The Verdict

There are three phases in a capital murder trial. The first being the guilt phase, the longest phase, in which determines whether the state has proven its case without a reasonable doubt. All twelve jurors must agree unanimously or it will result in a hung jury. If, after deliberating at great lengths, the jury cannot come to a unanimous decision, a hung jury is declared and the defendant gets a new trial.  In this case the jury had three verdicts to choose from. Murder 1: premeditated or felony murder. Murder 2:  intentional killing that is not premeditated or 3: manslaughter caused in a 'heat of passion'. The last charge, manslaughter, was added on in the final hours and directly contradicts her self defense argument.

Closing arguments ended on Friday, May  3, 2013. The twelve people what would end up deciding the fate of Jodi Arias consisted of eight men and four women.  In the court of public opinion, Jodi was absolutely guilty. No woman had been so hated since Casey Anthony was accused of killing her two year old daughter. The media went crazy, interviewing friends of Travis on a nightly bases. Reports about Jodi's living conditions and even what she was being fed became breaking news. It was no secret that Jodi believed that she would not be found guilty of first degree murder and during the days that the country waited to hear the verdict, Jodi continued to tweet. Complaining about not recieving commissary and taking jabs at Nancy Grace. 

The jury deliberations lasted for a grueling 15 hours, announcing that they had reached a verdict on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Emotions were high and nerves were raw. It was approximately two hours between the time the announcement was made that a decision had been reached and and the actual reading of the verdict. The courtroom quickly became packed full of family members and friends of both Travis and Jodi, along with countless media outlets and public spectators. Hundreds gathered on the sidewalk outside of the courthouse and on the courthouse steps holding signs and chanting "Justice for Travis".  People all around the globe watched in anticipation. At 1:30 AZ time (4:30 est) the jury filed into the courtroom.  Everyone held their collective breaths as the verdict form was handed to the judge. After 15 hours, the jury had found Jodi Ann Arias guilty of murder in the first degree, with five of the jurors finding her guilty of premeditated murder and seven finding her guilty of both premeditated and felony murder. 

You could see the shock in Jodi's face as a collective gasp was heard in the court. For the first time, it seemed we were seeing real emotion from Jodi. As the judge asked each juror one by one if this was, in fact, their true verdict, you could see Jodi look at each juror one by one with a pleading look on her face. But it was too late.  Jodi, who was so used to getting her way, had lost all control of her own destiny. Travis's family wept and clung to each other. Outside people cheered and celebrated the verdict feeling a sense of justice and a renewed faith in the justice system that had let them down during the Casey Anthony trial. 

Steams of media and members of the public awaiting verdict, chanting "Justice for Travis". 

You would think that being charged with capital murder and possibly facing the death penalty, Jodi would choose her strategy carefully. Instead, she went directly from the courtroom to a room within the courthouse where a reporter (Troy Hayden) for Fox 10 news in Phoenix awaited her for a post verdict interview that Jodi herself had previously arranged. Below is a link to the complete interview. 

http://youtu.be/28EpBe6XRpg

Travis's family did not have much time to take in the fact that their brother had finally gotten justice before Jodi again stole the spotlight. She continued to trash Travis. She even said that she would prefer the death penalty over a life sentence because, in her mind, death was the ultimate freedom and she wanted her freedom as soon as possible.  It was clearly evident that Jodi Arias was her own worst enemy.  People all over were outraged that this was even allowed to take place. This interview got Jodi a pass to the mental ward at the Buckeye jail and delayed the next phase of the trial, the aggravation phase, which was scheduled to begin the following day. Instead Jodi spent the weekend on suicide watch at a mental facility, due to her comments about prefering death and death being 'the ultimate freedom'. The next phase was postponed until Wednesday, May 15. On Monday, May 13, she was moved back to Estella jail. Her housing was significantly different now that she had been convicted. She spent 23 hours a day in a 7' by 11' cell. 

She was allowed one hour a day out of her cell to shower or make phone calls. This is where she remained until the next phase of her trial, the aggravation phase, began. The aggravation phase determines whether or not she should be eligible for the death penalty.  

As a result of Jodi's post verdict interview Jodi's legal team, outraged that she was working against them, tried once again to resign from the case. They claimed that they were unable to control Jodi, making their efforts to defend her fruitless. Their motion was denied but Judge Stevens did order a ban on anymore interviews for Jodi Arias. The public would not be hearing anymore from Jodi Arias, it seemed.
 In my next post I will outline the aggravation phase in the Jodi Arias trial. Please stay tuned and as always, thanks for reading.