NEWS

Ex-Jodi Arias lawyer: 'Never left alone' with porn files

Former Jodi Arias lawyer Maria Schaffer denies allegations by prosecutor the she may have deleted porn files.

Michael Kiefer
The Republic | azcentral.com
  • Attorney Maria Schaffer denies allegations by Juan Martinez that she deleted computer files
  • Current defense attorneys allege that thousands of files deleted in 2009
  • Victim Travis Alexander was portrayed as a devout Mormon by prosecutors
Jodi Arias (right) talks to Jennifer Willmott, one of her attorneys, in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix on Monday during the sentencing-phase retrial.  Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of former boyfriend Travis Alexander, but the jury hung on the penalty phase, life in prison or the death sentence.

Former Jodi Arias attorney Maria Schaffer on Thursday denied suggestions by the prosecution that she may have deleted porn files from Travis Alexander's computer.

Schaffer acknowledged that she and her co-counsel looked at the computer in a room with Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Juan Martinez and Mesa police Det. Esteban Flores on June 19, 2009, as they began preparing the case for their client.

But "it was physically impossible for us to delete files," she said. "We were never left in the room alone."

She said that the visit was not for a forensic evaluation of the computer but rather "an initial foray to see what was seized from the house."

"In Maricopa County, when we have a murder case and we are assigned, we have a duty to the client to look at all the evidence in the case," Schaffer said.

Arias' current defense team alleged in a motion filed Monday that police or prosecutors may have deleted thousands of pornographic files from a computer seized from the home of Alexander, who was killed by Arias.

Martinez countered that if there was any pornography on the computer -- not that he saw any -- it was probably deleted by Arias' former defense team during a visit to Mesa police headquarters in June 2009.

Alexander, 30, was found dead in his Mesa home in 2008. Last year, Arias, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder for the crime, and she is in the middle of a second trial to determine whether she should be sentenced to death or to life in prison.

The alleged pornography strengthens the defense case, so it is highly unlikely that a defense attorney would delete it. Martinez has portrayed Alexander as a devout Mormon, but Arias and her attorneys, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott, have presented evidence suggesting Alexander had a voracious sexual appetite.

The jury has already heard an obscene phone-sex conversation between the two lovers and seen the naked photos they took of each other on the day of the murder.

For the past two days, a psychologist who specializes in "unusual sexual proclivities" has been testifying as to the highly sexed relationship between Arias and Alexander, depicting Alexander as using Arias for sex.

During the first trial, Arias claimed that she caught Alexander masturbating to photos of young boys; the attorneys have quarreled over the authenticity of letters Alexander supposedly wrote to Arias about the incident.

Furthermore, Mesa police officers have testified in both trials that there was no pornography on the computers.

Nurmi and Willmott fought to get another look at Alexander's computer and obtained it only on the day before the second trial began.

The record, incidentally, is full of orders from the judges who have had the case to compel Martinez to turn over the evidence, which he denied existed at first.

Nurmi claimed that a forensic computer expert found that thousands of pornographic images had been removed from the computer during a three-hour period on June 19, 2009. He alleged prosecutorial misconduct and asked that the murder conviction be thrown out, or at least that the intent to seek the death penalty be lifted.

Martinez responded in a motion Wednesday, claiming he is still unaware of any porn on the computer and pointing out that the specified three hours were when Schaffer, her co-counsel Greg Parzych and an investigator were viewing the computer.

"If the history was altered, it was changed by defense counsel, not the state," Martinez wrote in his motion.

Schaffer, a veteran attorney who has defended such high-profile murderers as "Serial Shooter" Samuel Dieteman and Temple murderer Johnathan Doody, defended herself and Parzych in interviews Thursday with The Arizona Republic and 12 News.

Schaffer said she and Parzych met Martinez and Flores at the Mesa Police Department for a first glimpse of several computers, phones and other evidence. Martinez and/or Flores remained in the room at all times, she said.

Flores provided the computer and a power cord, Schaffer said.

"He plugged them in, he powered them up, and he turned them on," Schaffer said.

There was no time to do any in-depth examination, she said.

"I don't believe we were able to go through the entire file at that time," she said. "I know that I did not stay until five o'clock."

The computer was checked back into evidence storage at 4:51 p.m. that day, according to Nurmi's filing.

In court Wednesday, Nurmi told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens that his expert was still analyzing the lost files. Nurmi asked for a hearing before Thanksgiving.