Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 85544

Prosecutor: A Psychologist Who Testified For Jodi Arias Had 'Feelings' For Her

$
0
0

Jodi Arias

Jodi Arias, a 32-year-old Mormon convert, is on trial for allegedly murdering her motivational speaker lover in June 2008.

Arias says she killed Travis Alexander in self-defense but that she can't remember stabbing him nearly 30 times.

Now, the psychologist who's backing up her claims with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia is under fire from the media and one of the prosecutors in the case.

On Monday, prosecutor Juan Martinez accused psychologist Richard Samuels of basing his diagnosis on a "relationship" he had with Arias, the AP reported.

"You have feelings for the defendant!" Martinez reportedly shouted.

Samuels responded by saying, "I beg your pardon, sir."

The defense is relying pretty heavily on Samuels' "dissociate amnesia" diagnosis to explain why Arias can't remember stabbing her Alexander, who was her ex-boyfriend when she killed him. Arias also claims not to remember cleaning up a ton of blood that day and dragging his body into a shower.

Forensic psychiatrist Steven Pitt has previously told ABC that Samuels took Arias' lies at face value.

"This guy, he got bamboozled by Jodi Arias," Pitt told ABC. "He drank her Kool-Aid and now he is finding out that it is a toxic mix of 'BS.'"

Arias' lies to prosecutors — she intially claimed she knew nothing of the killing before claiming self-defense — have earned her the moniker "Mormon Casey Anthony."

Please follow Law & Order on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »




Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 85544

Trending Articles