Phoenix, AZ—The happening place to be is in this lurid and
sexually charged murder trial. Young
Jodi Arias is on trial for her life for killing a sometime boyfriend.
There are no eyewitnesses, just too many different versions
of the event given by the not too shy accused killer. Will her deception convict her? Will her efforts to skew the evidence be her
downfall? Conventional wisdom says, yes.
My 40 plus years as a cop and private eye has taken me down
this road so many times before. I’m here
to tell you that when a self-defense killing takes place the frightened, ignorant and
confused victims often lie because the feel the need to do so. Does that mean liars are automatically
guilty? Heavens no!
The other issue was whether Arias over-reacted to the
perceived threat of the boyfriend? Did
she act out of the heat of passion? The
lies and cover-up can’t really answer those questions. However juries usually
hate liars and punish them all they can.
Prosecutor Juan Martinez can only guess about what happened and
why. He’s having a field day proving
Arias lied redundantly. He wants the
jury to send this young woman to Death Row.
Just because Arias lied should she lose the constitutional
protection of Reasonable Doubt? Can a
jury somehow understand the panic and fear long enough to forgive Arias for her
deception?
The most difficult problem the Arias defense has is getting
over the numerous stab wounds. The
deceased was first shot with a tiny caliber gun. Even large caliber guns often don’t even slow
attackers down. A wounded human fights
just like an animal under the same circumstances. If the stab wounds are spread out all over
the place, even in non-vital areas, that a sign that there was a real heated battle
going on.
I say Reasonable Doubt should prevail and without solid
evidence otherwise she should go free.
If the killing is somewhat less than justified a First
Degree Murder charge is over-kill.
Perhaps this deserves a lesser crime such as manslaughter. If the jury determines this was a DANGEROUS OFFENSE enhanced draconian prison sentences come into play. This dangerousness finding is unique to
Arizona law and the jury is never told just what that finding would mean. They are simply asked to blindly vote for it.
I know the so-called true crime court watchers want blood on
this one. I have a name for these people
that seemingly don’t have lives, the True Crime Swine. They want to influence every high profile
trial they can.
I hope the defense has retained a self-defense expert
witness or at least a pathologist to explain the ante-mortem wounds and how
strong humans really are while severely wounded.
This should not be an easy case for a jury. They need to understand the dynamics of a
frightened young woman under incredible stress along with the will to
survive.
This case is exactly why I hate live broadcasts of
trials. Save the broadcasts until after
the verdict are rendered.
Comments
Think you've been on the left coast a bit too long there Paul. Remember, according to the liberals no one is responsible for their actions. It's all "society's" fault.
By the way Ms. Arias confessed to shooting her lying abusive lover. (no sarcasm) She was willing to plead to 2nd degree murder but Mr. Martinez, along with his trusty backup singer Det. Flores, preferred to waste millions of AZ taxpayer dollars so he could publicly air his hatred of women, and specifically Jodi Arias on national television in this dog and pony show.
With the help of HLN they've created a modern day witch hunt and an angry mob of haters AKA True Crime Swine.
Thank you Mike, for being a voice of reason.