Defense attorneys for convicted murderer Jodi Arias are expected to make one final plea Wednesday for the defendant's life, who could be sentenced to death if an Arizona jury decides life in prison is not enough, the Associated Press reported.
At Arias' sentencing retrial on Tuesday, prosecutors showed the jury gory image after gory image of the victim, Arias' former lover Travis Alexander, whom she is accused of killing in 2008 by stabbing him dozens of times, slitting his throat and shooting him in the head.
Arias, who claimed self defense, was convicted in 2013 but the jury at the time was unable to decide on a sentence.
Kirk Nurmi, Arias' lawyer, showed the Phoenix jury pictures of a happier time in her life, including one of her and Alexander standing together in a forest, the AP reported. He told the court Arias is plagued by a personality disorder that makes her change herself to fit the desires of men she's romantically involved with, including her abusive boyfriend Alexander.
"If you sentence Ms. Arias to death, you are killing this girl," Nurmi said as he showed the jury a childhood picture of his client.
But according to prosecutor Juan Martinez, Arias' alleged psychological problem does not give her a free pass in Alexander's death.
"It doesn't provide an excuse," Martinez said, the AP reported.
It was jealousy that drove her to slit the victim's throat after he ended their relationship so he could take a trip to Mexico with another woman, prosecutors said.
The sentencing retrial, ongoing since last October, is less of the media frenzy that centered around the defendant's sordid sexual relationship with Alexander. Arias was seen with her eyes fixed mostly on the jury as her attorney pleaded for life in prison. She mostly looked elsewhere when Martinez addressed the jury, the AP reported.
The judge has prohibited any broadcast from the courtroom until a verdict is reached.
