Jodi Arias Trial Latest News: Defense Lawyers Fighting Death Penalty
Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi pleaded for Jodi Arias' life last Tuesday, Feb. 24, as he told the jury deciding whether she'll be put to death that the ex-boyfriend she killed sexually used and humiliated her and wanted to keep their encounters a secret.
The attorney said that Travis Alexander used her to satisfy his sexual urges, called her demeaning names and told her that she was soulless.
"Those words have impact and they got to her," Nurmi said.
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Nurmi began closing arguments in Arias' sentencing retrial by showing photos from happy moments in her life and portrayed her as a person who was full of remorse and struggles with mental illness and suffered physical and emotional abuse while growing up.
"Starting the day of her birth, the cards were stacked against her," said Nurmi to the Maricopa County Superior Court.
"If you sentence Miss Arias to death you are killing this girl," he said while showing jurors a picture from her youth. "I urge you not to do it."
Prosecutor Juan Martinez showed the jury a graphic photo of Alexander with his throat slashed. He also attacked the argument that Arias was not to blame for what she did.
"Return a verdict of death," Martinez urged the jury.
The defense will have the opportunity to make a rebuttal on Wednesday, then the jurors will be instructed by Judge Sherry Stephens.
If the jury fails to decide on Arias' fate, the judge will sentence her to life in prison, or to life with a possibility of parole after 25 years.
On Monday, Arias decided not to plead her case directly to the jury, after being told the public and the media will remain in court to hear her words.
Though Judge Stephens turned down requests for the retrial to be broadcast or streamed live, she has ruled that the verdict itself can be shown live.
