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 A pool of 300 potential jurors have been called to Maricopa County
Superior Court in downtown Phoenix to see if a dozen of them can
succeed where an earlier trial jury failed, and determine a
punishment for the former waitress from California.
The process of picking the 12-person jury plus alternates for the
penalty phase retrial will likely last several weeks.
"The big key (for prosecutors) is being able to convince the jury
that this was a depraved woman seeking a vengeance killing against
her ex-boyfriend and that it is sufficient for the death penalty,"
said Brent Kleinman, a local criminal attorney who attended most of
the original trial.
The 34-year-old Arias was convicted by an eight-man, four-woman jury
in May 2013 of killing Travis Alexander, whose body was found in a
blood-stained bathroom at his Phoenix-area home.
Police said he had been stabbed 27 times, his throat was slashed,
and he had been shot in the face.
The five-month murder trial was punctuated by graphic, sex-laced
testimony and grim photographs from the crime scene, capturing the
attention of many U.S. television and Internet viewers with the aid
of live-streamed broadcasts.
Arias herself took the stand for 18 days, saying she acted in
self-defense when grilled by prosecutor Juan Martinez.
Following the guilty verdict, jurors found her eligible for the
death penalty, but deadlocked on what punishment to give her,
forcing Judge Sherry Stephens to declare a mistrial.
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Since then there has been a flurry of motions, mostly filed by
Arias' lawyers, that have been dealt with largely behind closed
doors as the judge apparently seeks to counter some critics who said
the original trial had elements of a circus-like atmosphere.
Stephens has turned down requests for the proceedings to be streamed
live or broadcast the same day, ruling the footage can be shown only
after the verdict.
The new jury should begin hearing the case next month, with the
trial scheduled to conclude Dec. 12. If they deadlock also, a judge
will decide if Arias gets life in prison, or life with the
possibility of parole after 25 years.
(Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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