.  

Arias has been widely criticized for her missteps at every turn.  This young woman is fighting for her life while dealing with complicated issues few of us will ever have to face. For her there are no right answers.  Whatever she does turns out wrong. 

The only thing I know about Arias for sure is she has given substantially different versions of whatever happened in that Mesa, AZ home. I’ve learned long ago that people that use legitimate and lawful deadly force in self-defense far too often lie to authorities because they think it’s somehow necessary.  

The simple truth is if Arias had invoked her right to remain silent and simply refused to answer police questions she would have probably never been arrested.  In any event she’d be a free woman today.  

People that have never walked in this Arias’ shoes are the first to castigate her.  

Judge Stephens wisely booted the Media’s cameras out of the courtroom for the second penalty phase.  The actual murder trial that ended in conviction was as ugly as any court/media circus in American history. Perhaps this time the jury can do their jobs with less outside influence.

Protecting un-sequestered jurors from published material and videos is absolutely impossible in this day and age.  Judges have to take special precautions to prevent the court’s evidence from being co-mingled with Internet gossip.

Frankly the courts have been incredibly negligent beyond giving jurors redundant but meaningless admonishments to avoid such material. 

Under the media's radar, this case has had lawyers arguing and litigating under court seal since this sensational trial ended.  In my decades of courtroom and criminal justice experience I’ve seen nothing like this. 

My trusted Phoenix court sources have told me the protracted secret fight is over a “new” witness and evidence that was not considered at the first trial. This has nothing to do with the penalty phase but in fact what may actually lead to a new trial that may yet clear Arias.

This case has drawn an astronomical number of vocal trolls that have consistently spread anti-Arias hate and venom.  These trolls all claim to have watched the whole trial and know everything.

What these trolls are clueless about are the hours of the trial that they have never seen!  That was the numerous fights over evidence and admissibility in Judge Stephens’ chambers where the press, their cameras and public was excluded.

I hear the trolls say, "But she stabbed him so many times!"  What people don't realize is that few of these wounds were mortal.  The human body is so amazing that it will continue to fight to survive.  

A somewhat frail woman realistically would have to stab a stronger male numerous tines before he would begin to weaken or expire. Superficial wounds inflicted by a weaker female would do little but invite more aggression from a stronger male. 

The Arias case is sure to take many more surprising turns before it is over. 

I’m convinced that ultimately there may be enough prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in the Arias case to reverse any conviction and prevent a retrial.  I would not count out the real possibility that Arias may be freed before the litigation is over.