Arias: Verdict Watch

I no longer have a healthy confidence that the jury will come to the same conclusion I have:  that Jodi Ann Arias is a deeply disturbed, evil soul and a danger to society.  That said, I'm not at all concerned the jury failed to reach a verdict today.  In a capital trial lasting more than fifty days, I don't find it unreasonable to expect the jurors to spend more than a single day in deliberations.  My sole concern is in not knowing whether the defense was successful in manipulating the jury into something other than a first degree murder conviction.

Kirk Nurmi, attorney for the defense, did the best he could with the case Jodi dealt him.  In closing arguments, he was able to mock and diminish every bit of circumstantial and direct evidence presented by the prosecution... appealing to the one weak-minded individual who might be lurking in the jury.  He made no secret of his tactic, he said as much.  That is the same strategy Jose Baez used in the Casey Anthony case and it worked quite well for him.  I shouldn't have been surprised at this strategy, although it was quite shocking to hear in both cases.  But more than that, it shows just how far defense attorneys will go to provide the "best possible defense" for their guilty clients.  It's how our justice system works.  I accept that.  But I hate it.