Jodi Arias Legal Question and Answer Thread *no discussion*

[AZlawyer]

First THANK YOU AZ LAWYER for answering all my mundane questions. Really appreciated.

I do have another. This one has been bothering me for awhile now and I can't find an answer to it elsewhere.

Regarding the "felony murder" charge:-

Throughout the trial I was under the impression that evidence would be presented regarding a claim of "murder while in the commission of a crime" (that I figured would be the robbery of Arias' grandparents home and the taking of the gun).

No such evidence was ever discussed or referenced. A copy of the police report was posted on this site (on another thread), showing that the case was closed due to lack of evidence. So I'm assuming there are no suspects, nor persons of interest.

So I naively concluded that this charge would not be part of the final instructions.

It was.

In Martinez' closing, he made a very brief reference to that charge - but his claim made no sense to me. If I understood it correctly, the state is claiming that Arias killed Travis Alexander 2 additional times - while killing him - so it was actually 3 crimes - two of which were committed in the process of committing the first.

I've never heard anything like that before. Reasoning says that if you kill someone - they are dead. You can't kill them again. You can commit additional crimes on the body - but can't commit the crime of murder on the same person more than once.

Does this charge make sense to you? Can you shed any light on it at all?

Thanks so much.

I haven't seen his closing except for snippets, so I don't know how he tried to explain it. As I said above, the only way it made sense to me was if the felony alleged (second degree burglary) had to do with her re-entering the home after pretending to leave. I know it had nothing to do with the burglary of her grandparents' home.

 

[nells]

What does the "5 for premeditated, 7 for premeditated and felony" mean? TIA

 

[redtoedfrog]

I haven't seen his closing except for snippets, so I don't know how he tried to explain it. As I said above, the only way it made sense to me was if the felony alleged (second degree burglary) had to do with her re-entering the home after pretending to leave. I know it had nothing to do with the burglary of her grandparents' home.

If I could ask a follow on here: would sexual assault, terrorism or kidnapping be the felony portion here?

 

[AZlawyer]

For anyone who saw my earlier post re: thinking the statute of limitations would have expired for a wrongful death suit, I'm happy to report I was wrong. Just looked it up:

12-511. Civil action arising from criminal conduct; definitions

A. Notwithstanding sections 12-505 and 12-542, if a defendant is charged by a criminal complaint or indictment the statute of limitations for any civil cause of action that is brought by a victim against the defendant for criminal conduct against the victim is extended for one year from the final disposition of the criminal proceedings, regardless of whether the defendant is convicted of criminal conduct against the victim.

 

[AZlawyer]

If I could ask a follow on here: would sexual assault, terrorism or kidnapping be the felony portion here?

No, it was second degree burglary.

 

[AZlawyer]

What does the "5 for premeditated, 7 for premeditated and felony" mean? TIA

It means the jury unanimously found premeditated murder, but only 7 of them found felony murder. As a practical matter, it means nothing.

 

[K_Z]

I'm confused about the civil wrongful death lawsuit announced. Isn't there typically like a 2 year statute of limitations on that from the date of death?

Hope AZlawyer can answer. This is very confusing.

Edited: Oops. I should have known AZlawyer would be on top of this! I didn't scroll up first before asking! Sorry.

 

[UnicornSyrup]

I just have a few questions related to JA's life now that she is found guilty of Murder 1.

Will she remain in the Maricopa County Jail until after the sentencing and mitigation phases? Are any of her privileges taken away from her? Will she be moved from her pod to an isolated cell?

Can Joe Arpaio prevent her from tweeting? He sent out a letter regarding this issue a few days ago and said he was unable to intervene because she was not found guilty of any crime yet. Does this guilty verdict allow him to stop this behaviour?

Thank you for your response :tyou:

 

[al66pine]

K Z
See post immediately above yours.

 

[Itsy]

I haven't seen his closing except for snippets, so I don't know how he tried to explain it. As I said above, the only way it made sense to me was if the felony alleged (second degree burglary) had to do with her re-entering the home after pretending to leave. I know it had nothing to do with the burglary of her grandparents' home.

AZL - Martinez maintained that if Jodi shot Travis with HIS gun & obviously took it with her when she left, that was where the burglary came into play. IIRC

 

[lisalove]

Hi there,
Jodi is giving an interview to our local news station that will be airing in minutes. My question is, can what she says in the interview be used in any of the phases going forward?

 

[Nali87]

Hallo AzLawyer! I have a question and I hope you understand what I'm trying to ask lol: can Jodi waive her rights to beg the jury for her life? She said in an interview on FOX that she'd rather get the Death Penalty than LWOP. Can she somehow choose not to defend herself against the cruelty aggravating factor?

 

[Idaho Lynx]

When JA gets the death penalty, can she waive all automatic appeals and take the fast track to an execution date?

 

[hindsight2020]

I have never seen a defendant remain seated along with their defense council while a verdict was being rendered.

The judge did not tell the defendant to rise/stand while the verdict was being read, anyone know why? TIA

 

[usnuzuloose]

Hope this makes sense. Jodi wrote a letter to the Judge asking for Nurmi to remain on her case when he wanted off. Stating that he knew the case, and they connected with one another. But then Nurmi filed the motion for ineffective council. Is there some clause in this? I believe Jodi had to sign this document as well. Can they use this if she claims ineffective council? Hope this question makes sense.

 

[Wolfpack Fan]

During either the aggravation phase or the penalty phase, can the prosecution present evidence that was considered too prejudicial and not admitted during the guilt phase? For example, can Juan have someone from law enforcement tell the jury that Jodi had a 9mm gun, bullets, and knives in her car when she was arrested?

 

[cosmos]

I've read that defendants in criminal trials who testify in their own defense, including ones who are innocent, are more likely to be convicted of the highest charge and sentenced to the most severe punishment. In some states I believe defendants must acknowledge their awareness of the risks involved to the judge before they are allowed to testify in order to eliminate that as an appeal issue later. Does Arizona have such a requirement or can Jodi now claim she did not receive adequate warning from her lawyers?

 

[lvcarolinagirl]

I wanted to ask if evidence too prejudicial before can now be presented and does the jury have to be unanimous in their rulings for the next phases ?

 

[jacalyn]

Now that JA is found guilty does her right to twitter and/or interviews STOP?

 

[ChinaBlue]

My question is about AFTER she is convicted and sentenced: Ok, it's two parts really; first part is can someone appeal a verdict if they are sentenced to death? And would they be appealing the death sentence, or the guilty verdict? Or both? Also, who has to pay for an appeal? The defendant? Or is it paid for by the state, like her lawyers are?

TIA

The appeal, which would be automatic in the case of a death sentence, would cover both the verdict of guilt and the death sentence. The appeal is paid for by the state.

I hope you don't mind answering a couple of further questions on the appeal process. I was looking at a Web site of an Arizona Criminal Appeals Attorney and it explains that the various levels of appeals are Superior Court, Arizona State Appellate Court, Arizona Supreme Court, The Ninth Circuit Court, and finally the United States Supreme Court.

So my questions are:

1) At each level is another court case involved or is there just a review of the documents and/or proceedings of the original court case and it's proceedings?

2) Will Jodi only get one shot at each level or can she make repeated appeals at each level?

3) In a similar vein, should her appeal be granted at whatever level, can the state then appeal the granting of her appeal?

4) Who, for the State, would be in charge of the State's side of the appeal, i.e., does Maricopa County pass control of the case onto a higher (prosecuting) authority. (I'm assuming here that JM would not be the attornery to be responsible for representing the State at each new level.)

5) You said the State pays for Jodi's appeal - does this apply at each level or will there come a time when she must foot the bill for further appeals?

I'm 65 so chances are pretty good that I will not be alive when she is actually executed (obviously I am hoping for the DP) - I'm just trying to figure out how long I must hang around to feel rather confident on my way out that the ultimate justice for Travis Alexander will be served.