Jodi Arias Punished For Violating Jail Rules

According to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Jodi Arias violated several jail rules and will have to give up phone calls and video chats for six weeks unless they pertain to legal matters.

As reported by CBS News, the controversial Maricopa County sheriff said the convicted murderer had asked other inmates to make telephone calls for her so she could avoid having those calls monitored. She was also accused of chatting with minors through the jail’s video chatting system.

In a released statement, the sheriff indicated that Arias was no better than any other inmate in his jail because of her notoriety.

“Arias needs to understand that while she is in my jail, she is to obey all the rules and breaking them has consequences.”

Along with losing her phone and video chat privileges, Arias will also lose the ability to order commissary items. According to SFGate, she reportedly spends about $100 each week on food and candy. However, now she will have to stick with the two vegetarian meals per day served by the jail.

Early last week, the sheriff also banned 10 visitors from seeing Arias, including two 15-year-olds. The visitors had violated some of the jail’s rules while visiting, including giving false names to gain access to Arias and taking pictures with cellphone cameras.

Arias is in jail awaiting a judge’s decision on her punishment for being convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. The decision has been left up to a judge because the jury in her retrial could not make a unanimous decision on giving Arias the death penalty for her crime. A juror held out, disagreeing with the other 11 about sentencing Arias to death.

The juror claims to have received several death threats due to the decision. According to the Inquisitr, the juror’s name was leaked on Twitter, even though juror names are supposed to be kept private unless they chose to speak with any media.

On Thursday, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery asked that the threats stop because there was no justification for them. He indicated that those threats could keep people from being willing to serve on juries in the future and that the decisions made by jurors “must be respected.”

The judge who served during the retrial will make a decision about Arias’ punishment on April 13. The judge must decide whether to sentence Arias to life in prison or if she will eligible for release in 25 years.