Jodi Arias will have her sentencing trial date pushed back from March 17 because of a prosecutor’s scheduling conflict--amid a report saying that she might have to get new lawyers after motions were filed this week.
Arias was convicted of murdering her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, at his suburban Phoenix home in 2008. A jury could not get to a verdict on her sentence.
The Arizona Republic reported that Juan Martinez, the prosecutor in question, has to handle a death penalty trial May 12, reported The Associated Press.
Maricopa County Superior Court Presiding Criminal Judge Joseph Welty this week said that the death penalty trial will go first. The suspect in that case is accused of killing a Phoenix-area police officer in 2007.
On Thursday, two motions were filed in Maricopa County Superior Court that are asking Judge Sherry Stephens to prevent information from coming about the Arias sentencing trial.
Arias allegedly sent a handwritten motion to change her lawyers last year, and if the jury hears about that, both her attorneys have to withdraw from the case, according to the new motion, reported the Phoenix New Times.
Arias reportedly said her lawyer Kirk Nurmi doesn’t like her and has described him as having an “utter poverty of people skills.”
“Ms. Arias draws the Court’s attention to this rule because if she claims and/or assertions contained in Ms. Arias’ Motion to Change Counsel are somehow deemed relevant and in turn admissible, both of Ms. Arias’ attorneys would then become witness as they would then have relevant perspective on the claims and/or assertions Ms. Arias’ made in this motion,” part of the motion states.
“Thus...both of Ms. Arias’ attorneys would be ethically bound to withdraw. This withdrawal then would interfere with the rights due Ms. Arias...”
Another motion recently filed seeks to prevent news of her ex-cellmate Cassandra Thea Collins from reaching the jury in the sentencing case.
Collins told Fox last November that Arias allegedly told her she was looking to put a hit on Martinez, and she also claimed Arias had no remorse for killing Alexander.
“She said that if she was given the death sentence, she wanted to get her revenge,” Collins told the station at the time. “She knows inmates on the outs to do a mafia bow tie, cut his throat.”
Arias also had a strange fascination with Martinez, Collins alleged.
“She asked me questions like ‘why doesn’t Juan Martinez love me?’ And I’m like, love you? He’s your prosecutor.. he’s there to prosecute you for a crime.. and I’m like why doesn’t he love you?”
Arias later told Fox News that the claims made by Collins were not true. She tweeted that “to comment on the babblings of a lunatic is lunacy itself. (oops).”
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