Jodi Arias Trial Update: Jury Foreman Says Death Decision Unfair
The foreman of the jury that served for the Jodi Arias trial revealed in an interview Friday the difficulties the 12-person team had in deciding whether or not Arias should receive the death penalty, according to Fox News.
William Zervakos, the jury forman, spoke about the deliberations the four women and eight men on the jury struggled with privately.
"It was a brutal no-win situation. ... I think that's kind of unfair. We're not lawyers. We can't interpret the law. We're mere mortals. And I will tell you I've never felt more mere as a mortal than I felt for the last five months," the 69-year-old told The Associated Press.
He said the most difficult time of the entire trial was when he heard directly from victim Travis Alexander's brother and sister about how his murder has affected their lives. Zervakos said that although the testimony was difficult to watch, it was not evidence.
"That's what made it so hard. ... This wasn't about them," Zervakos said. "This was a decision whether we're going to tell somebody they were going to be put to death or spend the rest of their life in prison."
Zervakos explained deliberations were difficult for the jurors. Each considered their own beliefs and other factors, including Arias' young age at the time of the killing and her lack of criminal history and whether those factors should cause them to spare her life.
Zervakos said he was torn between her two personas: a killer and an average young woman struggling through life.The same jury convicted Arias on May 8 of first-degree murder in Alexander's killing. They could not reach a decision on Thursday after roughly 13 hours of deliberations on whether or not Arias should be sentenced to the death penalty.
Judge Sherry Stephens was forced to declare a mistrial of the penalty phase and dismissed the jurors.
A conference with the judge and attorneys is set for June 20 to determine how both sides want to proceed. In the mean time, Stephens set a July 18 retrial date.
The mistrial has opened the case to new proceedings to determine whether the 32-year-old former waitress should get a life sentence or the death penalty for murdering Alexander five years ago.
Arias stabbed and slashed Alexander nearly 30 times, slit his throat slit and shot him in the forehead. Prosecutors said she attacked Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their relationship and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias contends it was self-defense.
Prosecutors now have the option to take the death penalty off the table and avoid a new penalty phase. In that case, the judge would determine whether to sentence Arias to spend her entire life behind bars or give her life with the possibility of release after 25 years.
If Arias faces a new penalty phase, her murder conviction would stand, leaving the new jury to only have to sentence her. However, a new trial could last several more months as the new jury reviews evidence and witness testimony.
If a second jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge would then sentence Arias to one of the life-in-prison options. The judge cannot sentence Arias to death.
