An Arizona prosecutor on Wednesday took aim at prior testimony given by Jodi Arias about the brutal 2008 slaying of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
Maricopa County Prosecutor Juan Martinez showed Arias two photographs that were taken inside Alexander's home on June 4, 2008. According to Martinez, the first photo was of a live Alexander in his shower. The second photo, taken 62 seconds later, was of Alexander’s bloodied body sprawled out on the floor, with Arias's foot next to his head.
Arias, on the witness stand for an 18th day, is on trial for the slaying of Alexander inside his Mesa, Ariz., home. She faces the death penalty if convicted.
During previous testimony, Arias said she had been taking photos of Alexander showering when she dropped his camera, causing him to become enraged and attack her. She testified that she shot and stabbed Alexander in self-defense.
"Your scenario is impossible," Martinez said.
"You drop the camera ... you are body-slammed, you get away, you go down the hallway, you go in the closet, you get the gun, you go into the bathroom ... You shoot him, he goes down and then, after you're able to get away, you go get the knife and you end up at the end of the hallway -- all of this in 62 seconds?" Martinez asked.
"No, that's not what I'm saying ... after the gun went off ... it started to get more confusing at that point," Arias replied.
"You didn't have the knife in your hand when you shot him. So that means, if you didn't have the knife in your hand, you had to go get it from somewhere, right?" Martinez asked.
"I don't know," Arias replied.
Martinez became agitated with Arias Wednesday afternoon, when she was evasive regarding questions about her height in comparison to the shelves in Alexander's closet, where she claims she got the gun that she used to shoot him.
"I'm not asking you to stand in the closet, I'm asking you how tall you are," Martinez snapped.
Martinez then expressed doubt that the shelves in the closet -- which he pointed out were held up by small pegs -- would have held Arias' weight if she had used one as a step to reach the gun, as she previously testified.
"Wouldn't that shelf have tipped over?" Martinez asked.
Arias defense attorney, Kurt Nurmi, objected to the question and the judge sustained the objection, meaning Arias did not have to answer.
Much of the remainder of the day was spent in a dozen or so sidebars and some additional questioning from the jury about Arias's actions on the day of the killing.
"If you still felt threatened after shooting Travis, why didn't you just shoot him again rather than stab him?" Judge Sherry Stephens asked Arias, on behalf of the jury.
"I know that I dropped the gun when he hit me ... I don't remember picking up the knife," Arias replied.
The judge recessed court until 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, when the trial will resume.
WEDNESDAY'S LIVE BLOG:
Related
Before You Go
