Inside The Mind Of Jodi Arias: Played Or Player? Psychologist Testifies About Graphic Sexting

Psychologist Dr. Robert Geffner took the witness stand again on day 26 of the Jodi Arias murder trial, saying that Travis Alexander was a bit of a player who liked to graphically “sext” not just Arias, but other girls as well.

“Sexting” is a term that combines sex and texting, usually in which people give graphic detail of sexual content, or send sexual or naked photos. The defense is trying to show that Alexander was an abusive and manipulative boyfriend.

Analyst Beth Karas is presenting information on Travis in attempt to spare Arias’ life, which hangs in the balance if she is sentenced to death in the stabbing and shooting death of on-again, off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander, who was found in his Mesa apartment in June 2008.

The jury is trying to decide if Arias will get life in prison or the death penalty for the murder of her ex-lover after Judge Sherry Stephens struck down the motion to take the death penalty option off the table. Arias’ lawyers appeared to make a strong case when they filed a motion to eliminate the death penalty as an option, but late Wednesday afternoon Stephens ruled against the motion.

Legal expert Dwayne Cates said he didn’t think the judge’s ruling would affect the case, because it is very unusual for a jury to sentence a woman to the death penalty. It has happened before, such as in the case of a female serial killer, but it is very rare. Disparities among races and genders regarding the death penalty are one of the most common arguments for opposition of capital punishment.

“We are learning that Travis Alexander was a bit of a player. He liked to sext many women at the same time he was still seeing Jodi Arias. It supports their position that Travis Alexander treated women a certain way, presented himself to the Mormon community one way. But he was a highly sexual person, a little bit manipulative and controlling of women. It may help the jury understand where Jodi Arias was coming from. It’s not a defense to the murder; she’s guilty of the murder, but it might convince some of them she doesn’t deserve to die.”

Jodi Arias has been described as a psychologically unstable woman who suffers from bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and someone who chronically skipped her medications. Travis Alexander and Arias had a lurid sexual affair, complete with photos, shortly before she killed him in 2008. She photographed the seemingly consensual sex acts and then the various stages of his death and blood loss, then put the camera through the washing machine, but the film was not destroyed and police were able to see the murder through the killer’s own photographic documentation.