UPDATE: There is an unsubstantiated theory that the porn sites were redirects from a virus. The virus redirected the computer to the porn sites. This makes sense, especially if they were all from a specific time and not spread out over a longer period. Of course we have no information on when the porn links were supposedly activated. Also a police officer may have run a virus protection on the computer before investigating, it could have even happened automatically if it was hooked up to police hardware. Really? This is the big deal? Oh, Arizona. WTF are we going to do with you. No wonder Nurmi wants to do shit like this in secret.
Just when you think the Jodi Arias trial could not be a bigger circus, it get exponentially more insane. First, I need to point out that this is an exclusive story by Michael Kiefer, one of the foremost local reporters on the Jodi Arias trial. He is credible and very knowledgeable. I say this because it is true, and because, you are not going to believe this. I got a couple of emails tonight about this and I really wanted to just blow it off as ludicrous until I saw the source was Michael Kiefer. Also, this motion is not online and several people were questioning the authenticity of his source. I have no doubt in his sources, whoever they may be at all. He would not publish this if he was not sure.
So, in a nutshell, the defense is now claiming that they have had Travis Alexander’s personal computer re-examined by a new forensic specialist who has found evidence of many links to pornographic websites, possibly including child porn, that were deleted during the original investigation. They have a specific time that the numerous deletions were made, and carefully covered up. During that time the computer was in the possession of Detective Esteban Flores. If this actually can be proven by the defense, it amounts to prosecutorial misconduct by Martinez whether or not he was unaware of Flores’ activities.
The defense filed a motion on Monday that Kiefer has read or been told about. Kiefer claims that the motion is to dismiss all charges. That makes no sense to me. That ship has sailed. At this point, in my very tired imaginary Internet legal mind, I think that they would have to file a motion for post conviction relief citing new evidence under Arizona Rule 32. If granted there are two outcomes for relief. The verdict could be set aside and Jodi could go free. Logic dictates that will not happen. Judges need a lot more than some porn links to set aside a jury verdict. Plus, even if Travis was a pedophile and an Internet porn junkie, that doesn’t change the fact that Jodi killed Travis in a cruel and depraved manner. The other option is a new trial. Are you fucking kidding me? That outcome seems unlikely as well but who the fuck knows? Because, Arizona.
According to Kiefer, the defense is asking for “all charges to be dropped” and/or the death penalty to be removed as an option that would leave the current jury to decide whether to grant Jodi the opportunity for parole in 25 years. At this point, I really think Judge Stevens should surrender and agree with the defense and take death off the table, and sentence her to life without parole and get this shit over with. Below are the pertinent excerpts from Kiefer’s exclusive. I encourage you to read the entire article that places everything in context. It is very late, and I am very tired and I could be looking at this wrong. I’ll investigate more and add more tomorrow if necessary.
Michael Kiefer, The Republic | azcentral.com
Attorneys for Jodi Arias filed a motion Monday to dismiss all charges against Arias, alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
The motion says a computer-forensics expert hired by the defense discovered that thousands of files, mostly of pornography, were deleted from victim Travis Alexander’s computer while the computer was in custody of Mesa police.
As an alternative to dismissal, the motion asks that the intent to seek the death penalty against Arias be dropped, which would end the current trial.
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An evidentiary hearing on the computer scheduled for Oct. 20, the day before the trial began, had to be canceled because that was the day the defense expert finally received it, and he had not had a chance to look at it.
According to the motion, forensic analysis showed that thousands of files from pornography sites were deleted from the computer during a three-hour period on June 19, 2009, when it was in the possession of the Mesa Police Department.
The motion says that during that time, Mesa police Detective Esteban Flores, the case agent who has testified in the trial and sits at the prosecutor’s table with Martinez, removed the computer from the evidence department and took it to “Forensic Services.” During that period, thousands of files were deleted and shredded.
The sites mentioned in the motion have pornographic names and were accessed in 2008. To counter possible suggestions that Arias may have accessed the sites on Alexander’s computer, the motion notes that she was not in Arizona on those dates.
The motion suggests that the evaluation of the computer is ongoing.
I cannot believe this. She is pure evil, she shouldn’t ever be out in society again. This makes me sick.
Holy shit!
Thousands of files deleted in three hours (assuming they knew exactly what each file was before deleting it — meaning that each file would have to be opened, discovered to be related to a pornography site, and then identified as such for purposes of deleting them en masse)? Yeah, “and, um, Arizona!” Does anybody really believe this? Like Mesa (the mecca of computer technology in Arizona, right?) police have the forensics capability of deleting “thousands of files in three hours” a mere 10 days after the murder? I call BS. But there should be an evidentiary hearing, and the sentencing trial should be stayed until the hearing is concluded and the parties put on their experts. Maybe the defense expert is the brother of La Violette?
Ooooh, does this then mean any cases that Juan Martinez Prosecuted would then be looked at again and be eligible for automatic appeal? I mean this is prosecutorial misconduct, is it not? Ruh ruh raggy! Uhhh allegedly….. 😉
It was not ten days after the murder it was about 13 months after.
Did not see the 2009 date in the articles. My mistake!
And I believed you, because, you’re you! This is how rumors get started. 🙂 No worries.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 1:54 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I will return some of my non-existent TT tokens. 🙂
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re in the hole.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 9:38 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I have no doubt the prosecution deleted that stuff. Police hoped that no one would find out…..and now here we are! If I were a defense attorney going up against JM, I would be very leery of his practices. This kind of stuff IS the reason the general public doesn’t trust the police. We want to trust the police and we should but the few bad apples make it bad for the truly honest cops.
I sure hope the conviction doesn’t get set aside. That cold heart hearted, narcissistic bitch deserves every bit of the death penalty. I don’t know HOW the first jury wasn’t able to come to a verdict on death. I’ve watched and followed this trial and while Jody is a fucked up weirdo who deserves death!
Wow, you are very quick to convict the cop. I hope you’re never on my jury…
If the verdict is thrown out, does double jeopardy come into play?
No because she was convicted! Double jeopardy is when new evidence comes into play after the defendant has been acquitted by a jury. Please people if I’m wrong correct me.
Let’s not muddy the waters here by tossing around legal terms we don’t understand and then asking to be corrected.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 7:39 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I would like to know the answer to this …can double jeopardy come into play or not?
No double jeopardy refers to being tried twice for the same crime. Jodi has been CONVICTED. Double jeopardy comes into play if you are found not guilty.
Oh holy hell. They have to drop the DP. She could be let go due to Prosecution Misconduct….whether Martinez knew or not. She could walk? Or at the very least get less then 25 yrs and with Parole. I knew something was fishy when they kept saying he was a 30 yr old Virgin and all the BS they were spewing, about how she was the one who introduced him to sex etc. He was a healthy man, and practically anybody with some common sense would be able to figure this out. I don’t think he deserved to die…..but it seems that something was fishy…..with Zero evidence coming up on his computer of porn, ever? Cmon! If they tampered with evidence, it could be the very reason she walks. What dumb asses!
I totally agree with your opinion. Flores so should have known better, if he did do this. I am curious why. Was he tipped off the sites were visited and wanted to protect the victim? Why is the defense looking at Travis computer at this point, at sentencing? This is so bad. If she ends up walking, I hope someone does a Jack Ruby on her right away. Except do her more drawn out and painful, the same way she likes killing.
I call bullshit on the child porn, at the very least. That’s one of those things that instantly alter perceptions and they know it. Like all of a sudden Jodi is a hero for taking a pedo off the streets?
Just more suffering for his family.
I agree. But they will try for a new trial (hopefully failing), all they need is one juror who is ok for an attractive woman to kill a ‘pedo in training’ and they get a mistrial and maybe even a plea bargain. Fml. Arizona will become an international laughing stock if that occurs. Oh well. Karma surely will catch up to her at one point, maybe she will meet up with a random dominatrix online who goes too far and she meets her maker anyways.
I don’t buy into having both types of porn on the hard drive unless there are two people with their own preference…one into hetrosexual porn and the other into child porn.
I would think a hetrosexual man viewing regular pornography would be disgusted by sexualized images of children because he is not wired that way no matter how accepting and wordly he may be.
A man with a predilection for viewing child porn would not be aroused watching adults engage in sex.
You cannot cause a sexual orientation by watching pornography. A person’s sexual preference is what it is. So…the question is why are there two distinct types of pornography and why was it erased?
No, the question is, is there any proof that the deletions occurred. This will take a long time to investigate and for the court to make a determination. This is most likely another stalling attempt by the defense.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 4:34 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I didn’t read anything about ‘child porn’ in the original article – just porn. And please – if it was ‘barely legal’ type sites or 18+ girls in schoolgirl outfits – I certainly hope they’re not calling that ‘child porn’. They are verrry different things. Quite honestly, during the original trial, it surprised me that they said they found no porn on his computer. A guy his age, into the sex kinks he liked with Jodi, he should have tons of porn on his computer. I would say 98% of guys do. I found this whole “he was not a devout Mormon virgin” blame game thing to have been completely ridiculous focus by Nurmi during the first trial. Who cares if a 30 yr old man was having sex despite his religion? If you’re in one of those religions and not married before 25 yrs old, chances are you’re sneaking in some fun behind the scenes anyway. It certainly doesn’t warrant the death penalty that Jodi executed on him.
Regardless, *if* Mesa police wiped his computer clean of porn, this truly goes down as another WTF moment in this trial. And if it jeopardizes the outcome.. just… *shudders*. And for what? – his reputation? Porn is not a crime. And we all know he liked rough kinky sex and roleplay anyway. Lots of guys do. Who cares. It’s certainly not worth tampering with evidence, if that is indeed what happened. If it was done, I am assuming that because it was in the early stages of the investigation, they had not anticipated the veritable poopoo platter of sexual scandal the defense was going to introduce during trial anyway. Just… ugh. Bad Arizona. Bad.
I agree with some of the other posters though about this retrial. Give her LWOP and get this drama over with. I always thought the DP was going to be a stretch given the co-depedent and destructive relationship between Jodi and Travis.
Ash, thanks for the great comment. You are correct that the initial article does not directly mention the existence of links to child porn on the laptop. When I wrote this half asleep earlier this morning, I included the phrase “possibly child porn” because the author mentions Jodi’s testimony in the first trial regarding Travis and child porn. So my inclusion of the topic may have been a bit inflammatory or misleading.
If we assume for a moment that the links did exist and the were removed by a police officer (I cannot imagine police would be removing evidence even prior to an arrest. Or why porn on a young man’s target would be something anyone would have a reason to remove given the high probability of porn on a man’s laptop. But for the sake of argument let’s say it happened.) and further assume it was child porn.
In order for Jodi to get any kind of post conviction relief, the evidence must be exculpatory. That is, it must exonerate her from guilt. I cannot see any way in which a court even in Arizona would find this to exonerate her from premeditated murder.
I think Nurmi is just trying to muddy the waters, either with the existence of such proof or with the suspicions that such a thing exists. I don’t think anything will come of this.
i agree TT. nurmi just muddying the waters. after all, the murderer has changed her story and her “defense” innumerable times before and since any evidence was collected, no?
Let’s just pretend they did delete the files. Then the Defense could call for a Mistrial, also could cite prosecutorial misconduct. The would have to start all over again. They could then go with the battered Woman’s syndrome etc…blah blah? I don’t see her getting the death penalty now. Maybe Life with the possibility of parole after 20 years and then she would probably only do 10? I hope to hell the Prosecution did not wipe the computer clean. I feel nauseated. :/
Jen For goodness sake Jodi Arias will say anything about Travis because a dead man tells no tales. As for porn on his computer I do not believe one word of it. So what if there was porn on Travis’s computer There Is Still No Excuse For Murder!!!
You do know that if Jodi walks, Nancy Grace’s head is going to explode live on HLN.
She’s not going to walk. This will turn out to be more Theatrics by Nurmi. He may be miserable but he is trying everything he can on behalf of the murderous little wench.
On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 7:07 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thought 1:
Ok, I know I’m dating myself, but did the police force in Mesa not watch the OJ trial? Don’t they teach the cadets about the effects of the mere look of evidence tampering can have on a trial?
Thought 2:
Does Nurmi need another chapter in his book?
Thought 3:
For the sake of argument, let’s say everything Jodi says about Travis is true (except that he was attacking her at the time of the murder, because he wasn’t) he is a pedophile who likes rough kinky sex, he likes to portray himself as a righteous Mormon although he is not, he likes to physically and emotionally abuse Jodi, why because Jodi, and blah blah blah whatever else, how does any of this effect the facts? Jodi planned and stole a gun from her grandfather, she rented a car, and not a red one, borrowed/bought gas cans and turned her phone off so no one would know she was in AZ not UT, she invented a convenient alibi of going to visit a friend in UT, she lured Travis into a day of sex, cornered him in the bathroom, and killed him three times over? It doesn’t!
Thought 4:
Mitigating circumstances: I’ll give you a mitigating circumstance, if Travis was such a horrible person, and you managed to break your emotional chains to him, and you managed to move to another state, hundreds of miles separating you from him, why would have any contact with him much less go to visit him? Because Jodi?
Tamara, why at this point are the defense just investigating his computer? Shouldn’t that have happened before the trial started? Having asked that, just bc there’s porn (providing it’s adult porn) who cares? I don’t know a 30 yr old sexually active man that probably doesn’t have porn on his computer.
I just don’t think the family would survive her walking. Poor souls. Plus, what is with Flores? I’m not saying he did anything wrong, bc I don’t know, sbut before this, his wife was involved in some questionable tweeting wasn’t she? The defense team(I hate to even type their names) have been trying to take him down since the beginning of first part of trial! This is insane!!!!
They did investigate the computer in round one. However, they are now saying they have a super duper good forensics guy who they let investigate again and he found the evidence that was carefully covered up by the person who deleted the evidence.
(sorry for the delays in moderation, it’s been a busy morning.)
If I remember correctly, during the first trial jodi claimed to have seen pronography on his screen when she was standing near him. She also claimed he gave her boys Spider-Man underwear to wear for him. If this is true, they my be trying to prove that Jodi wasn’t lying about his porn collection creating doubt…. If she didn’t lie about that maybe she didn’t lie t got upabout other things. ?
I just got up and poured my first cup of coffee, opened my iPad to this page and this is the first thing I see today. Unbelievable,
I had the same thought as Puracostavida above. Thousands of files deleted in three hours? I can’t even delete my email box, one by one,in an hour.
This has been one twisted tale. Wwi wish they would withdraw the DP and simply sentence her to life. Get it over with and the bitch out of sight.
deco. . . Prior to the 1st trial Arias said she walked in on Travis & saw him watching child porn on the computer (this was written in a letter &/or court documents). BUT, because no child porn was found on the computer she changed her story & said she walked in on him holding actual photographs. This chick is NUTS. We all saw the circus of the 1st trial, it’s no wonder the defense fought to have no cameras in this one — it’s turned into a Freak Show.
TT – Wow! You’re freakin’ amazing! Do you have any idea whether or not Nurmi would be able to get out of representing Arias, if a new trial is ordered?
I just don’t see why they would delete the pornography. That doesn’t prove anything other than he likes to watch pornography.
Why would Detective Flores want to delete this. How would he even know Jodi was using it in any way towards her defense??
Also why would he think that he is so much smarter than a computer forensic specialists that he would be able to delete it and it would not be discovered. I can’t imagine this to be true and I sincincerly hope it’s not.
This is crazy!
This is just an observation, but in the pic of jodi on azcentral it appears shes had a hair cut. Did her hair even grow long enough to donate prior to the cut??
it’s not about the porn, per se. it impeaches the credibility of the prosecution’s witness & most likely leads to charges of prosecutorial misconduct, destruction of key evidence, etc. that’s my take on it (not that i agree this occurred, but the defense could claim it). the case is concluded but this sets appeals in motion.
Thanks, Chris. You hit the nail on the head with your insightful, pointed, and comprehensive comment. Destroying evidence changes everything and could negate or put in doubt all the prosecution has put forward. Interesting times ahead.
Appeals were already set in motion. This is an attempt to have the verdict overturned. I don’t think that will happen. There will be a shit ton of appeals because it’s a death penalty case.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I have a hard time believing that the Mesa police department would bother removing files from Travis’s computer. We’ve seen the issue of pornography come up in trials all the time – and while it’s a way to dirty up the victim by the end of the trial it usually doesn’t even play. So what then is their motivation for removing the files? Martinez more than has the skill to deal with that issue at trial. It’s my opinion that it’s just one more way to undermine Flores and thereby undermine the entire prosecution – like they tried to do with the order of injuries ala Flores vs. Horn. It doesn’t change the basic facts of the case. I’m not buying it. I believe they filed the motion – I’m just not buying the story in the motion.
Another thought – don’t all of these delays work against Jodi? The jury may blame her for keeping them from going on with their daily lives. I know they aren’t sequestered but it still is an inconvience for them… I wonder if that thought has crossed Nurmi’s mind.
I apologize if I’ve repeated the thoughts of anyone else who commented before me. I usually read all the comments before I take my turn but I had so many thoughts flying around in my head I had to get them out before I read anyone else’s thoughts!
PlusOne, I agree about the defense trying to go after Flores. They have been claiming all along that Flores lies and changes his testimony based on Martinez’s whims. I could buy that there is some truth in that.
I did mistakenly go along with a comment that the computer was allegedly tampered with in the year that Travis died. Actually, it is alleged to have happened a year later. Flores is LDS, perhaps he was trying to save Travis the embarrassment? Of course that in no way justifies anything, I’m just looking for motive.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 10:11 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Is it possible the death penalty in Arizona has pending legislation to be outlawed? Nurmi would want to delay trial by any means possible, even down a yellow brick road of fishy claims.
If it gets outlawed before Arias fries 20 years from now, she will not be executed anyway.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 10:13 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I just don’t buy that all these porn files were deleted days after the murder, prior to her arrest.
They weren’t. Someone misread. He died in 2008 the deletion allegedly occurred in 2009.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 10:20 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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The motion claims that Flores had the computer for a few hours on 7/9/09 and that is when the deletion took place.
If they (the government) deny thescum of the earth their rights, they can deny me mine. Tampering with evidence is bad.
Nurmi’s motion is chock full of righteous indignation. We’ll see (or hear about it later!) if he can back up his claims with actual evidence rather then innuendo.
I find interesting that “thousands” of porn files were downloaded in the six days before Alexander died. Oh, except for the the 10th of June, also listed in the motion. That would be the day after his body was discovered. So, I’m guessing remote acsess from heaven?
Clusterfuck.
The “1000’s” were the total amount, not just 6 days worth, from what I gathered from reading the motion. Also the June 10th is obviously a typo, one would surmise.
Mesa is an LDS town, they cover and protect all members there so that child porn found on a computer being erased is not an anomaly in Mesa. No one wanted to be on this jury, it’s as exhausting here as it seems on tv. Just one more embarrassment for the state of AZ.
It makes sense to me, if the cop who had the computer was Mormon too. Then he would want to protect a member of his church from being dragged through the mud, if the porn was discovered. If the cop knew the porn was on the computer and had looked at it before the deletions happened, he would know where the folders of porn were kept. That cuts down on time, as well as deleting whole folders as once. Then I would see three hours to get rid of the evidence, and run a file eraser program.
The update you gave makes much more sense. Some people were sure to throw Flores under the bus because he shared the same religion as Travis. He is also an officer of the law – do you paint police officers as bad people because of a cop you knew that turned out bad?
My uncle was raised Methodist, fell out of church for many years. Was a heavy drinker and partied all the time. In the last 8 or so years of his life, he found religion again but was LDS Mormon. When he passed away, they were gracious and helped in more ways than his family. While that religion isn’t why I would chose for my family, I found nothing dark and sinister there.
Just to throw my two cents in. Michael kiefer is NOT an unbiased journalist. He is VERY AntiMartinez and even more anti death penalty and incredibly proJodi. I’ve followed his Twitter feed for 3 years.
This guy does have an agenda and that is to destroy Juan Martinez. This bit of sensationalistic journalism does not surprise me coming from MK.
I’ve followed him for years to and never seen that. I think a lot of death penalty nuts hate anyone who is fair to the defense, and Nurmi in particular.
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 4:56 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I have Michael Kiefers twitter screened saved and read it about once a week. His is the only twitter acct I have saved. He does come across anti Martinez and anti prosecution.
I read one of his books and he does give a different slant to the case.
I respect Atty Nurmi for doing his job under horrible conditions.
I like Michael Kiefer and do not think he is supporting Jodi. He doesn’t seem to support Martinez either but he could just be wise enough to be reporting the crap he sees on both sides. I like and respect his point if view.
A different slant? God forbid. He doesn’t report it just like Nancy Grace? How will we digest it without all the dramatics and outrage?
On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 12:13 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Tamara, after downloading the 15 page motion, have you tried zooming in on the blacked out names of sites in your PDF reader?
I haven’t even looked for the motion, I’ve been out all day. Can someone email it to me?
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 5:05 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Is borderline personality contagiouse– because I think Nurmi has it !. When your a hammer everything looks like a nail. Nurmi,s fortay is sexual deviance , this is what he knows and has no compunction in using it, no matter who he hurts ( destroys ) . What is the purpose of all these mistrial motions ? Is it to wear down the courts and public so they all give up, and let- her/him get what they want ? I read so many post that have stated “the defense should cut there losses and just give her LWOP ” if this is what JODI wants, iam all for NOT giving it to her.
This is what BORDERLINE PERSONALITY people do !. Just like a 2 year old -whines ,cries, and throws hissy fits, until they get what they want. NURMI AND JODI are holding the court system hostage.
sssojourn, Nurmi is doing his job. Evidence was destroyed and withheld by the prosecution team. If there is someone you should be upset with, its them.
Personally, I’m leaning toward the virus theory. it would make sense that the cop took the lap top to forensics as he said and the guy hooked it up to his system which immediately ran a virus protection program that resulted in the virus and the porn links being deleted and “covered up.”
His job is to disgrace a murder victim, and his family ? Knowing full well there is nothing to it ? After 30 years with no porn on computer the last 3 wks of his life he decides to dowload porn ? I don,t think so.
Is it his job to lie ? Just because your a attorney does this give you absolution of moral responsibility? I would quit any job before I did that to someone.
If you did these things on the streets, you would be killed in no time. These are the worst alligations made towards a man. These alligations carry long term consequences, not only for travis, but his family………….NURMI IS A COMPLETE SCUMBAG.
I’ve already posted a comment, but I don,t believe it went thru, so I’ll apoligize now if two show up.
I think Nurmi legit believes that they found porn.
On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 12:06 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Gosh! I love this site! We all get to play detective n slueths. I hope its just a Virus, so that they can keep it moving. We should be betting on the final date of the trial, or when the Prosecution rests.
If they tampered with evidence I would like to see her set free. I DO NOT believe she is innocent. BUT the lesson must but taught , it appears again, you cannot tamper with evidence to improve your case. Period. If you do so, any guilt verdict will be tossed. This is the only way citizens stand a chance at a fair trail. Reduction of her sentence is not enough. Prosecutors and cops have to learn that if they tamper with evidence to improve their case – the person will walk scott free. This is how innocent people end up in prison. How they HAVE ended up in prison and are in prison. She is NOT innocent but if the cops and prosecutors learn that tampering with evidence will automatically result in a not guilt verdict or set aside a guilt verdict – they will stop tampering with evidence.
Travis was a victim but he also seemed like a jerk to me. (I know I’m going to get it for saying that). Obviously he didn’t deserve to be murdered but I always hoped this case would open a dialogue about the dangers of emotional abuse.
My thoughts exactly. I don’t think he was the person he is being portrayed as being. That said, he didn’t deserve what Jodi did to him, and she should pay whether it is with her life or a lifetime behind bars.