PHOENIX — The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction and sentencing of Jodi Arias in the 2008 death of her former boyfriend.
Arias' lawyers had argued a prosecutor's misconduct and a judge's failure to control news coverage during the case deprived her of the right to a fair trial.
Arias is currently serving a life sentence for her first-degree murder conviction in the death of Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa.
Prosecutors said Arias violently attacked Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias has acknowledged killing Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her.
The guilty phase of Arias' trial ended in 2013 with jurors convicting her but deadlocking on punishment. A second sentencing trial ended in early 2015 with another jury deadlock, leading a judge to sentence Arias to prison for life.
"I am pleased with the court's decision to affirm the conviction of someone who committed a brutal murder," Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said.
Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias' former defense attorney, provided the following statement.
"In April of 2015, Ms. Arias was provided the opportunity to speak in advance of her sentencing. In what I believe to be her attempt to inflict further pain on the Alexander family, Ms. Arias used a portion of this opportunity to admit committing the crime of first-degree murder against her former lover. Given this admission, any subsequent trial would logically end in the same result and only serve to provide Ms. Arias a forum from which to inflict further pain on Mr. Alexander's family and loved ones as well as his legacy. Thus, I am thrilled to learn that the Arizona Court of Appeals has denied Ms. Arias' appeal.
On a personal level, this result pleases me because my court ordered association with Ms. Arias infused my life with a great deal of pain. Pain that I can begin to heal with more fervor today as her conviction is now one step closer to being final and I am no longer a member of the Arizona State Bar – meaning the ties that might otherwise bind me at this stage of the proceedings have been removed and I can begin to respond to the allegations Ms. Arias made against me in the media, her lawsuit and her presumably upcoming claims of my ineffective counsel with the sort of vigor worthy of the person who brought public shaming and cancer into my life."
This story was originally published by KNXV in Phoenix.
