An Arizona judge on Monday denied requests for a mistrial in the death penalty hearing of Jodi Arias, according to Reuters. Arias was found guilty earlier this month of the first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. The murder had taken place five years ago, with Alexander's body found in the shower of his home near Phoenix with multiple stab wounds, a slashed through, and a bullet wound to the face.

 

The request was made by Arias' defense attorney Kirk Nurmi after Arias' friend, Patricia Womack, refused to testify at the hearing. Womack claimed that she had received threats, and defense lawyers were hoping to use her testimony to show the jury who Arias was prior to meeting Alexander in 2006.

 

"Miss Arias has the right to present this full picture. She is being precluded from doing so, and therefore a mistrial at this stage of the proceedings is the only lawful remedy," Nurmi said.

 

Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens denied the request, and the trial is set to continue on Tuesday morning. Alexander's siblings have already testified on the impact of the murder. His younger brother, Steven, says he has been hospitalized several times for ulcers since the murder. 

 

SEE ALSO |  Jodi Arias Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder

 

Arias said during her trial that she shot Alexander with her own pistol out of self-defense, claiming that he had attacked her because she dropped his camera while taking pictures of him in the shower. She said she did not remember stabbing him.

 

Prosecutor Juan Martinez says Arias stabbed Alexander multiple times as he tried to escape from the bathroom. She then followed him down a hallway and slashed his throat. The jury convicted Arias of murder in the first degree last week and ruled that she had acted with extreme cruelty, making her eligible for the death penalty. That same jury will now decide whether Arias will be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Arias has said she would prefer execution to a life sentence.

 

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