Finally the trial is over and we are down to the closing arguments. As expected, Juan Martinez did a brilliant job connecting all the dots inside of this case. His argument lasted hours, not referring to any notes, simply relying on the evidence to speak for itself. This man knows this case forward and backward and his confidence shines through.
While watching the closing argument from the prosecution, Jodi can be seen smirking, sometimes laughing, and attempting to cry. As the gruesome photos are placed up on the overhead for the jury to see again, Jodi repeatedly peaks at them, then goes back to turning her head, giving the appearance that she is upset and crying. Again, I don't see red eyes or tears I guess it's just her "morbid curiosity" that propels her to repeatedly look at all of the photos? She has seen all of these pictures before, yet for some reason she still enjoys looking at them.
Juan Martinez took the jury and fellow watchers through the entire relationship between Travis Alexander and his brutal killer. He creates a picture of a bachelor and a desperate woman who has a known past of insecurity and stalking, where they go from dating to break-up, to murder. He methodically walks us through the final moments of Travis' life and his desperate struggle for survival against a woman who purposely manipulated him into a submissive position, naked, and sitting down inside of a shower.
Martinez continued his dazzling performance by pointing out all the evidence that directly correlates with premeditation. He exposed the absurdity of Jodi bringing the pictures of her and Travis vacationing together. Why would she bring these pictures with her if she wasn't initially planning on going to Arizona? She certainly wasn't going to show her new boyfriend these pictures. The text messages from Travis, the robbery at the grandparents' home, the gun, the rented car, the gas cans, dying her hair, her phone being shut off, her entering the home and watching Travis for several seconds before announcing her presence, the pictures, the lies, the stabbing before the gunshot, the clean-up, the continued cover up, sending a voice mail, sending a text, and a e-mail, the upside down licence plate, disposing of the gun and knife, running into the arms of another man almost immediately after the murder, and finally continuing on with her charade of lies and changing her story in order to cover up what she had done. All of it points to one thing -- Jodi planned on killing Travis.
Admittedly, many of these things by themselves mean nothing. For instance, there is nothing odd about a person travelling between California and Arizona carrying gas cans. Many people do this. There is nothing unusual about a woman wanting to rent a car for a long trip. It's possible she didn't feel her car would make the entire trip. A woman dying her hair is not shocking at all. What doesn't make sense is when you combine ALL of these elements together, put them in context, and the result was Travis being discovered dead inside of his shower. The only
reasonable explanation is that she did indeed have a plan of going there, armed and ready to kill.
Nurmi conducted the closing argument for the defense. As usual, his pace was slow and his presentation was boring. He pointed out that Jodi is smart and that she could have made up a story instead of saying she went into a fog. He stated that Jodi initially lied only because she was trying to cover for Travis and didn't want people to know he was a pervert, that he was violent, etc. Yes, it's all because Jodi is such a great person. He even went so far as to play the recorded phone call again, only this time the only words we heard were from Travis, not Jodi's responses.
When I compare the performances of the prosecution and defense I think of a huge, Broadway production complete with talented stars on one side and a mediocre, junior high school play on the other.
Admittedly the comment about sounding like a 12-year old girl did not sit well with me. It still doesn't. It should give any normal person a moment of concern. What on earth is Travis saying this for? So, does this comment prove Jodi's accusations? Did she really walk in on Travis with certain images?*** It is my belief, considering the fact that we know there was nothing found in Travis' computer or in his home that would support these allegations directly, nor do we have any witnesses in the last five years to confirm this, that perhaps Travis was "active" when he himself was near or around the age of 12. This would make any partner he was with also that same age. I believe Travis was a year younger than myself. I did know people growing up, at that age, who had already engaged in sexual activity. I'm merely speculating here but it seems to be a little more probable than the allegations Jodi is making.
Another explanation is that Travis made a bad joke. Call me crazy but I felt parts of the conversation revealed that Travis was not terribly engaged in the conversation. I felt at times he was making fun of her, maybe even mocking her. Jodi did sound like a little girl during their whole conversation. "Are you serious?" she squealed to Travis after he told her the amount of times he pleasured himself. Her voice sounds fake, almost as if she's over-acting, doing anything she can to keep his attention. I do not believe for a minute that he was aware that the conversation was being recorded. It leads me to believe that he could have just been making fun of her but obviously the choice of words are inappropriate. However, haven't most of us said some seriously off-color comments or jokes to our friends? Jokes or expressions that would be horribly embarrassing if other people in our lives were to hear them? I have, probably more than I want to admit.
My point here is this...I put nothing past anyone and I'm willing to believe the guy was disturbed, but I need more than just this conversation. I certainly need more than Jodi's word. It's been 5 years and nothing. They have no one to say anything about concern for Travis and being around kids; there are no accusations of him doing things; there's nothing on his computer; no images or pics were found that Jodi claimed she saw. There just is not anything that can really support this and I feel that since this type of accusation is worse than even murder, I personally would have to see much more evidence than this in order to fully buy into the story.
Now, if we are to fully believe Jodi, for the sake of argument, let's just go along with her story and say that she is indeed telling truth about what she saw Travis doing. She doesn't go to the police; she doesn't immediately break off contact; she makes no attempts to even warn people at the church who have children; she doesn't go to her bishop or any other church leader. Nope. Jodi continues to see him and even continues to have relations with him! What does that make her? As far as I'm concerned, IF she is telling the truth, that makes HER just as evil as she is claiming Travis to be. There are two types of evil --those who do evil and those who watch evil and say and do nothing. A NORMAL woman would NEVER go back to that and I don't care about her stupid "battered woman" excuse because if that doesn't wake you up from the brainwashing -- NOTHING will. This is just another lie.
There is not ONE battered woman that escapes from their living hell only to run into the arms of another man because at that point, ALL men are evil and the enemy. Many abused women would not even consider going on a date, let alone being romantic with another man. This might take years for them to overcome, or they many never overcome their apprehension of a serious relationship because they live in fear of trusting the wrong person yet again. Jodi was the abuser, not the victim. Her own words are soaked in self-congratulations because she is her very own hero, a narcissist to her core.
So how will this jury decide? Will they be able to see that murder one was proven beyond any REASONABLE doubt? That's the key here. Anyone can say there is doubt but is it reasonable doubt? In my very firm opinion, she has been clearly proven guilty.
This trial has become addicting for many people like myself. We are glued to the trial and commentary of the trial afterwards. Sure it's embarrassing but this case is just plain nuts; you can't help but watch. We have a mountain of evidence against this woman and even though she's lied on the stand, there seem to be people that actually support her and are buying her
art BS. No wait. People are buying her art as well.
What type of "special" is required of people that support Jodi and believes she's innocent?
This is a fascinating question and I attempted to go diving in some muddy waters in order to get an answer. There is a website (which I won't even bother mentioning by name but you know the one), that is solely dedicated to clinging on to anything they can grasp that will support their warped conclusions pertaining to both Travis and Jodi.
They claim Jodi is a hero and that Travis was a sick person who was "interested" in very young people and so he deserved what happened to him. Many of them believe in ridiculous things like karma, dismissing the fact that many bad things can and do happen to really great people. Even though there is no "proof" of any allegations brought forth, it's okay for them to be made and they just need Jodi to confirm that. They insist that she's entitled to a fair trial while they simultaneously have no issues with Jodi acting as the judge, jury and executioner of Travis Alexander. Again, I say, even if Travis was the scum of the earth, she got away from him. She should have stayed away from Travis at that point. For whatever reason, this concept does not resonate well with them. That's not fair for Jodi. Someone even had the nerve to say that Jodi should be given a medal of honor. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Meanwhile they spit on the memory of the actual victim by clinging on to the fables Jodi has told.
You see, it takes a "special" kind of "special" to believe Jodi. I noticed that many of them think she had help and she's just being so nice and sweet and covering for this anonymous person. They love a conspiracy. A few of them suggested the Illuminati was behind the murder. Oh yes, these are your typical, tin-foil-hat-wearing-nut-jobs that live in a crazy, paranoid world of delusions These are people who are fueled by their emotions, not facts, logic, or reason. They cannot accept that Jodi did anything wrong so they simply blame everyone else for what happened.
The most disturbing thing about this crowd is the damage they are doing for battered women--- ya know, REAL battered women. They are giving women an excuse to kill or go after their abuser. It is certainly one thing to understand when a woman snaps but it is entirely another when you praise one for doing so. As a society we need to encourage victims to leave and get away from their abuser, not retaliate in a way that could damage their psyche and lives forever. You see, there are indeed woman who snap and women who really cannot leave because they are threatened with weapons or even physically held against their will. There may indeed be situations where a woman or even a man MUST attack in order to get away and we need to save our sympathy and benefit of the doubt for these people. In Jodi's situation however, we find that none of these threatening elements were ever present in her relationship with Travis. She was not married to him; she didn't have children with him; she wasn't being held against her will at any point during the relationship. Instead, she moved away from him. She wasn't even living in the same state as Travis. She had absolutely no reason to visit him, especially if we are to entertain the idea that he was an abuser of woman and children. None.
Jodi supporters simply cannot accept the facts surrounding this couple's relationship, nor do they accept facts concerning the murder. Emotions, feelings, and hunches are favored. These elements allow a person to believe just about anything because there is no logic or reason that attaches that information together.
I don't know Travis. I wouldn't know him from a hole in the wall. He very well could have been a person who was not nice to Jodi. It seems to me there was enough evidence to suggest that he wasn't very fond of her on several levels. We know it's more likely than not he was using her for sex. He told some people he was a virgin and we now know this was all a lie that served him and gave him respect from fellow church members and friends. He did have some secrets and struggles he was dealing with. The problem is, Jodi knew he didn't want to marry her; he broke up with her or she him, it doesn't matter. She still decided to move to Arizona after the break up. She allowed herself to be used. She was not a victim but a willing participant. It's not okay to play innocent when what you're really doing is trying to manipulate someone.
Whatever Travis may or may not have done to Jodi does not matter since again, she was gone and moved away from him. Her going back to him for a quick visit is her asking to be put in harms way, if we are to believe her narrative. She had no right to do what she did and the defense has not convinced anyone with reason that Travis was a threat to her while he was wet, naked, and in a shower where a camera was taking pictures. He could not have been in a more submissive type of environment and that is what hurts Jodi the most in this case. She got him in this defenseless position because she needed to do so in order to overpower him and be the dominate figure.
Those who cannot connect the dots are people who struggle with their own emotions and logic. They are just like Jodi and some are similar to Jodi's other victims. They are entirely way to trusting of her, while at the same time being distrustful of everyone else. They favor a known liar over a person who had many friends, a few personal demons, and a man who is not here to defend himself.
I repeat, that takes a very "special" type of "special" to fall for Jodi. I can only pray they realize how much they are being suckered one day.
Come on, Jury!!! Hurry up already!!!
***I have to carefully phrase my words here because this is a public blog.
