Off-Topic: Jodi Arias and the American Legal System

Yesterday (August 26th) Jodi Arias appeared in court in Phoenix, Arizona for the court to set a date for her murder trial to continue. Judge Sherry Stephens didn't set a date, because she said she needed time to consider new motions made by Jodi's defence team, for instance that all jury members should be compelled to declare whether they have Twitter accounts. Jodi will appear in court again on September 16th to set a new date for the trial.

Something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong with the American legal system, in particular the Arizona legal system. The trial began on January 2nd. On May 8th the jury found Jodi Arias guilty of the pre-meditated murder of Travis Alexander. But this wasn't enough. Under Arizona state law the jury is required to make three decisions in cases that involve the death penalty. In a second phase, the aggravation phase, they have to decide whether the murder was particularly cruel. On May 15th the jury found Jodi Arias guilty of killing in a cruel manner. After this decision the judge is compelled to give the defendant at least a life sentence in prison, but in a third phase, the penalty phase, the jury has to decide whether the defendant deserves to die. On May 23rd the jury returned that they were unable to make a unanimous decision. This meant that the penalty phase was declared a mistrial and has to be repeated with a new jury.

The first penalty phase was a relatively swift event, in which Jodi held a speech and presented a slide show explaining why she deserved to live. The repeat of the penalty phase will be a larger event, because the new jury will have to hear the evidence again. It's estimated that the second penalty phase will last at least four weeks. When it finally starts.

According to official figures, up to April 25th the defence costs for Jodi Arias, paid for by Arizona tax payers, were $1,687,328.21. This doesn't include the prosecution costs and the court costs. And yet the trial is chugging along, with no signs of coming to an end any time soon. The full trial costs, not including the costs of future appeals, could be up to five million dollars. Something is wrong.

Let's start with the sentencing. In England, where I live, the jury doesn't decide on the sentence. The jury's job is to decide between guilty and not guilty. If the jury says guilty, it's the judge's job to pick a sentence. Isn't that a better system? How could an average man on the street decide whether a person deserves to live or die? Everyone might have an opinion, but the opinions are based on emotions. Only a person with legal training should be allowed to make choices like that.

Then there's the amount of legal support. Why was Jodi Arias given two defence lawyers? Wasn't one enough? They took turns asking questions, but both of them were in court every day throughout the trial.

The biggest problem with the trial is that the judge allowed it to be sidetracked by the defence team. For months Jodi and the defence team's experts were allowed to speak badly about Travis, despite having no facts to back up their accusations. An English judge would have declared this out of order and insisted that the trial stick to the facts. Jodi accused Travis of owning pornographic images of young children, even though no traces were found on his computer or in his apartment. Jodi accused Travis of abusing her, even though she never had any bruises. In particular, Jodi's diary, which she updated daily, always described Travis in the best possible words and never mentioned any of the things she accused him of when she appeared in court.

Possibly the most tragic character in the trial was the defence team's domestic violence expert, Alyce LaViolette. She is a woman who has somehow remained hidden in the medical and legal systems for decades and has only been exposed now. She is a man-hating lesbian who unconditionally blames men for all acts of violence within relationships. Her testimony lasted for weeks, at a cost of $300 per hour, but it can be summed up in a few seconds:

"Men abuse women. Women don't abuse men. This means that if Jodi killed Travis it must have been self-defence".

Whatever evidence was presented to the contrary, Alyce simply rejected it. Even yesterday, shortly after the court hearing, Alyce gave an interview to CNN in which she said that she is still convinced that Jodi is innocent because she acted in self-defence. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Alyce's opinion is as good as mine. The difference between her and me is that she claims to be an expert and she is being paid a lot of money to state her opinion. The weeks she spent in court have proved beyond a shadow of doubt that she is not an expert. She has never been an expert in domestic violence, because her prejudices blind her to objective reasoning. She should never have been allowed to work in this area all these years, but somehow nobody noticed just how unqualified she is.

The harm that Alyce LaViolette has done over the last decades can no longer be undone, but at least something should be done about her performance in the Jodi Arias trial. During her testimony on Jodi's behalf Alyce lied under oath. She was asked how often she had defended a man in court. She answered "once or twice". It was then shown that she had never defended a man. She should be formally charged with perjury. Apart from being fined or imprisoned, she should be required to repay all the money she earned from the trial. She should also be barred from ever working as a domestic violence consultant again.

Considering the immense legal costs, Alyce LaViolette's fees being refunded are only a drop in the ocean. I have a suggestion. Jodi Arias loves publicity. She gave television interviews immediately after being found guilty on May 8th. She sells art and t-shirts from inside prison, and she even has a web page. Let's offer to make her the star of a reality television show. A person in a high security prison has never been filmed on a regular basis before. This would be compelling viewing. Put a webcam in her cell that broadcasts 24 hours a day. Put cameras at strategic places in the prison's communal areas. Have a show with weekly highlights on prime time television. Any money that Jodi would normally earn should be used to repay the court costs. This should fully cover the costs within a few months. Anything earned after that can be paid to Travis Alexander's family.