Jodi Arias Cannot Testify In Secret In Sentencing Retrial, Arizona Court Rules

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Jodi Arias’ appeal to be allowed to testify in secret in her retrial, which will decide her sentence for the murder of her former boyfriend Travis Alexander, the Associated Press reported. The state’s highest court denied Arias’ petition for review without comment. This allows a former November ruling preventing her from testifying in secret to stand.

Arias was found guilty of first degree murder in 2013 for killing Alexander in Phoenix in 2008. However, jurors at the time were unable to unanimously agree on her punishment.

A new jury was brought in last October to consider whether to give Arias life sentence or death penalty. As the retrial began, the judge initially ordered the public and the press to leave the courtroom, citing the previous trial becoming too much of a “circus,” USA Today reported.

The media then sued the Arizona Court of Appeals, which later ruled in its favor in November, allowing the press to cover the retrial.

The sentencing retrial is now expected to run longer than the original five-month trial, local news network Azfamily.com reported. In the retrial on Tuesday, a psychologist testified on Arias’ mental state, including evidence that she continued to text and email Alexander even after killing him by stabbing nearly 30 times and shooting him in the head.

The retrial is set to resume on Wednesday morning.