As Jodi Arias’s 18-day media circus of a trial wound to a close, attorney Linda Kenney Baden took her long history of shifting claims and aimed it right at the jury. “Some defendants are manipulative,” she said. “And … they think they can manipulate the police … they also think they can manipulate the courtroom. And that’s the problem. You can’t manipulate everybody.”
The jury didn’t have to take Baden’s word for it. With Arizona being one of three states allowing jurors to question witnesses, they had plenty of questions of their own to put to Arias. Among other issues, they raised the fact that Arias seemed to seek out publicity despite claiming that she feared revealing the nature of her relationship with Travis Alexander, and one juror directly questioned her about the gaps between her early interviews and her courtroom testimony. “After all the lies you have told,” they asked, “why should we believe you now?”
Arias’s answer, per CBS News — that she only lied to protect herself or Alexander’s reputation — wasn’t enough. She was found guilty of first-degree murder after three days of deliberation, and 11 out of 12 jurors favored the death penalty. That, Arias told reporters, was her preference; “I believe death is the ultimate freedom,” she said, “so I’d rather just have my freedom — as soon as I can get it.” But because the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision, Arias was automatically given life in prison.
