Some of the prospective jurors in the Jodi Arias trial said after the were eliminated from contention that they think Arias deserves the death penalty.
The jury pool started at 400 people but more than half have been eliminated because of reasons including that they said they had already made up their minds about the case.
Some of the previously prospective jurors vented their anger as they left on Wednesday.
“I watched every second of the trial online, and she’s guilty as sin. They’re wasting our taxpayer dollars, and she needs to get to prison ... death row!” Barb Patterson told Arizona Central.
“I already think she deserves the death penalty,” Whitney McGinn added.
Arias was convicted last year of murdering her lover Travis Alexander, who was found dead in June 2008, but the jury deadlocked when it came to the sentencing phase.
Out of the 400 jurors, more than 200 were eliminated.
There are now 176 candidates that advance to the next stage, returning for small group questioning. 16-18 will be sworn in to decide whether Arias should get the death penalty or just life in prison.
Most of the potential jurors raised their hands when asked “has anyone heard of this case?” but not everyone, reported KTAR.
“The next was the million dollar question and it went something like this, ‘could you decide this case based only on the evidence presented in the courtroom’ and oftentimes the judge followed it up with something akin to ‘could you set aside what you have heard in the media.’ Well, you guessed it, there were many that could not,” the broadcaster reported.
The other potential jurors were eliminated when asked if they could stay away from the news and social media, and asked if it would cause hardship. “Considering the court has this retrial scheduled out to just before Christmas, many had conflicts.”
Opening statements in the new sentencing phase are scheduled to start on October 20.
Friends Read Free