Jurors grill defense’s domestic violence expertBy Amanda Sloane
updated 7:54 PM EDT, Thu April 11, 2013
Domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette answered almost 100 questions from jurors on Thursday and it was clear the jurors had two major things on their minds: Was Jodi Arias lying about the abuse and could she actually have been the abuser, instead of Travis Alexander? Again and again, questions on these two topics kept coming up.
On the point of lying, one juror asked LaViolette to just spell it out: "Please state how confident you are that Jodi did not lie to you."
"Like, ever? I don’t believe she lied to me about significant things. I don’t have reason to believe she lied to me. I don’t have evidence to support she lied to me. Is it possible she lied to me about things? It’s possible," LaViolette said.
Another juror asked: "It has been proven that Jodi has lied multiple times… how are you able to know everything she is saying is truthful?"
"I don’t, I don’t know everything she told me was true... That she lied after the killing of Mr. Alexander does not make her a liar. It makes her a frightened human being," said LaViolette.
On the point of the abuse, one juror asked if Arias’ violent actions towards her mother (kicking and slapping her) categorized her as an abuser. Another juror asked if Alexander’s actions could be considered defensive. LaViolette answered no to both of these. Another juror wanted to know if a female could “abuse, batter or terrorize a man to the point of killing him?" LaViolette admitted it was possible.
The expert seemed stumped when a juror brought up the fact that he or she witnessed LaViolette giving “warm” smiles to Arias during the breaks and sidebars.
"I have done that on occasion just to acknowledge her, but no other reason,” said LaViolette.
A follow-up question referenced a specific incident in which the juror said LaViolette had shrugged at Arias during the prosecution’s cross-examination.
LaViolette said she didn't even know she was doing that -- just that she shrugs sometimes: "I don’t even know what to say to that question."
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