The Jodi Arias murder trial gained national attention in part because of an explicit and steamy recording of phone sex between Arias and her lover, and eventual murder victim, Travis Alexander. Attorneys engaged in a behind-closed-doors fight about whether or not the tape should be admissible as evidence, the transcript of that argument has been released to the public, according to the Arizona Republic.
Alexander was stabbed 30 times, shot and had his throat slit by Arias who was convicted of murder for the crime. The defense wanted to introduce the phone sex tape in order to portray Alexander as a physically and emotionally abusive man who forced Arias into committing the crime out of self-defense, according to Latinos Post.
The transcripts reveal that prosecuting attorney Juan Martinez felt that the tape was nothing but hearsay and that there was no way to verify that the woman's voice on the recording actually belonged to Arias. Martinez wanted to have the argument behind closed chambers because he wanted to avoid "having to squawk up like a Jack-in-the-box every five minutes" with objections, according to the Arizona Republic.
"And rather than making a big fight out there, I guess, I'm wanting to make the big fight in here," Martinez said.
Martinez also argued that there was no proof that Alexander and Arias ever engaged in any of the activities described in the tape. Jennifer Wilmott, one of Arias' defense attorneys, argued that it did not matter whether the events happened, the reason that the defense wanted to submit the tape as evidence was to show that Alexander was sexually aggressive, contrary to the straight-laced Mormon virgin that many of the witnesses in the case had portrayed him as, according to the Arizona Republic.
"Judge, also it goes to his sexual knowledge," Wilmott said in the transcript. "Because there has been testimony that he was a virgin. And we expect the argument to be that it was Ms. Arias who changed him from a virgin. On this tape he's talking about things that Ms. Arias does not know what they are. And he has to explain them to her, sexual things."
Kirk Nurmi, Arias' other defense attorney, argued that the tape had to be admissible because it showed that Alexander was still very much engaged in the relationship with Arias at a time when prosecutors argued he wanted to have nothing to do with her, according to the Arizona Republic.
"Again at a time when she is supposedly this crazy stalker person that he doesn't want around, he's having phone sex with her and talking about the things that he wishes to do," Nurmi said in the transcript.
Arias is still awaiting sentencing in the case that looks as if it could drag on into next year. A sentencing retrial is scheduled to start on July 18 but the defense is expected to attempt to have it delayed until January because of scheduling conflicts, according to the Arizona Republic.
The following video is very graphic and not safe for work.
