Jodi Arias' defense attorneys filed another motion Tuesday, this time requesting that her retrial be relocated out of Maricopa County, Ariz., where they say "widespread, unfair, and prejudicial coverage" is tainting the pool of potential jurors.
Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8 in the ghastly death of her ex-lover Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home. However, the jury failed to reach an unanimous decision on her sentence. As a result, she will face another trial to determine whether she will be sentenced to death or life in prison.
Arias' lawyers claim their research indicates that 70 percent of the media coverage in Arizona of the first trial took place in Maricopa County and much of the publicity she received there "was largely inflammatory with Ms. Arias frequently being referred to as a stalker, a lair (sic), crazy, and a seductress," reports HLN-TV.
"Both the nature and extent of the publicity surrounding Ms. Arias' case render it impossible that the accused will receive a fair trial in this capital case if it is tried in Maricopa County," Arias attorney Kirk Nurmi stated in the motion, according to CBS News.
On Monday, an Arizona judge presiding over the murder trial of Jodi Arias postponed ruling on various motions in the high-profile case.
After meeting with prosecutors and defense attorneys, Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens declared that she was not prepared to rule on motions made by defense attorneys Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott before setting a new retrial date, reports ABC15 News. Those motions include the defense's request to allow lawyers to monitor the Twitter accounts of new jurors who aren't allowed to communicate about the trial and a request to prohibit or limit live media coverage of the sentencing retrial.
Because Judge Stephens said the court was not prepared to set a trial date, she scheduled another pretrial hearing for Monday, Sept. 16 to allow herself more time to review the motions.
Medical examiners found that the 32-year-old California native stabbed her ex-lover 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart. 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. In total, the gruesome killing was done in a little less than two minutes.
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