Arguing emotional abuse at murder trial

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Occasionally I see a story about some wife killing her husband, and giving the excuse that she had to do it after years of abuse. Someone the woman gets some sympathy, while never having a good answer for why she did not leave if she was so unhappy.

One of the more famous examples was the Scarsdale diet doctor mistress, who died recently. Her 1980 trial was national news, and she was convicted of murder. Feminists all over the country were arguing for an acquittal.

Now this case is much sillier. Reuters reports:

An Arizona woman charged with stabbing and shooting her lover to death - and whose graphic testimony has gripped viewers across the United States - described in court a relationship based around sex that left her feeling "like a prostitute."

Lawyers for Jodi Arias, who could face the death penalty if convicted, argue she acted in self-defense when she killed her lover. He was found in the shower of his Phoenix valley home, shot in the face, stabbed 27 times and with his throat slit.

"I just felt ... a little bit, I hate to put it this way, but I felt a little bit used," Arias, a petite, bespectacled woman with long brown hair, told the court on Wednesday in a calm, measured tone, describing a relationship she said was based around sex.

"He gets a hotel room, I show up, we hang out, we have sex ... He's not really mentally present. I'm getting a lot of attention, but only while we're engaging in sexual activity, and then we check out and he takes off. I kind of felt like a prostitute, sort of," Arias told the court.

Arias, dressed in a dark jacket and wearing glasses, was taking the stand for a third day on Wednesday at the Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix where she is on trial accused of murdering 30-year-old Travis Alexander in 2008.

Her counsel says Arias killed Alexander after years of emotional abuse and mistreatment. In her testimony, she described a sexual relationship with him that was "missing the emotional part, the mental connection, being on the same page."

I don't know how anyone could argue with a straight face that concentrating attention during sexual activity is emotional abuse.

Keep in mind that they were not married, and did not have kids. She was free to go at any time.

Arias, 32, recalled one occasion at a banquet in Oklahoma City, where she hid in a bathroom to cry after she saw Alexander flirting with a woman who was wearing a revealing dress.

"I didn't think the behavior was appropriate ... It hurt my feelings ... I was appalled that he was doing it in front of me." ...

Describing their first kiss in response to questions from defense attorney Kirk Nurmi, she said: "He got right in my face, maybe four inches, five," adding, "He licked his lips and said 'I wish you didn't have a boyfriend.'"

Alexander had been dead for five days when he was found with a slit throat, a bullet wound in his head and 27 stab wounds, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported. His death was connected to Arias after sexually explicit photos were found on the memory card of his camera.

Wow, she kisses him while dating another man, and cries when he flirts with another woman? And that is her defense? She will surely be convicted.

Update: In case you think that no one could take the side of Jodi Arias, the killer, check out JodiAriasIsInnocent.com. SJ has a lot of info about the case, and is predicting a jury acquittal, just like in the Casey Anthony case.