The Common Thread

When I began watching the Jodi Arias murder trial, I did something I don't normally do. I found myself glued to audio streams on my iPhone and coverage on HLN on my TV non-stop. I rarely get "committed" to too much of anything on TV except for 'Modern Family'. I have a personal connection to the show as I know the creator and director of the show and am old friends with his wife, so I like to watch his show week after week. I have four unwatched episodes of 'Mad Men' on my DVR because quite frankly I don't have the time with three kids who are seven, six, and one. They take up my time and I consider TV a rare pleasure other than my 30 minutes on Wednesday nights.

iPhone streams make it very easy to stay glued to the case. Let's face it. A 1-year-old doesn't understand the terminology and I keep it at a volume that is not easily heard by her. I do not watch or listen when the older kids are home because I don't want them to accidentally see or hear something that is inappropriate for their young eyes and ears. I found a Facebook page to keep me updated with the times I am unable to watch.

On the Justice4Travis Facebook page, I have made some unlikely friends. On Facebook, I typically pop off and on throughout the day to see what my friends are up to. I post a lot of photos of my kids and share the occasional funny joke or photo. What I found was over 41,000 people who felt the same way I did. It amazed me.

How could so many people, (and many, many more who are not a part of this page), find a common thread in a murdered man and a crazy woman. I quickly realized Jodi, unfortunately, is the reason we all know Travis's name. Had she not murdered him in cold blood, we would probably never know Travis Alexander's name.  While I wish this was the case and he was still alive, we all know why we're here. We all want to see her pay for the cruel way she took him from this earth. But, most importantly, I think we all see something in Travis that is appealing and familiar.

We all know that one person who, no matter the circumstances, is fun to be around. You love being around them because you know that a fun time will always be had. He was a world changer with his charm and wise beyond his years lectures. He was nice looking. He was probably the guy who would crawl out of bed at 4AM to help you change your flat tire. He would probably take the shirt off of his back for a friend or a stranger. We find something very familiar about Travis even though 99% of us on that page never had the privilege to know him. His untimely death caused a stir in us. Maybe it's knowing how Travis's family and friends have told us about the real Travis and not the imagined version of Travis that Jodi and the defense has attempted to portray. We've seen a dead man essentially killed twice since the start of the trial with zero evidence that any of the claims were even remotely true.

We hurt for his family. We've seen them bury their heads and wipe away their tears as they see the last photo of their brother alive and as they've had to see photos of their brother after he had been brutally murdered. They hear things they know aren't true but can't stand up and protest. They are the essence of class and poise. I think all 41,000 of us would love to give each of them a big hug and tell them that for some reason we can't explain that we love their brother too. We feel the loss along with them.

I can give all of these examples of why I am drawn to this trial and yet I am not sure I know why even now. I find myself suddenly getting nervous that, at the end of this week, it will be in the jury's hands. Juan, Nurmi, Willmott, will be powerless. Juan can't go into that jury room and speak for Travis. These men and women will draw a conclusion and we will have to accept that verdict. I feel in my heart that this jury is smart and that Mr. Martinez has been the voice for the voiceless. He has given all of himself to see that Travis Alexander's murderer never sees the light of day.

I find it pretty awesome that even in death, this young man is doing what he set out to do. Change lives. He still inspires people. He gives up hope that even with a less that stellar past, it doesn't define our future. We are our own captain in life. We can rise above adversity and become stronger. Travis didn't let his struggles growing up define him. He channeled them and used them as lessons to better himself. Most importantly, he did something few people can do. Bring millions of people together. And this is 5 years after his untimely passing.

That has to account for something, right? I have a feeling his legacy will last a lot longer than the woman's who ended his life. She will become a distant memory for most of us, while Travis has given us lessons, even in death, that most of us will carry with us in some way for a very long time.

Peace be with all of you. Justice For Travis.

Remember his precious family in your prayers this week. They need it more now than ever. They have the potential to finally get some closure so that they can move on with their lives. No doubt, it will be a very different life than if Travis were still with them. But, we all know Travis would want them to live their lives to the fullest.

ENJOY every single day you wake up. Live life, live more, stop and smell the roses. It's a privilege denied to many.

-GiGi

The Day Of Judgement Is Nearing

Like a lot of people, I have become somewhat obsessed with the Jodi Arias trial. I normally don't get into these types of media circus events for two reasons:

• I don't have time. I have a mother of 3 very active kids and I rarely have time to blink, much less devote hours a day to listening to a trial.

• I don't like learning about the absolute worst in humanity. Let's face it, Jodi Arias represents the worst in humanity. She slaughtered a man, I think, out of rage and jealousy. She was a woman rejected. She planned what, in her mind, was the perfect plan to slip into Arizona undetected, and give Travis one last chance to take her to Mexico. When he didn't agree, she killed him. The kinky sex wasn't enough to sway him. He knew she wasn't "The One". She decided there would never be a "One" for Travis if it wasn't her. 

I joined the trial a month or so in. Jodi was just taking the stand in her own defense when I began watching. After watching about 30 minutes, my inner sleuth concluded that she was guilty. I try to be open minded to events like this, but something about her just screamed she was guilty. I began researching the case online and caught some highlights of prior testimony. The medical examiner was pretty spot on when he laid out the injuries and the sequence of events that forensics can back up. I read the autopsy report, and being in the medical field, I was horrified at the brutality of the crime and the obvious pain and suffering Travis must have experienced before his body could take no more.

I learned very quickly that I could essentially take small naps in between questioning. Seriously, I have never heard any other person who can extend the word, "And", longer than Kirk Nurmi. I saw their pathetic attempt to turn the victim into the one on trial. The way Jodi and her defense team raped the legacy of what seems to be a very fun-loving, intelligent, and successful man is really sickening. I absolutely believe that if you are going to make allegations of things such as pedophilia, you must have SOME sort of proof or reason to validate your story. In fact, several times I became so disgusted that I had to turn the trial off for a while. Did they find any evidence of such things on his computer? No. Did they find photos at his house? No. Did he hang out with children on a constant basis? No. Did Travis happen to clean all the evidence up because he knew he might be murdered the day Jodi came? No. Come on, people. It's not rocket science. I am horrified such allegations were allowed while several videos of Jodi acting like an idiot during questioning were not allowed because it would self-incriminate.

I have read a lot of people who are not happy with Judge Stevens. I, for one, like her. I know this is her first death penalty case. She doesn't have the experience that some judges in Phoenix do. But, I believe she is being very cautious to avoid a mistrial. While we like to think we know more than the lawyers and judges do, we don't. She probably has a very valid reason for some of the things she's allowed that we don't agree with.

The man, the myth, the legend, Juan Martinez! I could spend all day writing about this man. I don't think I have ever seen such a passionate prosecutor. He has had a few 'Perry Mason' moments where he wow'd me. The gas purchases was the best one! Also, the WalMart, "I returned the gas cans", lie he caught Jodi in. I literally woke my napping baby up with my excited shout of, "BOOM"! I think in some poetic way, Juan was meant to be the voice of Travis. I really hope we see Juan on some talk shows post-trial. I would be very interested to read a book by him regarding his approach and take on the whole process. A part of me thinks Juan is too humble for that kind of thing, though. He may be ready to immerse himself in the next trial he has coming up. Who knows?

Last week saw a much needed change of pace for the trial. The rebuttal phase was fast and a breath of fresh air. Witness after witness discredited the state's "expert" witnesses who clearly were biased and seemed to have fallen under Jodi's spell. Alyce LaViolette could not have been more one sided if she tried. She essentially told us that even though Jodi has lied since the beginning of the case, she chose to believe Jodi's claims of domestic abuse and further went on to say that Travis had anger issues based on a couple of text messages and emails. The thing that bothered me about this testimony is the fact that Alyce said herself that 90 percent of communication is non-verbal. I don't think we will ever know the reason behind the scathing text where Travis tells Jodi she is a "sociopath". I have a good idea that Jodi was threatening Travis with either the phone sex tape or the pedophilia claims. Regardless, it is human for all of us to lose our cool from time to time and say things out of anger. Obviously the infraction Jodi committed to warrant a response from a seemingly otherwise level-headed man was huge.
Dr Samuels was not very believable in his description of PTSD and his testing techniques seemed very sketchy at best. The jury questions echoed my thoughts.

The breath of fresh air came in the form of Dr. Demarte. While the defense tried to discredit her due to her younger age, I don't think they succeeded. Her rapid fire answers were presented with confidence and she sounded very sure of her diagnosis of "Borderline Personality Disorder". The defense did not want this heard for a very good reason. Borderline Personality Disorder, unlike PTSD, is not treatable. It is a scary diagnosis for someone. They are stuck with this for life. While most people with BPD lead very normal lives for the most part, someone like Jodi obviously takes that diagnosis to the extreme. All of the parameters for someone diagnosed with this fit Jodi. The state has frantically found an "expert" to discredit this diagnosis and it will be presented on Wednesday, May 1st. Dr. Robert Geffner will attempt to sway the jury to wipe Dr. Demarte's opinion off the radar. I am not too worried about this witness.  And, as a colleague of Alyce LaViolette's, I don't think Juan will waste any time in pointing that out, which should end his credibility quickly. I think the jury is smart. They are using common sense as seen in their questions for witnesses. This is one last desperate attempt to end on a good note for the defense. It's like trying to piece back together a shattered glass. It's not likely to happen.

Wednesday has the potential to be a long and draining day in court. The judge has said that they will not recess until testimony is completed. With the pace of the defense's questions, we may go well into the morning hours of Thursday. Closing arguments are Thursday and Friday and then the jury will likely begin deliberations on Monday.

The end is near. I know Travis's family must be the most stressed they've been yet. To us who have followed this trial, it seems pretty obvious what happened and how the verdict should go. She should get 1st degree premeditated and a sentence of death or life. But, not knowing what the jury is thinking has to be a source of worry for his family. We've all seen the trials where a guilty verdict seems very likely only to hear, "Not guilty" or a lesser charge be imposed on the defendant. All it takes is one. I hope, more than anything, they look at the autopsy photos while deliberating. There's not much explanation needed. Self defense and a brutal murder are two very different things. The photos alone prove that self defense was not the case.

It's weird how you can grow to care for someone you have never met and never will. I've seen the videos of Travis being his goofy self. I've read stories of his generosity and his character. It was a life of so much potential that was cut too short by a jealous and evil woman. I know his family thinks about where he would be now had he not been brutally murdered. It has to be an all-consuming feeling of grief that will never fully be resolved. I can only hope that this jury is insulted at Jodi's lies to them directly and the way this man's life ended.

I have made many online friends throughout this trial on Facebook and Twitter. My go-to source for trial talk is Justice4Travis. My Twitter handle is AriasTrialTalk. Let's say a prayer for the Alexander family, Juan, and the jurors. Feel free to discuss all things related in the comments section! I am interested to hear everyone's opinion! Let's hope justice for Travis is served.