The Jodi Arias case has captured the attention of the nation due to the graphic and violent evidence presented during the trial. Jodie Arias, a pretty, intelligent, 32-year-old woman killed her strong, handsome, successful, 30-year-old lover Travis Alexander. Jodie has admitted to shooting Travis in the face, stabbing him 27 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear. Her attorney argued that she acted in self-defense and deserves the protections of the Battered Woman Syndrome.
HLN is the only network covering the trial gavel-to-gavel and a recent report notes that their ratings have improved during the intense and relentless coverage. Lifetime has recently announced that they will create a television movie based on the Jodi Arias trial (no surprise there). The trial has everything Lifetime could want: sex, drama and tragedy.
There has been testimony about every type of sex imaginable: vaginal sex, anal sex, oral sex, phone sex, sexting and fantasy sex. There have been audio recording wherein the defendant and victim are having phone sex and both parties reached orgasm. There are naked, sexually provocative pictures of the defendant and victim that were submitted as evidence -- and it's all playing out on national television.
Early in the trial I listened to Jodi testify that she didn't really enjoy receiving oral sex but she didn't want to stop Travis and disappoint him. I listened, laughed and thought, "what woman on the jury is going to buy that story." At that moment, I didn't realize that Jodi would tell many, many stories the seem unbelievable. While captivated and engulfed in the salacious testimony, one can almost forget that a man was brutally killed in his own home by his lover. This is a murder trial with the death penalty looming over the defendant's head.
The Jodi Arias trail has brought the discussion of domestic violence to the forefront of the news. As a survivor of domestic violence and a celebrity advocate for domestic violence awareness, I am often called by television shows to offer commentary in this area. I have accepted appearance invitations from Nancy Grace, Jane Valez Mitchell, Vinny Politan, Ryan Smith, Dr. Drew and Mike Galanos. They know that I have an opinion on everything and I am passionate about defending the rights of domestic violence victims and survivors. However, for the first time since I began in my role as a spokesperson, I spoke against a woman claiming to be a victim of domestic violence -- Jodi Arias. In an Op-Ed for HLN I outlined why I was compelled to take such a stand.
Still, I have found that despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence to support the prosecutor's charge of first degree murder -- not everyone thinks even a "guilty" verdict is guaranteed. Often, I am stopped on the street by people who want to discuss the trial because they've seen my face and blond dreads on television. To my surprise, very often their opinions are quite different than what I've heard while a guest on the various shows.
I began to wonder why their perspectives were so different from the many lawyers, experts, pundits and the call-in viewers from the shows. I pondered: is it because they are not watching daily coverage; or maybe, they do not know all the facts of the case; or maybe they haven't heard much of the testimony. Intrigued and confused, I decided to create a survey to better understand what the "silent majority" really thinks about Jodi Arias, Travis Alexander and the trial.
The survey is NOT commissioned by any third party.
All answers are anonymous.
Feel free to share the survey.
The results will be published within seven days.