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| The Jodi Arias retrial will determine her punishment for murder. Image: Rob Schumacher/Arizona Republic/Reuters/Landov |
Jodi Arias
is a name that by now, most American adults have heard of. Last year, she was
tried and convicted for the grisly murder of her ex-boyfriend, in a trial and
subsequent media circus that captivated television viewers across the country.
This summer, Arias made headlines again when news broke that she would be
allowed a retrial to determine her punishment, and that she would be acting as
her own defense lawyer.
Selena Hill of The
Latin Post reports, “Back in May
2013, Arias was found guilty of the first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend
Travis Alexander, who was killed in his Phoenix home in 2008. […] Although
Arias was convicted of the murder, the jurors failed to reach a unanimous
decision on her sentencing,” of the cause for the September retrial.
Arias was already convicted
of the brutal murder of Alexander, in which he was found stabbed, shot, and
nearly decapitated. Her original trial drew immense media attention, and
because of its high profile nature, live video footage will be restricted from
the courtroom. However, Arias’ name and image has already flooded headlines
this summer because of her controversial decision to defend herself on the
stand.
Many Americans have weighed
in on what might happen during the retrial. Noted
legal analyst Kendall Coffey isn’t
convinced that a jury will sympathize with Arias, but notes that all it takes
is one dissenting juror to remove the death penalty from the table. “Just maybe
there’ll be one person on that jury – which is all it takes to save her from
the death penalty – who feels sorry for her or sees something in her that’s
humanity, [which] should be saved,” Coffey told Bill Hoffmann on Newsmax last month. “But I wouldn’t count on it,” he adds, of the
possible outcome of the retrial.
News broke just this week
that Arias gave up her intent to defend herself against the
death penalty in her upcoming retrial.
“I hereby relinquish my pro per status and re-assert my Sixth Amendment right
to counsel,” Arias wrote earlier this week and a pre-trial meeting. Many legal
analysts and social commentators, including Coffey, did not find Arias’ request
to act as her own lawyer to be compelling, and few are surprised that she has
given up this right.
It appears that Arias is doing everything in her power to further delay the retrial, which has been pushed back to later this month.
It appears that Arias is doing everything in her power to further delay the retrial, which has been pushed back to later this month.
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