Jodi Arias Back In Court, Trying To Escape Death Penalty

Jodi Arias is due in court on Tuesday as she tries to escape the death penalty in her first-degree murder case.

Arias will ask the judge to throw out the jury’s finding making her eligible for the death penalty. After she was convicted in the death of her on-again off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander, jurors split on whether she should be sentenced to death.

Arias had admitted to killing Alexander, but argued that it was in self-defense. Before confessing to the killing, Jodi Arias originally claimed that Alexander was killed by masked intruders.

Prosecutors painted Arias instead as a jealous lover who killed Alexander after he ended their relationship and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. A jury agreed, convicting Arias in May.

Prosecutors can now select a new jury to pursue the death penalty or decide to forgo capital punishment and send Jodi Arias to prison for the rest of her life. She also could face life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

On Tuesday arguments will focus on the jury’s determination that Arias’ murder of Alexander was “especially cruel,” which made her eligible for the death penalty. Her lawyers are trying to argue that such a ruling is too vague, that it’s difficult for jurors to determine what makes a murder more cruel than another.

The process of selecting a new jury for the sentencing of Jodi Arias is expected to take weeks, with great difficulty finding jurors who do not know about the case. Cameras followed every development of the trial, with near constant analysis and commentary on cable news networks. There was even a Jodi Arias movie released within days of the verdict being announced.

Should a new jury be selected and they again fail to come to a decision, the possibility of the death penalty would be taken off the table Jodi Arias would automatically be sentenced to life in prison.