but defending paul zumot would present its own set of challenges. rlfriend jennifer schipsi and then trying to hide that fact by burning the house down. but as the trial began, he had also been pegged by the prosecution as an abuser, a violent man, an image geragos set out to change. >> they both were passionate, romantic at times, hot at times, as you would characterize it. i don't think it was a one-way street, by any means. >> for a start, geragos tried to weed out possible jury members who might have been unduly swayed by angry text messages or stories about zumot's temper. >> what jurors do or what you want to get a jury to do is to want to help your client and to kind of walk in the shoes of your client. >> and then when he presented his case, geragos set out to reframe the events after that infamous party the night before the fire. >> the party was at a place and it was for paul's birthday. and it was planned by jennifer and the -- and maybe 14 to 18 of their close friends that were there. and by all accounts at the party, everything was great