Shortly after being found guilty Jodi Arias told reporters that she was hoping for the death penalty, this morning she came one step closer to getting her wish. After a short session of testimony, it took the jury just over an hour to decide unanimously that Arias' crime was brutal enough to warrant the death penalty, according to USA Today.
The decision completed the second phase of the process called the aggravation phase. Now that Arias has been ruled eligible for the death penalty the court will hear "victim impact statements" from Travis Alexander's family and friends on Thursday. Following that is the mitigation phase; defense attorneys will attempt to convince the jury that Arias should be allowed to live, according to USA Today.
Arias will have an attempt to make a plea for her life, or possibly for the death penalty if her earlier statements are to be believed, when she addresses the jury on Monday. The five-year trial will finally reach an end once a jury decides Arias' fate, possibly as early as Monday afternoon.
According to Arizona law, the jury needs to be convinced that there was an "aggravating factor" contributing to the death of the victim if the death penalty is to be applied. In this case, the jury ruled that the manner in which Alexander was murdered was "especially cruel," according to the Chicago Tribune. When addressing the jury Wednesday, prosecutor Juan Martinez emphasized the cruelty Arias displayed when committing the murder.
"Each and every time that blade went into his body, it hurt," Martinez said. "It was only death that relieved that pain. It was only death that relieved that anguish, and that is especially cruel. Travis Alexander, on June 4, 2008, suffered enough for two lifetimes."
If at the end of the sentencing phase the jury decides to spare Arias' life a judge will determine her sentence, which will most likely be life in prison.
