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.

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. 

Murder Conviction and Sentence of Jodi Arias May Be History

Phoenix, AZ—A major time-bomb of sorts is waiting to go off in the courtroom of Judge Sherry Stephens.  This is in the form of a motion that would remove the death penalty from consideration due to serious misconduct.  The shenanigans and misconduct of cops and prosecutors in this case has grown to fill a massive book. 

Judge Stephens lost all control of the the Jodi Arias case from day one.  Stephens has simply turned a blind eye to the misconduct that allowed this murder trial to become one of the more infamous judicial circuses since the Salem Witch Trials.

The latest stunt revealed today was that Mesa police detective Estaban Flores unlawfully shared confidential and court sealed information with his wife.  She in turn allegedly uploaded outrageous videos containing some of the information onto YouTube in efforts to incite public opinion against Arias.

Ultimately, if this is true, Estaban’s police career and peace officer certification is history.  He and his wife probably will now be facing criminal charges brought by an appointed special prosecutor. 

As for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Maricopa County Attorney’s Office,  it seems that they have from the beginning chronically and deliberately obstructed Arias’ right to a fair trial. 

Everything from withholding evidence, witness tampering, and obstructed communication with the Arias defense team has taken place.  Of course who could forget the grandstanding circus Ringmaster, prosecutor Juan Martinez signing autographs for his infatuated female court watching fans.

That means there is so much more at stake here than lifting the Death Penalty but outright dismissal is now in plain sight.

No small issue is that Arias has been transformed by a runaway prosecution effort into a reviled pariah.  Current jury selection happenings have made it abundantly clear that the jury pool is hopelessly tainted.

There is no chance that the damage could ever be undone.  There is only one solution now That is setting Arias free and that’s exactly what the law requires.

As for the angry mob of mindless court watchers that have made Arias the object of their intense hate?   They can now transfer their wrath to the brain dead officials that let this happen through their redundant, persistent and chronic misconduct.

The 23 page Motion is attached below:

  Jodi Arias Motion Oct 1 by crimefile

Jodi Arias’ Trial and Conviction along with Months of Secret Court Hearings is a National Disgrace

Phoenix, AZ—Jodi Arias was arrested tried convicted and may yet face an executioner.   Her stories about the June 2008 death of her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander varied significantly.  Was it justifiable?  The jury along with everyone else could only guess.  Since when does a guess prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?

Alexander withstood well over 20 cuts or stabs from a knife and a gunshot wound to his head from a tiny .25 ACP pistol bullet.  He had plenty of so-called defense wounds on his hands and arms.  That means he was putting up a serious and deadly fight with Arias.  Apparently Arias won the struggle.  Who was the initial aggressor?  Was this fight spontaneous or a murderous attack on Alexander by Arias? 

Many people like to believe that they are positive of their favorite theory of what happened during this epic battle that nobody saw.  

Arias lied but innocent people often exaggerate and lie all the time out of simple fear.  Hell, most Americans can’t seem to tell the truth about why they were late for work. 

I don’t really think Arais' lies mean much at all.  She may have tried to cover up her involvement simply to put this horror behind her.  Who in their right mind would want to explain such an event to a bunch of cops?  We’d all want to do whatever we could to make something like this go away. 

Is Arias guilty of Capital Murder?  Hell, I don’t know.  On it’s face it looks like a violent emotional outburst rather than a planned event.  

The repeated stab wounds would have angered Alexander and caused him to fight even more desperately.  It takes a lot of injury to stop a strong healthy human and most of the injuries were superficial and non-fatal. 

The trial of Jody Arias was an exercise in Roman Coliseum style, ghastly entertainment.  Tongues were wagging about this trial coast to coast.  The Arias jury was undoubtedly influenced by the crush of the celebrity pundit opinions despite numerous and ineffective admonishments to avoid the media and Internet. 

The un-sequestered Arias jury could not help but see the hoopla and unprecedented media encampment surrounding the Maricopa County Superior Court during this circus.  We can pretend they were not influenced but we all really know better.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez paraded around like a peacock as he signed autographs for his adoring audience.  The trial became a shameful sham as Judge Sherry Stephens surrendered all of the decorum and dignity American trials are supposed to maintain.  Arias was convicted as the crowds outside cheered louder that what we’d hear at any Super Bowl.  

Since the trial there has been non-stop secret court hearings on this case reminiscent of those infamous Star Chamber proceedings.  This may be an attempt to slow down the publicity cyclone they created, but it’s way too late to un-ring the bell and somehow establish a sudden sense of fairness.  They manufactured a Guilty verdict by popular public opinion rather than evidence.

Arias’ rights to a fair trial have been violated in the gravest extreme.  When an American’s rights are violated by the misconduct of courts or prosecutors the only remedy is to declare a mistrial and to attach jeopardy.  Simply said, it’s time to free Jodi Arias after six years of imprisonment and one of the poorest excuses of a trial in American history.

Judge Stephens and prosecutor Martinez can pretend that they bear no responsibility for this giant farce.  They played to the celebrity crush and facilitated this disgrace.  They both deserve to be purged from the State Bar of Arizona for their misconduct.  They both knew better.