Deliberations have resumed today in the case against Jodi Arias, who was already convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 for killing her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander in Mesa, Arizona. The case to determine whether or not Arias will receive the death penalty was brought up last Wednesday, but the jury has yet to reach a final decision.
This third day of jury deliberations is the latest move closer to a hopeful end to a legal event that has so far spanned two trials, several hearings, and hundreds of hours of testimony. The trial was in the media spotlight for its bizarre testimony regarding the couple's sexual history, and the events that have unfolded after each trial, including Arias' recent foray into selling her jailhouse art on eBay to afford "better food" than what she eats in the jail. Attention was also brought on the case for its connection to the Mormon Church. Both Alexander and Arias were baptised members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jodi Arias was convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, after his body was found in his Mesa, Arizona home with 29 stab wounds, a slit throat, and a gun shot wound to his head on June 4, 2008. Arias' conviction took place in May of 2013, but has been fighting back and forth in appeals court ever since.
So now that Arias has been found guilty, the question is whether or not the jury will give her the death penalty. The Maricopa County Superior Court jury in Phoenix has so far been deadlocked for the first two days, but we may get the final decision later today.
If the jury deadlocks, the death penalty would no longer be an option and it will all be up to a judge who could giver her life in prison with no possibility of parole, or life with the possibility of release in 25 years.
Radar Online took a detailed look at what life would be like for Arias if the death penalty is chosen, as she would still spend significant time on death row.
"Unlike her time in the Maricopa County Jail, Arias, 34, won't sing Christmas carols at prison parties and she won't have a chance to socialize with the only two women now on the state's death row, if sentenced there. Condemned killers are not allowed contact with each other," the publication pointed out.
According to statistics, the average wait time on death row is 17 years, so this could mean a long wait for Arias as she's held up in the Lumley Unit of the Arizona State Prison in Perryville, just west Phoenix. During this time, she would not have physical contact with any visitors and would limited to 10-minute phone calls twice a week.
But during the execution, Arias would be allowed an audience of five family members or friends and 12 "reputable citizens" are required to attend as witnesses.
"Arias, who would likely be in her 50s and perhaps without the youthful spunk she's shown during her trials, would have a chance to give a short speech before a deadly cocktail of drugs is pumped into her veins," Radar Online continues.
Only one woman has been put to death by the state of Arizona in the last 115 years out of 100 men. That execution was held in 1930 for the killing of an elderly chicken farmer.
