Jodi Arias Trial Update News 2014: Second Juror Dismissed From Death Penalty Trial After Talking to Reporter
Things aren't looking good in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial now that two jurors have already been dismissed from the case just two days into the trial.
The penalty phase of the Jodi Arias retrial started on Tuesday as prosecutors presented their opening arguments to persuade the jury into sentencing the convicted boyfriend killer to the death penalty.
However, one of the 12 jurors was let go due to an ongoing family emergency on the first day of the retrial. The next day, a second was let go for talking to a reporter that she thought was HLN talk show host Nancy Grace.
Altogether 12 jurors and six alternates were selected from a pool of hundreds of people earlier this month. However, there will be a mistrial if there are less than 12 jurors to serve on the panel.
Juror No. 9 was dismissed Wednesday after she asked a freelance TV journalist if she was Nancy Grace, a nationally renowned television personality and a vocal opponent to Arias, reports AZ Central.
The incident took place during a morning break as Beth Karas, a former on-camera reporter and commentator for HLN, was being interviewed by 12 News about the case.
Although Karas says she realized that a juror was standing nearby, she assumed that she couldn't hear the interview. Once she returned inside of the courthouse, a woman approached asked if she was Nancy Grace. In response, Karas told her that she used to work with Grace and then reported the incident to the court.
As a result, Juror No. 9 was dropped from the case and Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens reiterated to the remaining 16 jurors that they are prohibited from discussing the case, watching TV, consuming news media and using social media, reports USA Today.
Arias, 34, was convicted of the first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in May 2013. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed him 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home in 2008. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower.
Although the aspiring photographer was found guilty in the case, the jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years.
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