Arizona residents are relieved to learn that the Jodi Arias trial started gain on Tuesday to finish the task of selecting the new set of jurors for the widely-sensationalized courtroom battle.
Arias had already been convicted guilty of committing first-degree murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander back in 2008, yet a sentence had not been decided because of a hung jury, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for the sentencing phase of the case.
Tuesday's trial seeks to find the 12 jurors and six alternates to sit on the controversial murder case.
Last week, the lawyers working on the case started questioning 400 possible jurors in Phoenix's Maricopa County Superior Court. After the first cut, the number was trimmed down to 176. Wednesday's trial resulted to further trimmings, which ended up with 26 people returning for further questioning.
The residents from the area, on the other hand, are not happy with how slow things are shaping up for the trial. A former Mesa police investigator expressed his strong opinion in an interview posted at the Arizona Central.
He said, "YES! I'm sick and tired of the Jodi Arias murder case. Murders happen almost everyday in Arizona. Sadly, murder is no big deal. While most murder cases and trials are handled quietly and with the dignity of brain surgery, the Arias trial has taken on the theatrics of a well-rehearsed circus show, thanks to Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez, defendant Arias and the media."
The prolonged trial to sentence Jodi Arias is also putting a hole in the pockets of Arizona taxpayers. At this point, the defense costs already reached $2.5 million. This is not the final numbers, however, since the tab will continue to grow while the second phase for penalty hearing is still ongoing.
The amount paid for the prosecutors were undisclosed.
Aside from the jury selection, the court will also tackle the defense's motion to dismiss death penalty as one of the options for Arias' sentence, citing reasons of prosecutorial misconduct.
