PHOENIX -
Jodi Arias' defense attorneys put a former girlfriend of Travis Alexander on the witness stand Wednesday, trying to show he was an emotionally abusive cheater.
The defense is trying to show Alexander abused Arias and she killed him in self-defense. They tried to paint Alexander as sexually aggressive, even though as a devout Mormon, he was supposed to abstain from sex. So they called as a witness an ex-girlfriend of Travis to show a pattern of bad behavior.
But prosecutors tried to show while Travis may have juggled girlfriends, he was not a bad person.
Lisa Daidone was only 19 years old when she started dating the 29-year-old Travis Alexander. She told the jury Travis cheated on her with Jodi -- and when she found out, she wrote Travis an angry e-mail.
Defense Attorney: "Did you tell him you feel you cannot trust him anymore?"
Daidone: "Yes, at that time, I did say that."
Defense Attorney: "Did you tell him you felt cheated and lied to and that you did not wish to hear anything more?"
Daidone: "Yes."
"Did you tell him it was unattractive for a man to talk about sex as much as he did?"
Daidone: "I did say that in the email."
Defense: "And did he say that you know he wants it, meaning sex, but you told him he needed to be patient?"
On cross examination, Lisa told the prosecutor Travis had behaved in a gentlemanly way toward her, even though he talked about sex a lot.
"He never at any time forced you to do something sexual that you didn't want to do, correct?" asked the prosecutor. "Correct," she responded.
"And with regard to him talking about sex, he was mostly in a joking manner in response to certain things that were said. So it wasn't like he was saying hey baby we need to get down or anything like that?"
The prosecutor later showed the court a photo of Travis with his throat slashed -- as if he was asking if Travis deserved to be killed.
"With regard to exhibit 205, do you think in your mind because you were the one who was experiencing...," said prosecutor Juan Martinez.
"Objection to that being shown judge, that is completely irrelevant," said the defense attorney.
The witness, stunned, covered her mouth.
Travis' loved ones gasped and slumped forward. Some family members walked out of the courtroom. Jodi Arias appeared to weep.
After a long, tense meeting with the judge, the prosecutor was right back at it.
"Do you think it is appropriate given everything they claim he put you though? Do you think it is appropriate to take a knife and slash somebody's throat?" asked Martinez.
The trial continues. Thursday the defense is expected to call a domestic violence expert to the stand.
Jodi Arias could face the death penalty if convicted.
Lisa Daidone and Jodi Arias in court 1/30/13
