Jodi Arias Testifies She Tried Wicca, Buddhism With Boyfriends — Transcript

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1. 0:00We begin with the twisted tale of love
2. 0:02gone deadly wrong. Today, Jodi Arias,
3. 0:05the young woman on trial for murder in
4. 0:07Phoenix, Arizona, took the stand for a
5. 0:10second day to try and convince a jury
6. 0:12that when she stabbed, slashed, and shot
7. 0:15her one-time boyfriend, it was all in
8. 0:17self-defense.
9. 0:19But, that wasn't always her story. She
10. 0:22faces the possibility of the death
11. 0:24penalty. ABC's Ryan Owens has this
12. 0:26report for our series, Crime and
13. 0:28Punishment.
14. 0:31Did you kill Travis Alexander on June
15. 0:344th, 2008?
16. 0:37Yes, I did.
17. 0:38It's the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary
18. 0:40pass.
19. 0:41Hi, Jodi.
20. 0:42Hi.
21. 0:43Defense attorneys almost never want to
22. 0:45put a client on the stand. But, when
23. 0:47that client is an admitted killer and a
24. 0:49serial liar, there isn't much choice.
25. 0:52How are you feeling right now?
26. 0:54Um, nervous.
27. 0:56Jodi Arias could face the death penalty
28. 0:58if she's convicted of murdering her
29. 0:59ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. The
30. 1:0230-year-old Mormon businessman was
31. 1:03stabbed 27 times, his throat was slit,
32. 1:07and he was shot in the head. Arias
33. 1:09claims she killed Alexander in
34. 1:11self-defense.
35. 1:13Why?
36. 1:15Um, the simple answer is that he
37. 1:17attacked me
38. 1:19and I defended myself.
39. 1:20Tuesday, she testified about how she met
40. 1:22Alexander at a Las Vegas convention.
41. 1:25He stopped right in front of me and
42. 1:27stuck his hand out and introduced
43. 1:28himself.
44. 1:29And told the jury he seemed to want to
45. 1:31kiss her almost immediately.
46. 1:33He leaned in very close as if he wanted
47. 1:36to kiss me, and he was licking his lips,
48. 1:38and he was staring at my lips, and
49. 1:40like he wanted to kiss me, but he
50. 1:43didn't.
51. 1:43She went into graphic detail about their
52. 1:45first sexual encounter just a week after
53. 1:48they met.
54. 1:49He began to remove my clothes.
55. 1:52I didn't want to tell him no,
56. 1:54so I just kept going with it.
57. 1:57Why didn't you want to tell him no?
58. 2:00I didn't want to do
59. 2:03I didn't want to do anything that would
60. 2:05maybe displease him.
61. 2:06So far, Arias has spent more than 5
62. 2:09hours on the stand.
63. 2:10They use the term intertainment.
64. 2:12Literally holding court.
65. 2:14Uh training.
66. 2:15She's giggled
67. 2:16Do you know what I'm saying?
68. 2:17and droned on and on about her life in
69. 2:20such detail it's almost impossible to
70. 2:22believe someone has a memory that good.
71. 2:24I was in the dressing room at Kohl's.
72. 2:27Um by that point he had my cell phone
73. 2:29number. Well, after wandering around we
74. 2:31kind of wandered back to the lobby where
75. 2:33that there's a big golden lion statue.
76. 2:35There were people there giving their
77. 2:37They're called ring speeches.
78. 2:39That means that they earned $100,000
79. 2:42within a 1-year period.
80. 2:43But after 2 days of testimony, she still
81. 2:45hasn't specifically addressed what
82. 2:47happened the day of the crime. There
83. 2:49will be plenty of time for that,
84. 2:50especially when this fiery prosecutor
85. 2:52gets a chance to cross-examine the woman
86. 2:55he calls a cold-blooded murderer. He
87. 2:58says Arias stalked her ex for months and
88. 3:00slaughtered him in the shower of his
89. 3:02Arizona home in a jealous rage. He says,
90. 3:05"You can't believe a word she says."
91. 3:07I'm all for the 10 Commandments. Thou
92. 3:09shall not kill.
93. 3:10It's true, since her arrest in 2008
94. 3:12never hurt Travis.
95. 3:13she has had a series of changing
96. 3:15stories. In these interrogation tapes,
97. 3:18she first swore she didn't hurt
98. 3:19Alexander.
99. 3:21Travis were here today, he would tell
100. 3:23you that it wasn't me.
101. 3:24Lying to the lead detective.
102. 3:26If I was going to ever
103. 3:29try to kill somebody, I would
104. 3:32use gloves. I have plenty of them.
105. 3:34Over and over again.
106. 3:36I don't think I could stab him.
107. 3:39I think I would have to shoot him
108. 3:41continuously until he was
109. 3:44Even denying being at Alexander's house
110. 3:46that day, despite an overwhelming amount
111. 3:49of physical evidence, including a
112. 3:51picture of her on his bed and her bloody
113. 3:54palm print in his bathroom.
114. 3:56How can that be my palm print?
115. 3:58There's even a photo of her moving his
116. 4:01bloody body.
117. 4:02That's not my foot.
118. 4:04Those pictures, including some of
119. 4:05Alexander in the shower seconds before
120. 4:07his death, were recovered from this
121. 4:09camera found in his washing machine. The
122. 4:12jury has heard and seen all of that
123. 4:14evidence, plus this interview she gave
124. 4:17to the show Inside Edition right after
125. 4:19her arrest.
126. 4:20No jury is going to convict me.
127. 4:22Why not?
128. 4:23Because I'm innocent and you can mark my
129. 4:24words on that one.
130. 4:26On the stand, Arias tried to explain
131. 4:27that away, too. Now testifying she not
132. 4:30only killed Alexander, but was planning
133. 4:32to kill herself.
134. 4:34At the time I had plans to commit
135. 4:35suicide.
136. 4:40Um
137. 4:42So, I was extremely confident that no
138. 4:44jury would convict me because I didn't
139. 4:45expect any of you to be here.
140. 4:47But here she is and she's talking and
141. 4:50talking. On Good Morning America, ABC
142. 4:52News legal analyst Dan Abrams says she's
143. 4:55a good witness. HLN's Nancy Grace begged
144. 4:58to differ.
145. 4:58But as a witness, I didn't view her as
146. 5:00robotic. I thought that she was actually
147. 5:03Dan, Dan, Dan, you're under her spell.
148. 5:05I am.
149. 5:06She got you.
150. 5:07It's already Arias' mojo has
151. 5:09gotten you.
152. 5:11I am. I
153. 5:12I could have been her next victim.
154. 5:14Arias is expected to be on the stand at
155. 5:15least a few more days, trying to
156. 5:17convince this jury she killed in
157. 5:19self-defense and therefore doesn't
158. 5:22deserve to die for the crime.
159. 5:25I'm Ryan Owens for Nightline in Phoenix.