Arias returns to witness stand in murder trial

— Testimony in the case of a woman accused of killing her lover turned into a one-sided shouting match Tuesday between Jodi Arias and a prosecutor grilling her over memory problems, with Arias saying his aggressive demeanor and posture was causing her to forget crucial details or provide concise answers.

"I'm not having a problem telling the truth," Arias softly told prosecutor Juan Martinez, who stammered with his response, his voice growing louder.



She often responds to his questions by saying, "Sure," to which Martinez loudly snaps backs that he is merely looking for a yes or no answer.


Later Tuesday, Martinez focused on how Arias had broken up with previous boyfriends who she learned had cheated on her, as she says she did with Travis Alexander, yet has testified during the trial how Alexander had complete control over her.

"So when you decide something, you can do it right?" Martinez asked.

"Yes," Arias replied.

Arias is charged in the June 2008 death of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She says she dated Alexander for about five months before breaking up with him but continued to see him for sex up until the day she killed him. She says she was forced to fight for her life after Alexander attacked her, but police say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Testimony began in early January.

Arias spent Monday calmly trying to explain away her lies as the prosecutor hammered her about not being honest with authorities, friends or family, even sending the victim's grandmother flowers after she killed him, all in an attempt to throw off suspicion and avoid being charged.

Arias says she was scared and ashamed when she initially told authorities and others that she had nothing to do with the killing, then later blamed it on masked intruders before eventually settling on self-defense.



Arias' grandparents reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California house about a week before the killing - the same caliber used to shoot Alexander - but Arias says she knows nothing about the burglary. She says she brought no weapons to Alexander's home on the day she killed him, undercutting the prosecution's theory of premeditation.

The Associated Press


