Jurors begin deliberations in New York "cannibal cop" case

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Jurors show disbelief of Jodi Arias stories

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias insists she killed lover Travis Alexander in 2008 at his suburban Phoenix home in self-defense during a violent fight. She then took pictures of his body, cleaned the scene, drove to Utah and proceeded to tell a series of lies to cover her tracks. She now says it was such a traumatic experience that she remembers little of the actual killing.

Jurors asking questions of her this week during her murder trial, however, obviously don't believe all of her testimony.

Here are a few questions posed to Arias by jurors through the judge on Thursday, along with the defendant's responses and the backstory:

LIES

Jury: "After all the lies you have told, why should we believe you now?"

Arias: "Lying isn't typically something I just do ... The lies I've told in this case can be tied directly back to either protecting Travis' reputation or my involvement in his death in any way because I was very ashamed."

Jury: "Would you decide to tell the truth if you never got arrested?"

Arias: "I honestly don't know the answer to that question."

The backstory: Arias vehemently denied having anything to do with the killing, and even sent sympathy flowers to Alexander's family. She later said masked intruders did it before settling on self-defense two years after her arrest.

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SELF-DEFENSE

Jury: "Why were you afraid of the consequences if you killed Travis in self-defense?"

Arias: "I believed it was not OK ... to take someone's life even if you were defending yourself."

Jury: "Why didn't you call 911 to help Travis?"

Arias: "I was scared to call anyone."

The backstory: Arias contends that Alexander lost his temper during a fight over a dropped camera and slammed her to the floor in anger. The fight escalated, she says, until she had no other choice but to shoot him in the head. She says she has no recollection of stabbing and slashing him nearly 30 times and slitting his throat. She also testified about other fights with Alexander during their relationship in which she became fearful for her safety, but no evidence at trial has indicated that Alexander ever displayed violent behavior.

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THE GUN

Jury: "Have you ever had any firearms training or fired a .25-caliber pistol prior to this event?"

Arias: "I have never fired a gun but am relatively familiar with them."

Jury: "Why didn't you just run out of the house instead of grabbing the gun from the closet?"

Arias: "Again, it happened so fast."

The backstory: Arias contends that Alexander kept a .25-caliber pistol in his closet that she retrieved during their fight, despite no evidence presented at trial that he even owned a gun. She says she dumped it in the desert after she shot him, and no knife used in the killing has been found by authorities. Arias' grandparents reported a .25-caliber handgun stolen from their house before the shooting. She claims she didn't take it.

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MEMORY

Jury: "Is there anyone else who knows about your memory issues?"

Arias: "I think I have a really excellent memory."

Jury: "How can you say that you don't have memory issues when you can't remember how you stabbed him so many times and slashed his throat?"

Arias: "I think that I have a good memory. June 4 is an anomaly for me."

Jury: "Several times while testifying about the abuse by Travis, you have made comments like, 'As I understand it now,' and 'I've come to realize.' How has this realization come about?"

Arias: "Just the farther away I get from the situation the more perspective I have."

The backstory: Arias says she has "huge gaps" in her memory of the actual killing. But she also displayed impeccable recollections about other aspects of her life, describing keys events from her youth and past relationships down to exact dates and days of the week during earlier testimony.

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THE RELATIONSHIP

Jury: "Would you agree that you came away from the June 4 incident rather unscathed while Travis suffered a gunshot and multiple stab wounds?"

Arias: "That's a relatively accurate assessment."

The backstory: Arias testified on several occasions how much she loved Alexander. But she said he had a darker side that caused him to become violent and carry out perverted sexual acts.

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6 jurors chosen for Philly abortion clinic case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Potential jurors are being asked their views on abortion and the death penalty in a Philadelphia murder case that promises to be painfully graphic for almost anyone chosen.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, is charged with killing a 41-year-old woman during a botched abortion at his West Philadelphia medical clinic in 2009. He is also charged in the deaths of seven babies allegedly born alive before their spines were severed with scissors.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the infant deaths.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart treaded lightly, but directly, as he questioned potential jurors about their views this week. Those who expressed religious, ethical or moral qualms about abortion or the death penalty were promptly dismissed.

That left lawyers on both sides to question the surviving panel members individually, and to dig a little deeper. Prosecutors asked if they were sure they could return a death penalty verdict against the aging doctor if the facts warrant it. Defense lawyers wanted to know if jurors could be fair to Gosnell and co-defendant Eileen O'Neill, given the age of the infants.

And both sides asked if the jurors would be biased against trial witnesses who said they had had abortions.

"I think a woman has the right to choose, really. Whatever they decide," a female postal worker said.

Despite that answer, she was ultimately dismissed.

A city water department worker with two daughters became the fourth juror chosen. The man had gone to a Catholic high school but said he was no longer a practicing Catholic and did not oppose legal abortions, as the church does.

Other potential jurors cited their Roman Catholic faith in concluding they could not be impartial.

By the end of the day Tuesday, six jurors had been selected. Opening statements are expected sometime next week.

O'Neill, a medical school graduate who worked at Gosnell's clinic, is charged with practicing medicine without a license. Eight other co-defendants charged in the wake of a 2011 grand jury report pleaded guilty to various charges, three of them to third-degree murder.

The grand jury report described filthy, macabre conditions at Gosnell's Women's Medical Center, including shelves lined with fetal body parts kept in jars.

Gosnell has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, third-degree murder and other charges. He insists that he helped many vulnerable women and teens get medical care, including later-stage abortions.

Gosnell also faces a later federal court trial on illegal prescription drug charges. Prosecutors say he ran a profitable "pill mill" in another part of the clinic.

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3 jurors picked in Pa. abortion doc's murder trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Three women were chosen as jurors on Monday for the trial of a Philadelphia abortion provider charged with killing a patient and seven babies allegedly born alive.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, is charged with third-degree murder in a woman's 2009 death during a botched abortion. He also faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the newborns' deaths.

Jury selection is expected to take a week, given the sensitivity of the abortion issue and the death penalty.

The three jurors chosen Monday said they support abortion rights and could judge the case fairly.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart was quick to dismiss scores of potential jurors who said their religious or moral beliefs might color their view of the case.

Gosnell has pleaded not guilty, and insists that he helped many vulnerable women and teens get medical care, including later-stage abortions.

Pennsylvania abortion laws ban abortions after 24 weeks. Authorities believe at least some of the abortions performed at Gosnell's clinic involved third-trimester pregnancies. The 2011 grand jury report details one case in which Gosnell allegedly joked the baby was so big it could walk to the bus stop.

The nearly 300-page report described the clinic as filthy, blood-stained and macabre, with a collection of fetal body parts kept in jars.

In court Monday, Gosnell defied that crude image, appearing poised, elegantly dressed and oddly relaxed. He warmly greeted a local TV reporter by name, as he has done in the past.

Gosnell, the only child of a gas station operator and government clerk, had been a top student at the city's prestigious Central High School. He became an early proponent of abortion rights in the 1960s and '70s, and returned from a stint in New York City to open up a clinic in the impoverished Mantua neighborhood, near the working-class black neighborhood where he grew up.

His Women's Medical Center treated the poor, immigrants, teens and others without regard for their ability to pay, Gosnell has said.

"I feel in the long term I will be vindicated," Gosnell told the Philadelphia Daily News in a March 2010 interview.

Gosnell's third wife, Pearl, who has pleaded guilty to performing illegal abortions, and his adult children were not in court, although they had been last week when Gosnell apparently rejected efforts to negotiate a plea offer. A gag order prevents lawyers in the case from commenting, but Gosnell's lawyer was seen dashing between prosecutors and his client, who had been brought to court from jail.

Opening statements are set for March 14, and the trial could last six to eight weeks.

Former clinic employee Eileen O'Neill is also on trial, charged with practicing medicine without a license. Eight others have pleaded guilty to murder or lesser charges. Some are expected to testify against their former boss.

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