Phoenix, AZ: The judge presiding over the long battled Jodi Arias trial, has
denied the motion from Arias' defense counsel to compel the social media "handles" of potential jurors for the next phase of her trial.
Arias, 33, was found
guilty of the brutal June 2008 murder of her one time boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in May of this year. Although the jury agreed that the murder was
"especially cruel", which made Arias eligible for the Death Penalty, they were later
unable to agree on a verdict as to whether the Yreka, California woman should face the ultimate punishment, leading to a mistrial being declared for the Penalty Phase of the trial, alone.
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| Arias, in court, June 2013 |
Since then, legal wrangling on both sides has lead to further delays, complaints and motions, and ultimately to Judge Stephens banning the televising and
live streaming or live blogging of any future court proceedings. A move which has been called
"unconstitutional" by attorney David Bodney, who represents several media outlet, including the Arizona Republic,
fighting for transparency. “There have been repeated flagrant violations
of the public’s constitutional right to attend proceedings.” A move Bodney also referred to as a severe "over-correction".
-E.R.
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| David Bodney |
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