`Jodi Arias Trial Update: Death Penalty Sentence Retrial Scheduled For September
Jodi Arias returned to court on Tuesday and was assigned a date for the trial that will determine whether she'll face the death penalty.
Judge Sherry Stephens announced that the retrial is scheduled for late September and a new jury will vote on the third phase of the case--the sentencing phase.
Judge Stephens made the announcement in the Maricopa County courtroom after she met briefly with Arias' defense team. Prosecutor Juan Martinez did not attend the courtroom session. Arias attended the hearing in striped prison clothes per Sheriff's orders, according to HLNTV.
Tuesday's status hearing was scheduled to discuss Arias' eligibility for the death penalty. Arias' attorneys made a request to remove the death penalty option from their client's case during the hearing. If the request is granted, Judge Stephens would then decide if Arias will spend the rest of her life in prison or be released from jail after serving a 25-year sentence, according to Associated Press.
Arias' defense team made the request after Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced in June that the state was "still preparing to move forward to retry the penalty phase," according to Reuters.
Arias was convicted of murder on May 8. The same jury agreed on May 15 that she killed Travis Alexander in an "especially cruel manner." According to Arizona law, "cruel manner" is when a victim suffered physical and or mental pain. Alexander's autopsy report, revealed that Arias stabbed him at least 27 times, slit his throat from ear to ear and shot him in the forehead.
In the third phase of the trial, the same jury could not agree on whether Arias should receive a life sentence or be put to death for the 2008 murder. The judge declared a mistrial because the jury was deadlocked.
Selection for a new jury was originally scheduled for mid-July, however, it was moved to late September on July 16. If the new jury votes that Arias should receive the death sentence, she will potentially be the fourth woman in Arizona to die by lethal injection.
The next status hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
Watch Judge Stephens announce Jodi Arias' sentence retrial date below.
