PROVEN!
The verdict was read at approximately 3:15 Pacific (5:15pm Central) today, May 15. Arias sat stonefaced, having absolutely no reaction. Court is adjourned until 10:30am Pacific (12:30pm Central) tomorrow at which time the defense will plead for the life of Arias.Watch the proceedings here, posted on YouTube by croakerqueen123.
At 12:21pm Pacific (2:21pm Central) the jury was sent off to deliberate this phase of the Jodi Arias capital murder trial. Already convicted of 1st degree premeditated murder, Arias waits to learn the jury's verdict as to whether her crime will be judged to have been especially cruel. Options on the verdict form are:
___ Proven
___ Not Proven
___ Cannot Agree
If Proven, Arias will be subject to the death penalty and the trial will move into the Mitigating Phase. If Not Proven, Judge Stephens will decide whether to impose either a life sentence or twenty-five years to life. If Cannot Agree, the jury will be dismissed and a new one will be selected to hear a retrial of the Aggravating Phase.
Arias, wearing what appeared to be a dressy, butter-yellow satin blouse, showed two primary emotions as prosecutor Juan Martinez laid out his case for special cruelty. Vacillating between pity for herself and contempt for Martinez, she turned away from the monitor displaying the gruesome crime scene photos. During this time, the family and friends of Travis Alexander quietly wept while Sandy Arias sat with her head bowed, displaying no visible emotion.
Kirk Nurmi, wearing an unflattering green shirt and looking oddly like Jabba the Hutt, tried to argue in ridiculous circles. In his defense, he had nothing at all to work with, but to suddenly say that Travis Alexander didn't suffer because (a) his death was quick and (b) he was in an adrenaline-high "fight or flight" mode was simply an insult to the jury's intelligence. Equally insulting was his claim that Arias couldn't have known her actions were cruel because she was in her own "fight or flight" fog.
Juan Martinez minced no words in describing the cruelty suffered by Travis Alexander. In demonstration, he called for two minutes of silence to emphasize how long the brutal attack lasted. As expected, the only witness called by the state was the medical examiner, Dr. Kevin Horn. Horn's testimony mirrored his previous testimony, describing each of the many wounds suffered by Alexander.
Other Notes
Judge Sherry Stephens issued a court order to prevent any further media interviews with Jodi Arias until further notice -- presumably at the request of the defense team.Arias has a new Twitter account to replace the previous one which was taken down. The new site solicits donations for herself and her family.
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