Jodi Arias is back in court for her sentencing retrial in Travis Alexander murder case.
As he delivered his opening statement, prosecutor Juan Martinez displayed a crime-scene photo of Travis Alexander saying: “She loved him so much that this is what she did to him.”
Prosecutor Juan Martinez urged jurors to sentence Jodi Arias to death.
The opening statements came as a jury was seated and testimony began in a retrial to determine whether Jodi Arias lives or dies for her crimes.
It was less of a spectacle than the initial case in early 2013, when onlookers from around the country traveled to Phoenix and lined up outside court for the trial that became a tabloid TV sensation. Still, some of the people who regularly attended the first trial were back in court on October 21.
Jodi Arias has acknowledged killing Travis Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her. Prosecutors said it was premeditated murder carried out in a jealous rage after the victim wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman.
Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi said that Jodi Arias was the victim of profound humiliation by Travis Alexander, and that she is mentally ill and a victim of child abuse.
Kirk Nurmi urged jurors to sentence Jodi Arias to life in prison, saying she is remorseful about killing the man who never acknowledged to others that she was his girlfriend.
“Jodi Arias was always the girl behind the closed door in the bedroom,” Kirk Nurmi told jurors.
He suggested his client would testify during the proceedings expected to last until December.
“She will tell you how horrified she is that she killed the man she loved,” Kirk Nurmi said.
Jodi Arias, a 34-year-old former waitress, was convicted of murder last year in the killing of Alexander at his suburban Phoenix home.
Jurors couldn’t agree on a sentence then. Prosecutors have one more chance with a new jury to secure the death penalty. If the jury fails to reach a unanimous decision, the judge will then sentence Jodi Arias to spend the rest of her life behind bars or to be eligible for release after 25 years.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens told the new jury that they had to accept the guilty verdict on the murder charge.
The first trial was broadcast live, but Judge Sherry Stephens imposed restrictions on the sentencing retrial. Cameras are allowed at the retrial, but no footage can be broadcast until it’s finished.
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