What follows is a summary of what Jodi said to the Jury today.

1. The judge says Patty Womack had intended to testify about the environment JA grew up in (including abuse) but she is unable to testify.
2. JA clears her throat. She has prepared a slide show to accompany her speech.
3. JA talks about her Mom visiting her and after the visit stopping at a stoplight where the car stopped next to her was the Alexander family. Her Mom said: “I know they’re going through hell.” JA says nothing drove that home more than last week (the impact statements).
4. The 3 by 5 card to call Steven –he never got that call ‘because of me.’ The last picture with Sam- no more pictures can be made with Travis ‘because of me.’ She avoided looking at them (but won’t go into the reasons). She wondered where the Grandma was and found out last week (she died). Mentions Travis called her last Thanksgiving saying Grandma was ‘ill and frail’ and he was worried ‘she wouldn’t make it.’ She may have inadvertently added to this. It ‘destroys me.’
5. She waivered on suicide because of her family. She mentions her suicide letters to her family.
6. She lists what she could do if she gets life:

-Donate hair. (Which she has already done a few times).

-Teach Spanish and Sign language.

-Start recycling program.

-Help with illiteracy, start a book club.

-Donate to Domestic Violence (she showed her ‘Survivor T-Shirt and claims 100% goes to charity). Mentions she knows some don’t consider her a survivor of DV.

7.  She goes through her life with pictures starting with her as a baby- she was the first born. Carl & her were ‘inseparable.’ She was 11 when Angela was born. Shows family portrait- which they now take with a photo of her in it.

8.  Picture of her with Patty. She gets in that Patty didn’t return today because her and her 9 year old daughter were threatened and harassed.

9. Shows picture of her & Bobby. The ‘best of times and the worst of times.’ No power, no support from parents buts figuring things out for themselves.

10.  Her and Matt they remained friends.  Her and Darryl- several pics with the 2 of them and with the son as well. Hasn’t seen the boy since June 2008.

11. Back to the family. Her sister and brother have children. She never will ‘because of my terrible choices.’

12. Shows her drawings.

13. She didn’t want to go through a trial and expose these ‘darker aspects’. She was obligated to answer questions asked on the stand. Says she ‘loved Travis’ and ‘looked up to him’…he ‘was my world.’

14. Before this she couldn’t ‘kill a spider.’ She didn’t know she was capable of such violence.

15. Her family is suffering. When the Guilty verdict was read her Mom said her Dad cried harder than ever before. ‘I caused that pain.’ She concedes Travis’ family has much greater pain.

16. Steven said he never wanted to see her face again- if she gets life in prison he won’t. She previously had asked for the D P. and found life in prison unappealing. Now she can’t ask for Death in good conscience because of her family. Either way she will spend her life in prison just shorter if DP.

17. She is asking that her life be spared for her family’s sake. ‘Please, please don’t do that to them.’ She wants their pain to stop. “Thank you.”

(After the judge reads the jury instructions- they are almost exactly what I recorded on an earlier day on this blog).