If Jodi Arias is found guilty in the trial of the 2008 killing of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, it won't be because of the prosecuting attorney, experts say, it will be in spite of him.
Lawyer for the prosecution Juan Martinez has become infamous during the trial's cross examination phase for his rapid-fire, aggressive, intense line of questioning, often drawing cries of "badgering the witness" from the defense.
"Martinez is his own worst enemy," said Mel McDonald, a Phoenix defense attorney and former judge, to ABC News. "He takes it to the point where it's ad nauseam. You have difficulty recognizing when he's driving the point home because he's always angry and pushy and pacing around the courtroom. He loses the effectiveness, rather than build it up."
"He's like a rabid dog and believes you've got to go to everybody's throat," McDonald said.
"If they convict her and give her death, they do it in spite of Juan, not because of him," he added.
A photographer from California, Arias is charged with the the gruesome first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend Alexander in his Arizona home in June 2008, in which she allegedly stabbed the then 27-year-old man 27 times, before slitting his throat and shooting him in the head.
Martinez has pounced repeatedly on Arias throughout the trial for the numerous inconsistencies in her stories, and seemingly convenient memory loss of the most important aspect of the trial, sniping that it was interesting her memory of killing Alexander was so spotty, yet you "can tell us what kind of coffee you bought at Starbucks sometime back in 2008."
Seeking to further underline her lack of credibility, prosecuting attorney Martinez focussed on the duplicity of Arias' identity Wednesday.
Arias' lawyers have portrayed her as an innocent, naive, devout Mormon who was sexually exploited by a controlling, sadistic and violent Alexander. Attempting to contradict that "innocent" image, Martinez showed the court several text messages and phone calls between Arias and Alexander suggesting she enjoyed, and initiated much of the kinky sex she claims she only engaged in to pacify Alexander's rages and fulfill his fantasies. Arias had steadfastly testified that the raunchy sex acts she was "coerced" into made her feel used, often like a prostitute.
"So when you tell us you felt like a prostitute it seems to be contradictory?" Martinez asked, according to CBS News.
Arias insisted he had misunderstood the context of the text messages, despite her explicit invitations to Alexander for kinky sex, and one phone call where Arias said to Alexander, "You are amazing. Seriously, you made me feel like a goddess."
The call occurred after Arias said Alexander was using her for sex, Martinez said.
"You were actually into it as much as he was, right?" said Martinez.
"Yes," Arias admitted.
Martinez next hammered Arias on the numerous contradicting accounts she provided to authorities, news, friends, and family in the days after Alexander was killed. Martinez pointed out how often her lies changed as she spoke to different sources.
Arias has tried to explain away many of the inconsistencies in her stories, claiming her memory was foggy the day Alexander died. 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 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 she invented the masked intruder angle, and finally she backtracked to admit she killed the victim, but claimed it was in self-defense, as he attacked her in the shower, forcing her to fight for her life. Martinez discussed these various lies as evidence that Arias knew she was guilty and was trying to cover her tracks to avoid prosecution.
"I couldn't keep my stories straight," Arias explained.
Arias faces the death penalty if convicted, the Associated Press reported. Cross examination resumes for the 50th day of the trial Thursday at 12:30 p.m. EST.
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