Jodi Arias Retrial News: Defense Team Rests Case That Convicted Murderer Should Be Sentenced To Life In Prison Over The Death Penalty [VIDEO]
The Jodi Arias retrial is still ongoing.
Jodi Arias' Closed-Courtroom Testimony Releases
On Wednesday, The Arizona Republic reported that Arias' defense team, Jennifer Willmott and Kirk Nurmi, rested their case that their client should be sentenced to life in prison over the death penalty.
The prosecution began its rebuttal on Tuesday, bringing in witnesses to take the stand to challenge evidence that has been presented by the defense over the last few months of mitigation testimony.
Judge Sherry Stephens Refuses To Dismiss Death Penalty In Jodi Arias Retrial
On Tuesday one witness refused to testify unless she was supplied with a recording of her testimony from Arias' first trial that occurred in 2013.
On Tuesday morning, prosecutor Juan Martinez and Arias' defense lawyers discussed if she'll retake the stand.
Arias told Judge Sherry Stephens that she did not want to continue her testimony and Judge Stephens also said that Arias' two days of testimony, which were previously sealed, would not be removed from the record, so jurors will be able to consider it even though Martinez did not get a chance to cross-examine her.
One witness, Abe Abdelhadi, Martinez called to the stand said he once had a date with Arias and claimed that he had "made out" with her and put his hand down the back of her pants. He further revealed he talked with her on the phone afterwards.
Ultimately, he testified that Arias was promiscuous and manipulative.
Then Martinez called a former girlfriend of Travis Alexander, Deanna Reid, to the witness stand to refute the allegation that Alexander had strong-armed her and sworn at her as alleged in the mystery-witness affidavit.
When asked point-blank if he had ever manhandled her, she answered, "Absolutely not!"
Willmott began to cross-examine Reid by referring to conflicting testimony she gave during Arias' first trial, which led to her stating Reid was not always "forthcoming," and was "misleading."
"The only person who has been misleading is you," Reid snapped back at Willmott, which prompted Judge Stephens to reprimand her.
The retrial is scheduled to resume today, Jan. 28.
