The end is near for Jodi Arias. With closing arguments set to begin soon, the final witnesses for Arias' defense and the prosecution will take the stand Wednesday in one last attempt to discredit each other's arguments regarding her mental state.
A 32-year-old photographer from California, Arias is charged with the grisly first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in June 2008. Arias has admitted to killing her former lover, so her guilt isn't up for debate - but her mental condition is. Arias' future depends on whether the jury believes she killed Alexander in self-defense, or was actually a jilted lover exacting jealous revenge. Medical examiners found that Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, shot him in the head, slit his throat from ear to ear with so much force it almost decapitated him, and left his bloodied corpse crumpled over in the bathroom shower of his home - all in the course of 106 seconds.
After a witness for the prosecution, psychologist Janeen DeMarte, effectively dismantled the majority of Arias' defense, Judge Sherry Stephens granted her lawyers' request to question yet another expert witness in order to refute DeMarte's testimony, which easily poked holes in the credibility of the defense's experts, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette, and psychologist Richard Samuels.
Dr. DeMarte testified that based on her review of the psychotherapist's notes, she did not believe LaViolette had conducted a thorough evaluation, and argued that she had actually spent too much time with the defendant during her diagnosis, hindering her objectivity in the case. DeMarte also said that she believed Arias was afflicted with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), not Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or memory problems, and said she showed no signs of domestic abuse, all arguments the defense has repeatedly hammered as an explanation for the numerous discrepancies in Arias' testimony.
In a last ditch effort to reverse the narrative on Arias' mental condition, the defense will call Dr. Robert Geffner to the stand, a neuropsychologist, and founder and president of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute in San Diego.
Judge Stephens is also expected to allow prosecutor Juan Martinez to question a final witness to rebut Geffner's testimony, Dr. Jill Hayes from Louisiana, a clinical, forensic, and Neuropsychologist who teaches clinical psychiatry at LSUHSC. Dr. Hayes has experience working with victims of violent crime from her time as mental health director for the New Orleans HIV Clinic, and has been featured as an expert on programs like A&E's "American Justice" and Court TV's "Forensic Files".
In what's already been one of the longest murder trials in recent memory, Wednesday's proceedings could continue late into the evening. With closing arguments scheduled to start Thursday, Judge Stephens announced last week that court will go on as long as Geffner, and Hayes need to provide testimony.
The questions remains, though: Will more expert witnesses make any difference?
The jury has already heard from countless witnesses for the defense and prosecution, and some experts believe enough is enough already.
"Jurors after a while, if they start to feel preached to, if they start to feel like we've already heard an expert talk about this, they begin to get resentful," clinical forensic psychologist Dr. David Bernstein told ABC News.
In an attempt to prove Alexander fractured Arias' mental state so badly that's she's suffering from PTSD and memory loss, and is a victim of domestic abuse, the defense brought in various expert witnesses to corroborate its argument. The defense's assertion that Arias is the real victim here is the crux of its case at this point in the trial.
Arias' lawyers have portrayed her as an innocent, naive, devout Mormon who was sexually exploited by an often sadistic and abusive Alexander. Much of the defense's case rests on this version of Alexander. Arias has testified throughout the trial about her lover's supposed double life: a pious virgin on the surface, but a "sexually deviant" violent control freak underneath. Alexander's friends contend the defense's portrait of him is nothing like the man they knew, and have said Arias was stalking him and was "possessive and jealous." However, Arias has consistently claimed the couple had a volatile relationship, and that Alexander was possibly a pedophile who was "emotionally detached."
Some legal authorities like Julio Laboy, a Phoenix criminal defense attorney, say it's clear enough based on the jury's questions throughout the trial that they are far from convinced of Arias' explanations for her constantly changing stories and claim of memory loss during Alexander's killing.
"I think the message here is, 'I think you're lying and I want to have you answer my questions directly,'" said Laboy, CBS reported.
Arias has already admitted to lying about Alexander's death to just about everyone. She first claimed she was never at Alexander's home the day he was killed. Then, when a bloody handprint on the wall confirmed she was there through DNA evidence, she admitted she was there, but said masked intruders killed him. Finally, years later she backtracked to admit she killed the victim, but now claims it was in self-defense, saying he attacked her in the shower, forcing her to fight for her life. She claims she lied so often because she was "ashamed" she killed Alexander in self-defense and because she was afraid of revealing the details of their sexual relationship.
Many of the jury's questions have made it clear that some jurors are having a difficult time buying the defense's argument that Arias is a victim of domestic abuse and has a mental condition that explains her foggy memory of Alexander's killing. The professional opinion of the defense's experts has been scrutinized in many of the questions.
"Many of those questions show they are not only skeptical of her story but also of the experts," said Mark Eiglarsh, a Miami Criminal Defense Attorney.
Arias has wavered back-and-forth between providing surprisingly acute details surrounding the murder, to claiming she has little to no memory of certain pieces of the case, such as the actual act of killing Alexander, saying her memory of the fateful day has "huge gaps," according to The Tri-City Herald.
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted. The trial resumes Wednesday when the jury will hear from Dr. Geffner and Dr. Hayes.