Sections U. Science Technology Business U. The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday, March 24, , upheld Jodi Arias' first-degree murder conviction and life prison sentence in the gruesome killing of her former boyfriend. Arias' lawyers had argued that a prosecutor's misconduct and a judge's failure to control news coverage during the case deprived her of the right to a fair trial in the high-profile case. The Arizona Court of Appeals sided with the media and ruled that Judge Sherry Stephens could not conduct witness testimony in secret.
Furthermore, she had to release transcripts of the secret witness who spent two days on the stand, a witness who turned out to be Jodi Arias herself.
Defense attorneys Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott filed a motion to dismiss charges against Jodi Arias, alleging that police or prosecutors had deleted pornography files from Travis Alexander's computer hard drive, and that police testified in both trials that there were no viruses or pornography on the computer in the first place.
Defense computer experts found copious quantities of both, which were discussed over four hearings. Transcripts of Jodi Arias' secret testimony on Oct. Transcripts showed that on the third question of Arias' secret testimony, defense attorney Jennifer Willmott asked her, "And did you kill Travis Alexander? But there was nothing in the testimony that hadn't come out during 19 days Arias spent on the witness stand during her first trial.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens denies a motion by Arias' defense counsel to dismiss the possibility of the death penalty. Defense attorneys Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott had repeatedly asked for dismissal of the case or at least the intent to seek the death penalty through both of Arias' trials, alleging prosecutor Juan Martinez and Mesa police Detective Esteban Flores, the case agent, committed misconduct on numerous occasions.
Newly released documents show that Jodi Arias made her pleas to testify behind closed doors at her death-sentencing retrial in large part because she had received threats and hate mail that her lawyers feared came from people who attended the trial as spectators. According to unsealed transcripts of bench-conference conversations and an in-chambers hearing, Arias told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens that she thought she was at risk, even though she is in custody.
Closing arguments begin, with defense attorney Kirk Nurmi focusing on what he thought were mitigating factors to persuade the jury to choose life for Jodi Arias. Factors included Arias' age, her lack of a prior criminal record, her mental illness, and the physical, sexual and emotional abuse she claimed she suffered at Alexander's hands. Prosecutor Juan Martinez went on the attack, ridiculing Arias' mitigation claims and the psychologists who testified to them. Jodi Arias will spend life in prison, not because of a jury sentence, but because a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether to sentence her to death.
Judge Sherry Stephens declared a mistrial shortly after 10 a. One of Alexander's sisters ran crying from the courtroom at the sight of the last photo, and could be heard sobbing in a back room as Martinez quietly asked the jury to come back with a death verdict.
Closing arguments continue Wednesday morning when Nurmi will get a chance to make a final rebuttal. Then Judge Sherry Stephens will read final jury instructions, name two jurors as alternates and send the rest to deliberate the final verdict. If the jury hangs again, under state law Arias will automatically be sentenced to life in prison.
Facebook Twitter Email. In a victory for the defense, Arias' team will essentially be allowed to reopen their case and call another expert witness to take the stand to rebut testimony by prosecution witness Dr. Janeen DeMarte. Robert Geffner will attempt to rebut DeMarte's testimony. DeMarte told the jury that Arias suffered from borderline personality disorder and rejected defense claims that Arias showed signs of being a victim of domestic abuse and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
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