The jury in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial has been given another week off and are not scheduled to return to the Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona until Dec. 15.

A Maricopa County Superior Court spokesman stated that testimony in the high profile trial will resume next Monday, however the court will hold an evidentiary hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, without the jury, reports The Associated Press.

Two evidentiary hearings were also held last Thursday and Friday as the defense continues to fight to remove the death penalty from off the table, reports KPHO.

According to Arias' attorneys, either the prosecution or local police destroyed computer evidence indicating that the murder victim, Travis Alexander, had visited multiple porn websites. In a motion, the defense argues that the deleted files would have helped bolster their case that he was a sexual deviant who used Arias for sex. As a result, they asked the judge to dismiss all charges, or at least remove the death penalty as a sentencing option.

Defense lawyer Kirk Nurmi also claims that a forensic computer expert found that pornographic images were removed from the computer during a three-hour period on June 19, 2009, reports Reuters.

However, in response to the motion, prosecutors argue that such computers files never existed, and that if anything went missing from Alexander's computer, it was removed by Arias' previous attorneys. They also stated that the computer in question was infected by a virus.

The murder case began after Alexander, 30, was found dead inside of his Phoenix, Arizona home in June 2008. According to medical examiners, Alexander was stabbed 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart. He was also nearly decapitated and suffered from a gunshot wound in the face.

Although Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder in her ex-boyfriend's death last year, the jury failed to reach an unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the convicted boyfriend killer is currently undergoing a retrial that 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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