Jurors find Jodi Arias eligible for death penalty

PHOENIX (AP) — The same jury that convicted Jodi Arias of murder one week ago took less than three hours Wednesday to determine that the former waitress is eligible for the death penalty in the stabbing death of her one-time lover.

The swift verdict sets the stage for the final phase of the trial to determine whether the 32-year-old Arias should be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty for the 2008 murder of Travis Alexander in a Phoenix suburb.

Prosecutors will call Alexander's family and other witnesses in an effort to convince the panel Arias should face the ultimate punishment. Her defense lawyers will call family members in an attempt to gain sympathy from jurors to save her life. It's not yet known if Arias will testify.

Arias showed no emotion Wednesday after the jury returned a decision that was widely expected given the violent nature of the killing. Investigators say she slashed the victim's throat, stabbed him in the heart and shot him in the face in what they say was a jealous rage after Alexander wanted to date other women and take a trip to Mexico with his latest love interest.

The jury simply had to determine the killing was committed in an especially cruel and heinous manner to complete the "aggravation phase" of the trial and move on to the penalty portion. The jury got the case around noon, took a lunch break and returned the verdict around 3 p.m.

Family members of Alexander sobbed in the front row as prosecutor Juan Martinez took the jury through the killing one more time earlier in the day. He described how blood gushed from Alexander's chest, hands and neck as the 30-year-old motivational speaker and businessman stood at the sink in his master bathroom and looked into the mirror with Arias behind him.

"The last thing he saw before he lapsed into unconsciousness ... was that blade coming to his throat," Martinez said. "And the last thing he felt before he left this earth was pain."

Wednesday's proceedings played out quickly, with only one prosecution witness and none for the defense. The most dramatic moments occurred when Martinez displayed photos of the bloody crime scene for the jury and paused in silence for two minutes to describe how long he said it took for Alexander to die at Arias' hands.

Arias, wearing a silky, cream-colored blouse, appeared to fight back tears most of the morning, but didn't seem fazed by the verdict. Afterward she chatted with her attorneys. Arias spent the weekend on suicide watch before being transferred back to an all-female jail where she will remain until sentencing.

Arias' attorneys didn't put on much of a case during the aggravation phase, offering no witnesses and giving brief opening statements and closing arguments. They said Alexander would have had so much adrenaline rushing through his body that he might not have felt much pain.

The only witness was the medical examiner who performed the autopsy and explained to jurors how Alexander did not die calmly and fought for his life as evidenced by the numerous defensive wounds on his body.

Minutes after her first-degree murder conviction last Wednesday, Arias granted an interview to Fox affiliate KSAZ, only adding to the circus-like environment surrounding the trial that has become a cable TV sensation with its graphic tales of sex, lies and violence.

"Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place," a tearful Arias said. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it."

However, Arias cannot choose the death penalty. It's up to the jury to recommend a sentence.

Arias acknowledged killing Alexander, saying it was self-defense. She initially denied any involvement in the killing, even proclaiming to a detective after her arrest in 2008: "I'm not guilty. I didn't hurt Travis. If I hurt Travis, I would beg for the death penalty."

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Arizona jury finds Arias eligible for death penalty in ex-boyfriend's slaying

By Brad Poole

(Reuters) - An Arizona jury on Wednesday declared Jodi Arias eligible to receive the death penalty for the fatal shooting and stabbing of her ex-boyfriend in 2008, saying that she had acted with extreme cruelty.

The jury was due to return to court on Thursday to weigh additional evidence in deciding whether to actually sentence Arias to death or to life in prison for killing Travis Alexander, 30.

The same jury rejected Arias' claims of self-defense to convict her last week of the first-degree murder of Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home five years ago. He had been stabbed 27 time, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face.

The penalty phase of the proceedings moved swiftly on its first day on Wednesday. After prosecution and defense presentations, the jury deliberated for about three hours before deciding Arias was eligible for the death penalty and then recessed for the day.

Arias appeared agitated and tearful at times during the proceedings, wiping her eyes and nose with a tissue and mostly keeping her gaze downward. But she kept her composure during the reading of the jury's verdict finding that she had committed the murder in an "especially cruel" manner.

She had been placed on suicide watch in a psychiatric ward following her conviction a week ago after saying in a television interview that she would prefer the death penalty to life in prison, but she was returned to her jail cell on Monday.

The petite, 32-year-old former waitress from California had sought unsuccessfully to convince the jury during her trial that she acted in self-defense.

She admitted shooting Alexander, with whom she was having an on-again, off-again affair, but said she opened fire on him with his own pistol after he attacked her in a rage because she dropped his camera while taking snapshots of him in the shower. She said she did not remember stabbing him.

The lurid circumstances of the case, which went to trial in January and featured graphic testimony, photographs of the blood-sprayed crime scene and a sex tape, became a sensation on cable television news and unfolded in live Internet telecasts of the proceedings.

On Wednesday, prosecutors focused on the grisly details of Alexander's slaying in their bid to cast the crime as especially cruel - a legal standard for aggravating factors that would qualify Arias for the death sentence.

FIERCE ATTACK

Prosecutor Juan Martinez recounted how Arias attacked Alexander in his own shower, repeatedly stabbing him for two minutes as he tried to escape from the bathroom. She then followed the bleeding victim down a hallway and slashed his throat when he was too weak to get away.

Alexander knew he was going to die and was unable to resist his attacker at that point, Martinez said.

"Each and every time that blade went into his body, it hurt," Martinez told the jury. "It was only death that relieved that pain. It was only death that relieved that anguish, and that is especially cruel."

The defense argued that adrenaline would have prevented Alexander from feeling the pain of the knife blows, thus reducing his suffering. If the bullet wound to his forehead came first, rendering him unconscious in seconds, then Alexander would not have suffered, defense attorney Kirk Nurmi said.

During the trial, Martinez cast Arias as manipulative and prone to jealousy in previous relationships. He said she had meticulously planned to kill Alexander, a businessman and motivational speaker.

In making his case for premeditated murder, Martinez had accused Arias of bringing the pistol used in the killing, which has not been recovered, with her from California home to the scene of the crime. He said she also rented a car, removed its license plate and bought gasoline cans and fuel to conceal her journey to the Phoenix suburbs to kill Alexander.

Martinez said Arias also lied after the killing to deflect any suspicion that she had been involved in his death, leaving a voicemail on Alexander's cellphone, sending flowers to his grandmother and telling detectives she was not at the crime scene before changing her story.

Nurmi, meanwhile, argued that Arias had snapped in the "sudden heat of passion" in the moments between a photograph she took showing Alexander alive and taking a shower, and a subsequent picture of his apparently dead body covered in blood.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Tim Dobbyn and Bill Trott)

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Jodi Arias death penalty proceedings postponed until May 15

By Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The death penalty phase in the trial of Jodi Arias, the California woman convicted of first-degree murder in the brutal slaying of an ex-boyfriend, has been postponed until May 15, court officials said on Thursday.

An Arizona jury on Wednesday found Arias guilty of murdering 30-year-old Travis Alexander, whose body was found in the shower of his Phoenix valley home in June 2008. He had been shot in the face, stabbed nearly 30 times, and his throat had been slashed.

Arias, who was put on suicide watch and moved to a psychiatric unit after the verdict, had been due in court on Thursday to begin the part of her trial in which a jury will decide whether she deserves to be executed by lethal injection.

But the proceedings were postponed, and are now due to resume at 10 a.m. (1700 GMT) on Wednesday. Court officials tweeted that trial proceedings were sealed on Thursday, but gave no reason for the postponement.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said Arias and her counsel had held a closed meeting with Judge Sherry Stephens.

"After that meeting, the details of which are under seal, Judge Stephens canceled court for the day without providing a reason," spokesman Jerry Cobb said.

A call to defense attorney Kirk Nurmi was not immediately returned.

Arias, 32, had tried to convince the jury during her four-month trial that she had acted in self-defense after Alexander attacked her because she had dropped his camera while taking photographs of him in the shower.

She teared up as the jury's decision was read while a crowd of hundreds erupted into cheers outside the court. Jurors could have convicted Arias of a lesser crime such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, but instead found her guilty of the most serious charge possible.

The trial, which aired graphic evidence including a sex tape and photographs of the blood-spattered crime scene, became a sensation on cable television news with its tale of an attractive and soft-spoken young woman charged with a brutal crime.

'THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM'

In a television interview moments after the verdict, Arias indicated that she preferred a death sentence to life in prison. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office later moved Arias to a jail psychiatric facility after placing her on suicide watch on Wednesday.

"The worst outcome for me would be natural life. I would much rather die sooner than later," Arias, speaking slowly and calmly, said in an interview with Fox affiliate KSAZ.

"I said years ago I'd rather get death than life and that still is true today. I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it," she said.

In a separate development on Thursday, the sheriff's office said deputies arrested a man suspected of tweeting that he was going to put a bomb in the courtroom where Arias' case was being heard.

Laquint Cherry, 18, was booked into jail on a felony charge related to acts of terrorism. Sheriff's office spokesman Joaquin Enriquez said no explosive device was found at the court and that the trial postponement was not related to the threat. In the next phase of the trial, the prosecution will present evidence trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that aggravating factors exist that merit the death penalty. The defense can also present rebuttal evidence. The decision will then be up to the jury.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said the state planned to present "evidence to prove the murder was committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner."

Nurmi has argued that the one-time waitress snapped in the "sudden heat of passion" in the moments between a photograph she took showing Alexander alive and taking a shower, and a subsequent picture of his apparently dead body covered in blood.

(Writing by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Toni Reinhold and Xavier Briand)

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Man arrested following Arias trial bomb threat

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona authorities have arrested an 18-year-old Phoenix man in connection with a bomb threat that was tweeted after the Jodi Arias verdict was announced.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Joaquin Enriquez says Laquint Cherry was taken into custody early Thursday. He's facing a felony charge for making threats.

The investigation began Wednesday night after someone tweeted that an explosive device was going to be placed in the courtroom and was going to detonate Thursday afternoon. The sheriff's office increased security and conducted additional bomb sweeps but found nothing.

Enriquez says detectives traced the Twitter activity to a hotel in west Phoenix. The bomb squad and the SWAT team responded, and Cherry eventually came out of the hotel room. A woman who was with him was questioned and released.

Enriquez says the investigation is ongoing.

It wasn't immediately clear if Cherry had legal representation.

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Jodi Arias says she prefers death penalty

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias spent 18 days on the stand sharing intimate, emotional and oftentimes X-rated details of her life before a rapt television and online audience. She had hoped it all might convince a jury that she killed her one-time boyfriend in self-defense.

But the eight men and four women on the panel didn't buy it, convicting Arias of first-degree murder after only about 15 hours of deliberations. Jurors will return to court Thursday to begin the next phase of the trial that could set the stage for Arias receiving a death sentence — a penalty she, herself, said she now desires in a stunning interview following her conviction.

Minutes after being convicted, Arias said she was overwhelmed and surprised because she didn't believe she committed first-degree murder.

"It was unexpected for me, yes, because there was no premeditation on my part," she told Fox affiliate KSAZ in the courthouse. Arias added she would "prefer to die sooner than later," rather than spending the rest of her life in prison.

The case elevated the unknown waitress and aspiring photographer to a household name, with a real-life story of love, betrayal and murder far more alluring than any made-for-TV movie. The crime itself was enough to grab headlines: Arias, a 32-year-old high school dropout, shot Travis Alexander in the forehead, stabbed him nearly 30 times and slit his throat from ear to ear, leaving the motivational speaker and businessman nearly decapitated.

She claimed he attacked her and she fought for her life. Prosecutors said she killed out of jealous rage after Alexander wanted to end their affair and planned to take a trip to Mexico with another woman.

Arias' four-month trial quickly became a media sensation — ratings gold for cable networks that could broadcast from inside the courtroom and feed an insatiable public appetite for true-crime drama delivered live and up-close. It was, for many, the horrible train wreck they just couldn't turn away from, even though they know they should.

Arias fought back tears as the verdict was announced Wednesday in the hushed, packed courtroom, while Alexander's family members wept and hugged each other. They wore blue ribbons and wristbands with the words "Justice For Travis." The family thanked prosecutor Juan Martinez and a key witness and said it appreciated the outpouring of support from the public.

Outside, a huge crowd that had gathered on the courthouse steps screamed, whistled and cheered the news in a case that has attracted fans from across the country who traveled to Phoenix to be close to the proceedings. Some chanted, "USA, USA, USA!"

Alexander's friend Chris Hughes said he was happy with the verdict, pointing out a bold proclamation that Arias made in one of her jailhouse interviews that she wouldn't be found guilty.

"She said, 'No jury would convict me. Mark my words.' This jury convicted her," Hughes said. "Luckily we had 12 smart jurors. They nailed it."

When asked about Alexander's family, Arias said in her TV interview, "I just hope that now that a verdict has been rendered, that they'll be able to find peace."

Arias said she doesn't have access to the Internet in jail so she's been reading newspapers. She also told the station (http://bit.ly/15qG7aP) other inmates have wanted to shake her hand, give her a hug or get her autograph.

Testimony in Arias' trial began in early January. The trial quickly snowballed into a made-for-the-tabloids drama, garnering daily coverage from cable news networks and spawning a virtual cottage industry for talk shows, legal experts and even Arias, who used her notoriety to sell artwork she made in jail.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said no more media interviews with Arias will be granted. She has been placed on suicide watch.

The trial now moves into the so-called aggravation phase during which prosecutors will argue the killing was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner that should allow jurors to consider the death penalty. Both sides may call witnesses and show evidence. If the panel finds the aggravating factors exist, the trial then moves into the final penalty phase during which jurors will recommend either life in prison or death.

Authorities said Alexander fought for his life as Arias attacked him in a blitz, but he soon grew too weak to defend himself.

"Mr. Alexander did not die calmly," prosecutor Juan Martinez told jurors in opening statements.

Arias said she recalled Alexander attacking her in a fury after a day of sex. She said Alexander came at her "like a linebacker," body-slamming her to the tile floor. She managed to wriggle free and ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf. She said she fired in self-defense but had no memory of stabbing him.

She acknowledged trying to clean the scene of the killing, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi to avoid suspicion. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth. However, none of Arias' allegations that Alexander had physically abused her in the months before his death, that he owned a gun and had sexual desires for young boys, were corroborated by witnesses or evidence during the trial. She acknowledged lying repeatedly before and after her arrest but insisted she was telling the truth in court.

Arias spent 18 days on the witness stand describing an abusive childhood, cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a shocking sexual relationship with Alexander, and her contention that he had grown physically violent.

Psychologist Richard Samuels testified for the defense that Arias suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative amnesia, which explained why she couldn't recall much from the day of the killing. Another defense witness, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette, concluded that Arias was a battered woman.

Their testimony was crucial and aimed at convincing jurors that, one, Arias wasn't lying about her memory gaps from the day of the killing, and two, that she did suffer physical abuse by Alexander. Defense attorneys had to get jurors to believe that despite no evidence of Alexander ever having been violent in the past, he had attacked Arias on several occasions, and did so again on the day of his death.

After all, there was no dispute that Arias killed Alexander.

It was the first thing Arias' defense acknowledged as the trial began.

"Jodi Arias killed Travis Alexander," Arias attorney Jennifer Willmott told jurors in opening statements. "There is no question about it. The million-dollar question is what would have forced her to do it?"

Martinez worked feverishly to attack the credibility of the defense experts, accusing them of having sympathy for Arias and offering biased opinions.

Aside from her lies, Arias had another formidable obstacle to overcome.

Her grandparents had reported a .25-caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before Alexander's death — the same caliber used to shoot him — but Arias insisted she didn't take it. Authorities believe she brought it with her to kill him. The coincidence of the same caliber gun stolen from the home also being used to shoot Alexander was never resolved.

Meanwhile, the entire case devolved into a circus-like spectacle attracting dozens of enthusiast each day to the courthouse as they lined up for a chance to score just a few open public seats in the gallery. One trial regular sold her spot in line to another person for $200. Both got reprimands from the court, and the money was returned.

Many people also gathered outside after trial for a chance to see Martinez, who had gained celebrity-like status for his firebrand tactics and unapologetically intimidating style of cross-examining defense witnesses.

The case grew into a worldwide sensation as thousands followed the trial via a live, unedited Web feed. Twitter filled with comments as spectators expressed their opinions on everything from Arias' wardrobe to Martinez's angry demeanor. For its fans, the Arias trial became a live daytime soap opera.

Adding to the spectacle, Arias sold drawings from jail throughout the trial on a website operated by a third party, Arias' mother said. According to the site, some pieces were fetching more than $1,000, and Sandra Arias said the money was being used to help pay for family expenses. Nothing prevented Jodi Arias from profiting from her notoriety given she hadn't been convicted of a crime.

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Brian Skoloff can be followed at https://twitter.com/bskoloff

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Brian Skoloff can be followed at https://twitter.com/bskoloff

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Jurors deliberate Arias fate amid spectacle

PHOENIX (AP) — It has become a real-life soap opera for people around the world and dozens of fanatics who camp out on a Phoenix sidewalk early in the morning to get into the show. One seat even sold for $200.

A cable network has set up a stage nearby for broadcasts, and the spectacle is routinely among the most heavily trending topics on Twitter. Fans have traveled from all over the U.S. to be close to the action.

The star is none other than a small-town waitress and aspiring photographer from Northern California who killed fatally stabbed and shot her lover in 2008. Jodi Arias has been on trial for first-degree murder since January, and her case has developed an enormous following with its tales of sex, violence and betrayal.

Jurors resume deliberations Monday.

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Jurors start deliberating in Arias murder trial

PHOENIX (AP) — The murder case against Jodi Arias in the death of her onetime boyfriend has gone to the jury, which is weighing weeks of evidence and the defendant's ever-changing version of events.

After closing arguments, the panel deliberated for just about an hour Friday before concluding for the day. Deliberations resume Monday.

Arias says she killed Travis Alexander in self-defense, but prosecutors say it was an act of premeditated first-degree murder that could carry a death sentence or life in prison.

The eight men and four women on the jury have the option of finding Arias guilty of second-degree murder, too, if they don't believe she planned the attack but think it occurred in the heat of the moment. If convicted on that charge, she could face up to 25 years in prison. A manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of seven to 21 years.

The final statements wrapped up with Arias' lawyer imploring jurors to take an impartial view of his client, even if they don't like her, and prosecutors describing the defendant as a manipulative liar who meticulously planned the attack and is still lying.

"It's not about whether or not you like Jodi Arias. Nine days out of 10, I don't like Jodi Arias. ... But that doesn't matter," defense attorney Kirk Nurmi told jurors. Arias smiled as he made the remark, then returned to an unemotional gaze.

Nurmi told jurors the entire case was about "fear, love, sex, lies and dirty little secrets" and repeated over and over that the prosecution's theory of a planned attack "doesn't make any sense."

The trial has become a tabloid and cable TV sensation and has attracted spectators from around the country who line up as early as 2 a.m. for a chance to score a few open seats in the courtroom.

Authorities say Arias, 32, planned the attack on Alexander in June 2008 at his suburban Phoenix home. They say she was enraged because he wanted to end their affair and was preparing for a trip to Mexico with another woman.

Arias initially denied any involvement and later blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Alexander in self-defense when he attacked her after a day of sex.

"Fear, love, sex, lies and dirty little secrets," Nurmi repeated several times Friday. "Each one of these aspects of the human condition plays a prominent role in the relationship that Jodi Arias shared with Travis Alexander."

On Thursday, prosecutor Juan Martinez delivered the state's closing arguments, displaying autopsy photos of Alexander's body covered in stab wounds and bruises, a bullet wound to his forehead.

He described Arias as a liar who planned the savage attack. Martinez said Arias lied from the start and is still lying.

The images displayed Thursday, one after another, of Alexander's decomposed body and the bloody scene of the killing were too much for Alexander's friends and family members. They sobbed and buried their faces in their hands.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the head, and had his throat slit. Arias' palm print was found in blood at the scene.

Arias said Alexander grew physically abusive in the months before she killed him, but there was no evidence or testimony during the trial to corroborate her allegations.

The defense has portrayed Alexander as a womanizer who used Arias for sex and abused her physically and emotionally. Prosecutors depicted Arias as an obsessed ex-girlfriend.

Arias' grandparents had reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before Alexander's death — the same caliber used to shoot him. Arias was staying with them at the time, and the burglary occurred two days after the two exchanged text messages that indicated Alexander no longer wanted anything to do with her. Arias denies taking the gun, but prosecutors say she staged the burglary to get the murder weapon.

Martinez told jurors that Arias had been stalking Alexander and arrived armed and unannounced on the day she killed him, sneaking into his home at about 4 a.m. The two went to sleep together, then awoke and had sex.

At some point, Martinez said, Arias decided it was time to carry out her plan.

Nurmi told jurors on Friday that the state's theory is "nonsensical."

He pondered out loud: If Arias had planned the attack in advance, why not kill him right when she arrived at Alexander's home? Why leave a paper trail, starting with the police report from the burglary? Why rent a car instead of borrowing one from friends or family? Why use her debit card for gas and other purchases instead of cash?

"It doesn't make sense if you're on a covert mission," Nurmi said, adding Arias had numerous other opportunities to kill Alexander.

"But she didn't," he said.

Nurmi acknowledged his client is a liar. But he explained she isn't on trial for lying.

"Nowhere, nowhere in your jury instructions are you asked to convict Jodi Arias of lying," he said.

Arizona criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Taylor, who sat in on closing arguments, said the defense did a good job at raising reasonable doubt about premeditation.

"Nurmi showed she had plenty of time if she really wanted to kill him," Taylor said. "After today, it's going to be hard to get 12 jurors to agree unanimously on premeditation."

The judge previously instructed jurors that if they couldn't unanimously agree on premeditation but believed the killing was carried out with malice and not in self-defense, they could settle on a second-degree murder conviction.

Arias said she recalls Alexander attacking her in a fury on the day he died. She said she ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf and fired in self-defense but has no memory of stabbing him.

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Jurors get case in Jodi Arias murder trial

PHOENIX (AP) — Jury deliberations have begun in the trial of Jodi Arias, who is charged in the stabbing and shooting death of her one-time boyfriend in Arizona.

Jurors got the case Friday after hearing closing arguments from both sides.

Arias is accused of premeditated, first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Arias initially denied involvement, then blamed the attack on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Testimony began in early January and has been ongoing for nearly four months.

The trial has been a made-for-the-tabloids drama, garnering daily coverage by the cable news networks, with tales of lurid sex, lies and death, nude photos and accounts of a salacious relationship that ended in a bloody killing.

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Arias judge denies motion to sequester jurors

PHOENIX (AP) — The judge in Jodi Arias' murder case on Thursday denied a defense motion to order jurors sequestered for the remainder of the trial during a bizarre week when one panelist was removed and videos emerged of Arias' parents telling authorities she has mental problems.

Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi sought the sequestration after noting the release of the footage and parts of Arias' journal to the media, explaining it could bias the jury.

"This case must be tried in the courtroom not in the media," Nurmi told the judge.

He said that despite daily admonitions from the judge to the jury not to follow media coverage of the trial, some on the panel are likely doing it anyway, calling it an "absolute fiction" to believe they are not.

Judge Sherry Stephens denied the motion then admonished the jury again on Thursday to avoid all media coverage of the trial.

The move comes during a week when one juror was removed from the panel for making statements the defense claimed called into question her impartiality.

In a statement to the media after her removal, the juror said she would not comment on the case until a verdict is reached. Her removal came just a few days after defense attorneys accused prosecutor Juan Martinez of misconduct by posing for photographs and signing autographs for fans outside court. The judge has not yet ruled in that matter.

Thursday's motion was just another twist in the murder trial that has captivated the nation with tales of lurid sex, lies and a bloody killing, playing out for the pubic via an unedited web feed from inside the courtroom.

Arias faces a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Authorities say she planned the attack on her lover in a jealous rage. Arias initially denied involvement then blamed it on two masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Testimony has been ongoing for three months.

Later Thursday, psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette continued her testimony discussing Arias' relationship with the victim after spending several days explaining to jurors the traits of victims and abusers in generalities.

The defense witness, who spent more than 40 hours interviewing Arias, said the defendant and the victim appeared to be in a comfortable relationship and that Arias wasn't stalking him as some of Alexander's friends have indicated.

"It looks like a comfortable relationship where there's a lot of back and forth," LaViolette said.

She also explained again how battered women tend to minimize the abuse by their partners "or not talk about it at all."

Arias says Alexander was physically abusive and attacked her on the day of the killing, forcing her to fight for her life, yet no other evidence at trial has shown the victim was ever violent in the past. Arias says she was too ashamed to tell anyone.

In developments outside court, authorities released to the media videos of investigators questioning Arias' parents after her arrest in 2008.

Both of her parents told police they believed Arias has mental problems.

"Jodi has mental problems, Jodi would freak out all the time," Sandra Arias says on the tape. "I had quite a few of her friends call and tell me I needed to get her some help."

On the tape, William Arias says he had suggested that she might be bipolar.

The videos have not been admitted into evidence at the trial, and Arias' parents have not been called as witnesses.

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Jurors question expert witness in Arias trial

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial paid close attention to an expert witness who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia as many of the panel's questions Thursday focused on specific details of his evaluation and how he could come to any conclusions relying on Arias' repeated lies.

Psychologist Richard Samuels, a defense witness, testified for a fifth day Thursday after telling jurors his diagnosis explains why Arias can't remember much from the day she killed her lover.

Arizona is one of a few states where jurors have a legal right to query witnesses through written questions read aloud by the judge. In most other states, it's up to the judge to determine whether to allow it.

Samuels answered more than 100 questions Thursday, and then was questioned by attorneys on both sides about his answers. He resumes testimony on Monday.

Many of the juror questions Thursday focused on Arias' lies, how Samuels could be sure she is telling the truth now, whether her memory loss could be fabricated and his opinions on premeditation.

"How can we be certain that your assessment of Ms. Arias is not based on her lies?" one juror question read.

"The diagnosis of PTSD is a function of an evaluation based upon my 35 years of experience in working with individuals with PTSD," Samuels replied, noting he can say with "all reasonable psychological probability" that she meets the criteria.

Arias faces a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack on her lover in a jealous rage. Arias initially told authorities she had nothing to do with it then blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

When Samuels initially began his evaluation, Arias was sticking to the intruder story.

Jurors asked if Samuels could be certain that Arias wasn't still lying about the day of the killing.

"Not with 100 percent certainty," he said. "Psychology is the science of behavior so we're seldom 100 percent sure."

Samuels testified previously that Arias was likely suffering from acute stress at the time of the killing, sending her body into a "fight or flight" mode to defend herself, which caused her brain to stop retaining memory.

The jury asked Thursday whether this scenario could occur even if this was a premeditated murder, as the prosecution contends.

"Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? No," Samuels said.

"Can acute stress occur if someone plans to kill versus defending themselves from danger?" the panel asked.

"Um, homicide is of a different nature," Samuels said before being cut off by an objection from the prosecutor.

"Possible but not probable," he continued.

The jury later asked if it is possible for a defendant to trick a psychologist into thinking they have PTSD.

Samuels said it was possible but unlikely, noting when a person is telling the truth their stories tend to change slightly as they are questioned repeatedly. He said Arias' intruder story remained exactly the same until she eventually said it was self-defense.

"It is my feeling that once the story changed (from intruders) she was essentially telling actually what happened," he said.

Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott later questioned Samuels.

"Is it rational for a person who was at a crime scene to leave evidence behind that they were at the crime scene?" Willmott asked.

"No," Samuels said.

"Well thought out?" she prodded.

"No," Samuels replied.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez seized on Samuel's credibility, accusing him of forming a relationship with Arias and being biased.

Samuels previously testified he had compassion for Arias.

In his typical dramatic fashion, Martinez displayed a page from the dictionary defining the word "compassion."

"A desire to alleviate someone's distress is an indication of sympathy isn't it?" Martinez yelled.

"According to Webster's," Samuels replied calmly.

"So you felt sorry for her," Martinez snapped back.

"No, I didn't, a sense of compassion," Samuels said.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the head and had his throat slit. Arias' palm print was found in blood at the scene, along with her hair and nude photos of her and the victim from the day of the killing.

Arias said she recalls Alexander attacking her in a fury. She said she ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf and fired in self-defense but has no memory of stabbing him.

She acknowledged trying to clean the scene, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi to avoid suspicion.

None of Arias' allegations of Alexander's previous abuse, that he owned a gun and had sexual desires for boys has been corroborated.

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Arias defense works to restore expert credibility

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias' defense attorney worked Wednesday to undo any damage to the credibility of an expert witness who diagnosed the defendant with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia after a withering cross-examination that called into question his techniques and testing procedures.

Psychologist Richard Samuels testified for a fourth day Wednesday after telling jurors he diagnosed Arias with PTSD and dissociative amnesia, which explains why she can't remember much from the day she killed her lover. Samuels said he met with Arias a dozen times for more than 30 hours over three years while she was jailed.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez previously seized on multiple lies Arias told Samuels throughout the process of his evaluation, at one point getting the psychologist to acknowledge that he should have re-administered at least one test he used to come to his PTSD diagnosis. Martinez questioned how Samuels could have come to any definitive conclusion for a diagnosis based upon Arias' lies.

Samuels insisted his diagnosis was accurate.

"The process of forming a diagnosis is not a simple process," Samuels testified Wednesday. "The fact is that it's necessary to obtain information from as many different sources as you can."

Arias faces a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Arias initially told authorities she had nothing to do with it then blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott spent much of Wednesday questioning Samuels about his testing procedures. When Samuels initially began his evaluation of Arias, she was sticking to the intruder story.

Willmott went over each question and Arias' answers with Samuels.

"Did she think her life was in danger?" Willmott asked.

"Yes," Samuels replied.

"Did she feel helpless?" Willmott asked.

"Yes," Samuels said, explaining later that his diagnosis would have remained unchanged whether Arias was responding to the questions still telling the intruder story or claiming self-defense.

"If the answers remained yes before and yes after, would it have changed the score at all?" Willmott asked.

"No," Samuels said.

He said Arias also answered "no" to a question about whether she was having nightmares.

"This is a score where you could exaggerate if your intent was to skew the score in your favor," Samuels said.

He said the PTSD test was merely one tool used to come to his diagnosis.

"I based the information primarily on my interviews, the crime scene photographs and descriptions, interviews with family members, police reports, emails, text messages and the psychological tests," Samuels said.

Martinez had also questioned Samuels' credibility, accusing him of blurring the line between objective observer and therapist when he bought Arias a self-help book about building self-esteem.

Samuels denied the accusation.

"Is there ever blurring of the lines between evaluator and therapist?" Willmott asked Wednesday.

"There should not be," Samuels replied, explaining that sending Arias the book is not considered therapy.

Trial adjourned early on Wednesday after a woman in the gallery vomited.

Samuels was set to return to the witness stand Thursday to answer questions from jurors that will be read aloud by the judge. Arizona is one of a few states where jurors have the right to query witnesses. In most other states, it's up to the judge to determine whether to allow it.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the head and had his throat slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower.

Arias spent 18 days on the witness stand during which she described an abusive childhood, cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a shocking sexual relationship with Alexander, and her contention that he had grown physically abusive in the months leading to his death.

She said she recalls Alexander attacking her in a fury. Arias said she ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf and fired in self-defense but has no memory of stabbing him.

She has acknowledged trying to clean the scene of the killing, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi in an attempt to avoid suspicion. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

None of Arias' allegations of Alexander's violence, that he owned a gun and had sexual desires for boys, has been corroborated by witnesses or evidence. She has acknowledged lying repeatedly but insists she is telling the truth now.

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Arias grilled by jurors over lies, memory lapses

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial made it clear Thursday they aren't satisfied with her stories about why she killed her lover, then methodically covered her tracks and couldn't recall much of anything from the day.

Arias answered about 220 questions over the past two days under an uncommon Arizona law that allows juries to quiz defendants through written questions read aloud by the judge — and the bulk of the queries indicated that at least some jurors don't believe her.

The questions largely focused on Arias' contention that she has memory lapses during times of stress and cannot recall crucial details from the day of the killing, along with queries about why she never tried to help save the victim's life and repeatedly lied about her involvement.

Many questions were pointed in tone, and seemed to portray a jury struggling to come to grips with Arias' ever-changing version of events.

Arias is set to resume testimony Wednesday.

Throughout Arias' nearly three weeks of testimony, she has described her abusive childhood, cheating boyfriends, dead-end jobs, a raunchy sexual relationship with the victim and her contention that Travis Alexander had grown physically abusive in the months leading up to his death, once even choking her into unconsciousness.

Alexander's two sisters have sat in the gallery's front row each day, often shaking their heads in disbelief, rolling their eyes and crying softly, a box of tissues in front of them on a rail. Arias' family has shown little emotion, sitting largely stone-faced across the room.

Arias is charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted in Alexander's June 2008 killing in his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack in a jealous rage, but Arias says it was self-defense when Alexander attacked her after a day of sex.

Arizona is one of just a few states where jurors in criminal trials can ask questions of witnesses. In many other states, it's up to individual judges to decide whether it's permissible.

"Why were you afraid of the consequences if you killed Travis in self-defense?" asked one juror in a question read by the judge.

"I believed it was not OK ... to take someone's life even if you were defending yourself," Arias replied softly.

"Would you decide to tell the truth if you never got arrested?" another juror asked.

Arias paused briefly, thinking.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that question," she said.

Experts say the sheer number of juror questions and their context don't bode well for the defense.

Phoenix criminal defense attorney Julio Laboy is convinced the jury isn't sold.

"I think the message here is, 'I think you're lying and I want to have you answer my questions directly,'" Laboy said.

"They're asking very specific questions, like when do you lie and when do you tell the truth," he added. "Obviously, at least one juror doesn't believe a word she is saying."

None of her allegations of Alexander's violence and her claims that he had sexual desires for young boys have been corroborated by witnesses or evidence during the trial, and she has acknowledged lying repeatedly but insists she is telling the truth now.

At the conclusion of juror questions Thursday afternoon, Arias' defense attorney began to query her again over her responses. Both sides have the opportunity to question her but only on specific points raised by jurors.

"Why should anybody believe you now?" defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias.

"I understand that there will always be questions, but all I can do at this point is say what happened to the best of my recollection. If I'm convicted than that's because of my own ..." she said, before prosecutor Juan Martinez objected and cut her off.

Martinez then began his own grilling, which will continue Wednesday.

Laboy said Arias has been on the witness stand long enough.

"Let Jodi's voice just end," he said. "Jurors may not be happy if they don't have the last word."

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, had been shot in the head and had his throat slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower, where it was found by friends about five days later.

Arias has acknowledged that she then dumped the gun in the desert, got rid of her bloody clothes, and left the victim a voicemail on his mobile phone within hours of killing him in an attempt to avoid suspicion. She says she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

She initially told authorities she had nothing to do with the killing then blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she settled on self-defense.

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Arias grilled by jurors over lies; court day ends

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias has concluded her 17th day of testimony in her Arizona death penalty trial after being grilled with questions from jurors who don't seem satisfied with her stories in the murder case.

Arias is charged in the 2008 killing of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She says it was self-defense. Authorities say she planned the attack on Travis Alexander in a jealous rage.

Arizona is one of a few states where jurors in criminal trials can ask questions of witnesses. In other states, it's up to the discretion of the judge.

The panel had about 220 questions for Arias over two days focused on her memory lapses, why she never tried to save Alexander's life and lies about her involvement.

She is set to resume testimony Wednesday.

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Arias resumes testimony in Ariz. murder trial

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias resumed testimony Monday in her Arizona death penalty case as her defense attorneys work to undo any damage from her withering cross-examination last week during which she admitted to lying throughout the investigation in order to cover her tracks and avoid being caught.

"Were you forced to testify?" defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias.

"No," she said.

"When you chose to testify, did you so do with the idea that the lies you told would be called into question?" Nurmi prodded.

"Yes," Arias said.

Arias, 32, is charged in the June 2008 killing of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She says it was self-defense, but police say she planned the attack on Travis Alexander in a jealous rage. Arias initially told authorities she had nothing to do with Alexander's death, then blamed it on masked intruders before settling on self-defense.

Arias also was questioned repeatedly during cross-examination last week about the steps she took after she killed Alexander, all admittedly in an attempt to create an alibi. She dumped the gun in the desert, got rid of her bloody clothes, tried to clean the scene at Alexander's home and even left the victim a voicemail on his mobile phone within hours of killing him and dragging his body into the shower. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

Prosecutors are working to prove it was a premeditated killing that deserves a first-degree murder conviction in order to secure a chance at the death penalty.

"Did you go to Mr. Alexander's home on June 4 with the intent on killing him?" Nurmi asked Arias on Monday.

"No, I didn't," she said. "That was never a thought."

Arias' grandparents had reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before the killing — the same caliber used to shoot Alexander in the head — but Arias says she never knew her grandfather had the weapon. Authorities believe she brought it with her, though she has testified she shot Alexander with his own gun as he chased her into his closet in a rage after body-slamming her and threatening to kill her.

"He was trying to kill me so I was defending myself," she said Monday.

Alexander had also been stabbed and slashed 27 times and had his throat slit. His body was found by friends about five days later.

Arias has testified that in the months leading up to his death, Alexander had grown physically abusive and beat her on numerous occasions. However, no witnesses have testified and jurors have heard nothing to indicate Alexander had ever shown violent behavior in the past, and there has been no proof admitted at trial that he ever owned a gun.

Arias even told authorities repeatedly after her arrest that he didn't own a gun. That story changed only after several years in jail when she admitted to the killing.

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Jurors show disbelief of Jodi Arias stories

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias insists she killed lover Travis Alexander in 2008 at his suburban Phoenix home in self-defense during a violent fight. She then took pictures of his body, cleaned the scene, drove to Utah and proceeded to tell a series of lies to cover her tracks. She now says it was such a traumatic experience that she remembers little of the actual killing.

Jurors asking questions of her this week during her murder trial, however, obviously don't believe all of her testimony.

Here are a few questions posed to Arias by jurors through the judge on Thursday, along with the defendant's responses and the backstory:

LIES

Jury: "After all the lies you have told, why should we believe you now?"

Arias: "Lying isn't typically something I just do ... The lies I've told in this case can be tied directly back to either protecting Travis' reputation or my involvement in his death in any way because I was very ashamed."

Jury: "Would you decide to tell the truth if you never got arrested?"

Arias: "I honestly don't know the answer to that question."

The backstory: Arias vehemently denied having anything to do with the killing, and even sent sympathy flowers to Alexander's family. She later said masked intruders did it before settling on self-defense two years after her arrest.

___

SELF-DEFENSE

Jury: "Why were you afraid of the consequences if you killed Travis in self-defense?"

Arias: "I believed it was not OK ... to take someone's life even if you were defending yourself."

Jury: "Why didn't you call 911 to help Travis?"

Arias: "I was scared to call anyone."

The backstory: Arias contends that Alexander lost his temper during a fight over a dropped camera and slammed her to the floor in anger. The fight escalated, she says, until she had no other choice but to shoot him in the head. She says she has no recollection of stabbing and slashing him nearly 30 times and slitting his throat. She also testified about other fights with Alexander during their relationship in which she became fearful for her safety, but no evidence at trial has indicated that Alexander ever displayed violent behavior.

___

THE GUN

Jury: "Have you ever had any firearms training or fired a .25-caliber pistol prior to this event?"

Arias: "I have never fired a gun but am relatively familiar with them."

Jury: "Why didn't you just run out of the house instead of grabbing the gun from the closet?"

Arias: "Again, it happened so fast."

The backstory: Arias contends that Alexander kept a .25-caliber pistol in his closet that she retrieved during their fight, despite no evidence presented at trial that he even owned a gun. She says she dumped it in the desert after she shot him, and no knife used in the killing has been found by authorities. Arias' grandparents reported a .25-caliber handgun stolen from their house before the shooting. She claims she didn't take it.

___

MEMORY

Jury: "Is there anyone else who knows about your memory issues?"

Arias: "I think I have a really excellent memory."

Jury: "How can you say that you don't have memory issues when you can't remember how you stabbed him so many times and slashed his throat?"

Arias: "I think that I have a good memory. June 4 is an anomaly for me."

Jury: "Several times while testifying about the abuse by Travis, you have made comments like, 'As I understand it now,' and 'I've come to realize.' How has this realization come about?"

Arias: "Just the farther away I get from the situation the more perspective I have."

The backstory: Arias says she has "huge gaps" in her memory of the actual killing. But she also displayed impeccable recollections about other aspects of her life, describing keys events from her youth and past relationships down to exact dates and days of the week during earlier testimony.

___

THE RELATIONSHIP

Jury: "Would you agree that you came away from the June 4 incident rather unscathed while Travis suffered a gunshot and multiple stab wounds?"

Arias: "That's a relatively accurate assessment."

The backstory: Arias testified on several occasions how much she loved Alexander. But she said he had a darker side that caused him to become violent and carry out perverted sexual acts.

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Arias testimony retreads details from killing

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias' defense attorney concluded his questioning of the defendant Tuesday after testimony in her Arizona death penalty case that largely repeated previous details from the day she says she killed her lover in self-defense.

Earlier in the day, Arias read from her journal as her attorneys worked to explain why she made no specific mention in her entries regarding claims that her lover physically abused her and had sexual desires for young boys.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez hammered her during his cross-examination about the fact that there was no proof of anything Arias had been telling jurors regarding her contention that Travis Alexander had become violent and abusive in the months leading up to his death.

Arias previously testified that she once walked in on Alexander viewing explicit pictures of young boys, something that has not been backed up by evidence or witnesses throughout the trial.

Martinez had pointed out repeatedly how Arias noted nearly every intimate detail of her life in her journal, yet made no reference to the incident.

"That's exactly the opposite of things I would want to note," Arias testified Tuesday under questioning by her own attorney. "I wouldn't want to remember that ... It was very shocking."

She then read another journal entry she says she wrote several days after discovering Alexander viewing the pictures.

"It still remains that I cannot marry him. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but something is just off with that boy," she read.

"What did you mean by that?" asked her defense attorney, Kirk Nurmi.

"That's kind of my indirect way of referring to his issues that were in my mind, something I couldn't look past or accept," Arias replied.

She also has testified that she didn't document negative events about Alexander because he often read her journal and would get angry.

Arias' attorneys were again working to portray the victim as a sexually deviant womanizer in an apparent effort to gain sympathy from jurors.

Arias is set to return to the witness stand Wednesday afternoon. Jurors in Arizona criminal cases are allowed to pose their own questions to witnesses via written notes provided to the judge and vetted by attorneys. The judge said the panel had about 100 questions for Arias.

Throughout her two weeks on the witness stand, Arias has made numerous assertions that Alexander owned a gun, physically abused her, and had illicit desires for children, none of which have been corroborated by testimony or witnesses.

Martinez concluded his cross-examination of Arias last week after hammering her repeatedly over her lies and efforts to create an alibi immediately after she killed Alexander.

She acknowledged that she dumped the gun in the desert, got rid of her bloody clothes, tried to clean the scene at Alexander's home, and even left the victim a voicemail on his mobile phone within hours of killing him and dragging his body into the shower. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

Arias' grandparents had reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before the killing — the same caliber used to shoot Alexander — but Arias says she never knew her grandfather had the weapon. Authorities believe she brought it with her, though she has testified she shot Alexander with his own gun as he chased her into his closet after body-slamming her and threatening to kill her.

Alexander had also been stabbed and slashed nearly 30 times and had his throat slit.

Arias is charged with first-degree murder in the June 2008 attack in Alexander's suburban Phoenix home. She says it was self-defense, but police say she planned the killing in a jealous rage.

Arias initially told authorities she had nothing to do with Alexander's death then blamed it on masked intruders before settling on self-defense.

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Arias seeks death penalty stay, court rejects

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias' effort to get the death penalty option in her murder case temporarily set aside was met Friday with a swift rejection from the Arizona Supreme Court in a one-sentence response denying the motion filed just hours earlier.

Arias is charged in the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She claims self-defense, while authorities say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Testimony has been ongoing since early January.

After failing to win a mistrial or stay of the death penalty option in the lower court earlier this year, her defense attorneys sought relief Friday from the state's highest court, which quickly rejected it. Her trial is set to continue Monday with the death penalty still on the table if prosecutors can secure a first-degree murder conviction.

Arias' attorneys argued in early January before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens, who is overseeing the trial, that the lead detective on the case perjured himself during a pretrial hearing aimed at determining whether the death penalty should be considered an option for jurors.

Mesa police Detective Esteban Flores testified at the hearing that based on his own review of the scene, and a discussion with the medical examiner, it was apparent that Alexander had been shot in the forehead first. Arias then repeatedly stabbed and slashed him 27 times and slit his throat, he said.

However, shortly before the trial began, the prosecution changed its theory of how the killing occurred, stating that Arias first stabbed Alexander, slit his throat and in a final savage salvo, shot him in the head. Their story aimed to undercut Arias' claim of self-defense by noting the sheer brutality of the attack.

Arias' attorneys claim she shot Alexander first to fend off his attack on her, but the bullet didn't stop him, forcing her to continue to fight for her life by stabbing him, which they are hoping could lead to a conviction on a lesser second-degree murder charge or even an unlikely acquittal.

Contrary to Flores' testimony at the previous hearing, a medical examiner later told jurors the gunshot probably would have incapacitated Alexander. So given his extensive defense wounds, including stab marks and slashes to his hands, arms and legs, it wasn't likely the shot came first.

The detective later acknowledged that he misunderstood the medical examiner in his mistaken testimony, but he never admitted committing perjury.

Stephens denied the mistrial motion and testimony continued.

Prosecutors declined comment Friday. Defense attorneys have not responded to a telephone message from The Associated Press.

Arias, 32, has been on the witness stand for nine days, describing in painstaking detail specifics of her life in the years leading up the killing — from an abusive childhood to dead-end jobs. Yet when asked to detail events from the day she killed Alexander, Arias drew a blank, noting there were "huge gaps" in her memory from that day.

She has said she only remembers shooting at him, putting a knife in the dishwasher and disposing of the gun in the desert as she drove from Arizona on her way to Utah to see a friend. And she immediately began planning an alibi "to "throw the scent off for a little while."

Arias' grandparents reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California house about a week before the killing — the same caliber used to shoot Alexander — but Arias claims to know nothing about the burglary. She says she brought no weapons to Alexander's home on the day she killed him, again attempting to undercut the prosecution's theory of premeditation.

During her cross-examination Thursday, the exchanges grew so heated that the judge admonished Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez to stop talking over each other. Arias smirked at times, while Martinez stammered in frustration.

"Do you have memory problems, ma'am?" Martinez asked.

"Sometimes," Arias replied.

Martinez hammered back, noting it's puzzling that she can't remember such crucial details to the case, yet "can tell us what kind of coffee you bought at Starbucks sometime back in 2008."

Arias first told authorities she knew nothing about Alexander's death. She later blamed it on masked intruders before eventually settling on self-defense. She now says she remembers Alexander in a rage, body slamming her and chasing her around his home.

She said she grabbed a gun from his closet, and fired it as they tussled. She had no explanation for the multiple stab wounds and slit throat.

However, according to court records, she previously told police before her trial began that Alexander was unconscious after she shot him, but then "crawled around and was stabbed."

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