I knew from the moment that I walked into the Maricopa County Courthouse that today would be a tension filled day. I made my way to the Jodi Arias Public Seating room and hour before the retrial was to start. The room was packed with those wanting to see the trial. Only 20 - 21 seats are available to the public throughout the trial. I expected that Janet, the Court Assistant in charge of the public, would hold a lottery to determine those who could seat in the gallery of the courtroom.
Janet explained the rules to us before the lottery began. There were to be no pictures taken. Cell phones are to be on "silent" or turned off. Cell phones are not supposed to out of one's pocket in the Courtroom. There is to be no eating or drinking or talking in the Courtroom. There are to be no outbursts and there is to be no talking regardless of whether other folks are talking and regardless if the attorneys and Judge are at sidebar, or private conference with the Judge.
The people were selected on seating position in the Public Room for Arias. Somehow, I made it through selection and was afforded the opportunity to attend in the courtroom. Those who were not selected, including my friend, Kathy Brown, sometimes fondly known as "The Cane Lady", were afforded the ability to see the trial via Live Stream from five floors above. It is not the same as sitting in the courtroom because one cannot see The Jury, the most integral part of this retrial.
We were escorted to the fifth floor and quietly waited as "the players' readied themselves for the day. A sidebar was immediately held at the commencement of the day. We were used to multiple attorney/Judge conferences throughout the prior five days. The attorneys and Judge meet at the front of the courtroom while "white noise" is put over the speakers so no one can hear their discussions.
Juan Martinez was dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt and black tie. Kirk Nurmi, whose weight loss is clearly evident, was dressed in a tan suit, white shirt and ostentatious green and gold striped tie while Jennifer Wilmont was dressed in a black suit. She is always impeccably dressed. Arias waited being dressed in a black top with gray pants. She smiled when talking with her mitigation specialist.
At the conclusion of the sidebar, Judge Stevens explained to the Jury that they would hear a number of Victim Impact statements. She footnoted this to the Jury by saying these statements were not to be weighed with aggravating factors but rather would go toward being balanced against mitigating factors, those factors that may be considered to reduce the culpability of the defendant.
I recently served on a Jury for a stunningly similar case, that of the hammer killing of Dale Harrell, a case I was involved in from January 23, 2014 - June 6, 2014. I speak from experience in saying that Victim Impact statements have a great weight on the Jury. The Victim Impact Statements in our capital murder case had a direct result in our decision in the third phase of this similar trial.
Tanisha Sorenson, one of Travis Alexander's sisters, was the first to read her statement. At the appropriate times, Juan Martinez put pictures of Travis Alexander on the Courtroom screens for the Jury and Court to see while she spoke. Some people may have thought she spoke out of anger but I think this was passion. She and her siblings loved their brother. They have had to live with the damage of having him "Ripped" from their lives. It was unexpected and it was horrific.
It is clear that the family has struggled to find any sort of happiness beyond his death. He is in their dreams. He is thought of every time one steps into a shower stall. His strength and charisma was the backbone for these brothers and sisters. Birthdays for Tanisha will forever be tarnished by guilt, guilt over have outlived her older brother. These brothers and sisters have suffered the enduring effects of true Post Traumatic Syndrome. They have seen multiple psychologists to try and recover from this crime. They have seen marriages and self worth crumble in the weight of guilt and loss of control.
Tanisha spoke of being obsessed in living out Travis' legacy only to find that she has lost herself in the process. She spoke of losing faith in God. She delved into the pain of being a victim of this tragedy. It never goes away and probably never will. It is everything to continue into the next day, difficult because Travis had always been the strength, light and positive energy prior to this.
I understand what she speaks of as it relates to the DeVault murder. I saw the victim impact statements and I learned that when DeVault swung her hammer to kill her victim, the hammer swing went through Dale Harrell's family. It went into the heads of his children, his twin sister, Mindi and all those who knew him. The victim of a murder never dies alone. The survivors must carry this awful guilt with them the rest of their lives. There will always be the underlying shadow of, "What could I have done to somehow have stopped this death?"
In my book, "Brain Damage: A Juror's Tale - The Hammer Killing Trial." (available on
Amazon.com), I speak of the swing of the hammer and the circumference of damage that murder causes to those who live.
The Court saw pictures of Travis in life. Tanisha highlighted her favorite picture of Travis, his wearing sunglasses as he crawled over a boulder on the way to the top of a mountain. We saw a picture of him and his grandmother, Mum Mum, both in the repose of life. We were saddened by his picture of him lying on the floor as he embraced a soft, black dog. We saw Travis Alexander in a gold and tan suit as he was motivation-ally speaking at one of his PPL conferences, a microphone on his shirt and his arms spread as he involved and invoked his audience to be a part of what he spoke.
He was alive and he had been "Ripped" from his family without justifiable cause.
I saw tears in the Jury and I saw their rapt attention. I saw that they cared and were moved by Tanisha's strength in standing before.
I saw the emotions when Steven Alexander, Travis' brother, spoke. One could not ignore the tragedy of the loss of such a great person but the ancillary damage that it caused.
Steven spoke of Travis' dream of 2008. The year for Travis would be the metamorphosis of his life. Travis said it was the year that he would travel, give, love, serve and learn. Travis said 2008 would be the best year of his life as he would grow through integrity, gratitude, a strengthened resolve and he would work harder. He would find his eternal companion and he would be an author. He had something to say and fervently wanted to give back to his community. He spoke of the path of life and the obstacles along the way. The obstacles were a vehicle to learn and grow. Obstacles are a positive perception and no walk is ever easy.
Steven and Tanesha showed great strength and resolve in their search for Justice for Travis. Their statements will ring in the Jury room as the Victim Impact statements rang in our Jury room. We would not see the transcripts of those statements but, we, as a Jury, would not forget them. I feel the same effect in this trial and the power that those statements will carry in the Jury room.
Arais would not look at the pictures of the man she killed on the screen throughout the courtroom. She stared ahead in muted silence as the Jury attempted to hide their emotions..
We recessed for lunch and I ended up going to lunch with three wonderful ladies at Jimmy John's, Freaky Fast, across from the courthouse. Two of the ladies I was with had traveled from San Antonio, TX to see the trial. The third lady was Carol, whom it turns out was a alternate Juror in the original Arias trial. I related to her immediately. She said the trial had changed her life and gave her an acute interest in the law. I related because the same had happened to me.
I learned from Carol that most Juror's from the original trial did not want to speak to the media. It was not because they had something to hide but because they did not want to influence this trial. They fervently wanted Justice for Travis and it was on the third phase that each regretted not being able to reach a decision.
No one, except a Juror, can understand the dynamics of the deliberation room and the minds of twelve complete strangers given the task of making sense of a senseless murder. Carol understood the pain of Victim Impact statements and the rough road it is within hours of continued deliberation. I respected her strength and her vigor in seeing the passion that is involved in a Court of Law.
We returned from lunch and everything seemed to fall apart. I knew something was up when a Court Assistant barked at the main cameraman, telling him to shut down the cameras and pack it up. All of us looked at each other. We didn't know what what was going on.
Judge Stevens announced that the defendant had a right to have a witness speak without attendance in the courtroom.
The media spoke of First Amendment Rights. They vehemently spoke and were subsequently denied.
Everyone was rushed out of the Courtroom.
We spoke among each other and, after a few hours, I had to leave to go to my "real" job.
I was leaving the building when someone told me that someone had gotten a peak in the Courtroom when the doors opened.
They said Jodi Arias was on the stand...
Justice for Travis and Dale!
Paul A. Sanders, Jr.
The 13th Juror MD @The13thJurorMD (Twitter)
